– TESTIMONIALS
KIND WORDS
“I’ve known Tony since my first job at Piccadilly Radio in Manchester. Over the following forty years, I haven’t met a raconteur better than Tony. His firsthand knowledge of the music industry is second to none, but for me, the unique aspect of Tony is how he tells these stories and makes them relevant, humorous and engaging. He’s been surrounded by some of the world’s biggest stars, many of whom he helped rise to fame and his stories are both inspirational and unique. My son has just started working as a music researcher in New York and when asked who he could talk to about the Manchester scene, there was only one name I gave him – “Call Tony the Greek!”
ANDY BIRD
Chairman (CBE), Walt Disney International
“Tony has long been one of the UKs foremost record promoters and undoubtedly one of the best U2 has had the pleasure of working with. It was in those crucial formative years that we were grateful of the passionate belief Tony showed in the band and for the personal and professional relationship that was built. It was also pleasing to see the hugely successful career he built off the back of the work he did with U2 and the caliber of acts he has continued to work with.”
Paul McGuinness
Paul McGuiness to U2 Manager 1978 -2013
“In over 30 years working at the highest level Tony Michaelides has ranked as one of the finest promotion people ever and without doubt the best regional promotion person. Tony invented the concept of regional promotion that equated the power of music and the quality of voice for hip labels and their talented new artists and did imaginative and successful work in the heartland when all music companies clung to the London media. I was so pleased he wrote a book as someone would now have to edit him!”
Ray Cooper
Former President Virgin Records, USA
Tony was kind enough to deliver the Keynote address at our 2016 BritWeek Miami Innovation Awards Gala. BritWeek is an annual week-long celebration of UK-Miami Creativity and Innovation. The gala was an award ceremony which recognized UK and US companies who had made a particularly outstanding contribution to UK-US commercial and creative partnership. The focus of the evening was to highlight why the UK and US are natural partners when it comes to generating new disruptive approaches which will generally change the way our economies work in the future. Tony was able to articulate how his own experience in the music industry did just this. It changed the way people listened to music, it ushered in a completely different approach to creativity allowing talent to be nurtured and to succeed at a global level. This was done in such a way that was immediately relatable to the audience, while drawing on a wealth of great anecdotes of a period which was forming for many of us, in addition to Tony’s excellent and entertaining speech, his personable, friendly approach to the guests both before and after the event created a fantastic atmosphere and added enormously to a very successful evening.”
Dave Prodger
British Consul General, Miami
“I re-booked Tony for a speech at Stetson University after such great feedback from his previous visit the previous year. The engaged audience was comprised of Stetson upper administration, faculty, students and staff from diverse disciplines across campus. All in attendance were mesmerized by his anecdotes, photos and accessibility. In fact, many commented on how refreshing it was for our students, regardless of major, to be able to instantly relate to someone of his illustrious professional stature.”
PATRECE ROBINSON
Professor of Music
Tony has been one of the most talented, remarkable and personable people I have ever encountered. He is an individual of exceptional capabilities and a unique player in the field of regional promotion.”
Michael Lippman
Manager, Matchbox Twenty, George Michael
I’ve known and worked with Tony for more than 30 years from collaborating with him in the late 1980s when he was a music industry publicist at the top of his game through to developing an Internet radio station in the 1990s to working with him on corporate gigs in more recent times. Tony has an incredible ability to harvest nuggets from a lifetime in the music industry and show how the lessons learned working with stellar artists including U2 , David Bowie, New Order and Depeche Mode can be applied to leadership and business. Tony’s ability to fashion a great rock n roll story that brings a room to life and show its relevance to the corporate world is a rare one. If you get the chance to see him speak or work with him, you should seize it with both hands. You’ll learn loads and have a bundle of fun along the way because he’s a blast to work with.
JIM ROTHNIE
McCann Worldgroup Growth Officer, UK & Europe & Chief Growth Officer, Craft EMEA
“Tony Michaelides had a fantastic career in the music industry and he has the behind the scenes stories to prove it. He has a thoughtful and humorous presentation style that left myself and The Rotary Club wanting to hear more. As a journalist I’ve interviewed countless subjects over the years and Tony Michaelides is hands down one of the best story-tellers I’ve ever met.”
Chris Ingram
President 411 Communications & Media Personality
“Tony has taken his unique ability to look in retrospect at his experience from the music industry and create practical business lessons that can applied by any entrepreneur or corporate leader. He explains the lessons in a way that not only resonates with today’s business challenges. But is a storyteller whose vignettes
you will not soon forget.”
Thomas W. Nash
Chairman and CEO Xalles Ltd
“Tony Michaelides is a legend. Tony gave me my first job in the music industry and he’ll always be a legend to me. His enthusiasm for plugging and life in general is contagious and reading his stories kept me entertained from cover to cover!”
Estelle Wilkinson
Former Manager, Coldplay
“Tony has taken the lessons learned from a lifetime inside the rock machine and constructed a new way of fine tuning business practice. The stars he as worked with can now be your inspirational motivators.”
COLIN SOMERVILLE
Journalist, Presenter
“Tony has seen more of the music industry from the inside than almost anyone else I know. Working for various record companies, his own promotions business and in artist management has given him a deep insight in to the machinations of the music business. His success stories are many but just ask any member of U2 about Tony and they will tell you of the crucial role he played in getting them heard around the UK. More than this though he is a man who loves music and it is that that has driven him more than anything else.”
Mark Radcliffe
BBC Radio and TV Presenter, Author
“I was Piccadilly Radio’s Programme Director in the late 80’s when I offered Tony his own music show. I had been aware of Tony’s reputation in the music industry and his involvement gave us credibility and access to many internationally known acts such as U2, David Bowie, REM etc. I was proved right as the show’s popularity grew and grew over the next 12 years to consistently become the market leader in our transmission area. It was nominated for Sony Music awards and became one of the most influential radio shows in the country with regard to breaking new acts. I found Tony Michaelides a pleasure to work with and was proud he was a part of the team over some the radio station’s most successful years.”
Tony Ingham
Director of The Embank Consultancy Former Program Controller, Piccadilly Radio/Key 103
“Nobody builds anticipation like Tony. He fills the room. He livens the conversation. Nobody builds excitement like Tony. He rocks the mic. He explodes with narrative. Nobody builds culture like Tony. He shares generously. He incites revolutions. And nobody has built a career like Tony. He’s worked with the legends of music and tech. And its is an honor to have him dispense his stories and expertise.
Daniel James Scott
Director of Entrepreneurship, Stetson University and
Co-Founder Global Accelerator Network
Tony’s reputation was unrivaled within the industry as the UK’s leading independent regional promotion person, so much that his team never came out of top 3 promotion companies in the country. An admirable achievement and a true reflection of their capabilities. The involvement of Tony Michaelides and his team at TMP was crucial to the success that RCA Records enjoyed and we were all greatly indebted to the knowledge, experience and professionalism they added to our media campaigns. I have no hesitation in recommending him as one of the leading lights in regional promotion…. in fact he just about invented it! And if that is too large a claim then he certainly professionalized it in a way many would come to emulate in the mid to late 1990’s. There can be no more sincere form of flattery and testimony than that. Simply put: Tony Michaelides — A UK Promotion Legend!”