- Date Of Birth: 29 May 1934
- Date Of Death: 4 March 2021
- Occupation: Record label executive and broadcast media executive
- City: Beverly Hills
- State: California
Bhaskar Menon (29 May 1934 – 4 March 2021) was a music industry executive of Indian origin. He hailed from Palakkad, Kerala, India. He initially worked with The Gramophone Company of India Ltd. (HMV) Dum Dum, Calcutta, India as the Chairman and MD. From there he was taken to the United Kingdom by EMI.
As the first Chairman & CEO of EMI Music Worldwide, Bhaskar Menon was best known as a music industry executive, overseeing the EMI Group’s worldwide operations and subsidiaries.
A citizen of the United States, Menon was born in India where he was educated at The Doon School and received a B.A. Honours degree from the University of Delhi. He earned a master’s degree from Christ Church, Oxford University, and joined EMI Limited in London. Transferred to India and the Far East, he was appointed Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive of EMI’s Indian subsidiary.
Menon returned to London as Divisional Director and General Manager (Overseas) of EMI Limited responsible for the Group’s interests and investments outside the U.K. He was concurrently appointed Managing Director of EMI International Services Limited with direct operating responsibility for companies in 25 countries. He represented EMI on the Boards of several subsidiary and associated companies including Capitol Industries in the U.S.A. and Toshiba EMI Limited in Japan.
Menon transferred to Los Angeles and was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol Industries Inc., a public corporation in which EMI held majority interest. He was appointed a Director of the parent Board of EMI Limited, and elected Chairman of the Board of Capitol Industries Inc. in addition to remaining President and Chief Executive Officer of all its operating companies in North America including Capitol Records, the Merco & MusicDen Retail Group, Capitol Magnetic Products division, and of the Screen Gems and Colgems music publishing companies and United Artists Records which he acquired for Capitol/EMI. He was also Chairman of EMI Films Inc. and EMI Television Programs Inc.
Menon turned around the financially troubled Capitol EMI into a successful major player in the music industry. In a 1978 article, the publication New Musical Express noted, “Within a year he had turned Capitol’s $15 million loss into a profit. His motto for his employees was simple: ‘Uncompromising excellence in what you do goes without saying. We expect more than that.
A recent posting on the FYI music site had this to say about Menon’s achievements at EMI.
“Menon pulled the British companies sprawling assets, spread over 46 countries, under one roof and created EMI Music Worldwide in 1978.
Menon was a great team builder, he had a passion for music and he loved entertaining and hanging out with musicians. Just like the incredible team that built Warner, Elektra and Atlantic. From what I remember of Bhaskar Menon, his kindness, generosity and sharp intellect were appreciated by the stable of talent the company acquired and held on to in those years.”
Menon became the Chairman of I.M.I. (International Media Investments Incorporated), which he founded in 1995. This Beverly Hills based company provides investment support & consultancy services for new and developing creative ventures in media, entertainment and leisure businesses. He also served as a Director on the Boards of corporations in the US, Europe & Asia, including as an Independent Director of NDTV.com from 2005 to 2016.
Menon died on 4 March 2021 and is survived by his wife and two sons. – Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License from Wikipedia.
