John O’Driscoll Preston

29 August 1950 – 19 November 2017

The John Preston Trust was established to honour my late husband’s memory by helping young people who share his lifelong interest in music and the visual arts to realise their creative ambitions.

John’s career in the music industry began in 1974 when he started working for Bruce’s record shop in Rose Street, Edinburgh. His choice of employment could not have been more at odds with his parents’ expectations. A public school educated Oxford graduate with a B.Phil. in Latin American history was in their minds destined for the Foreign Office or the BBC, not the local record store. But John was a man who knew where his future lay and was not afraid to swim against the tide. Music was his overriding interest, and his ambition was to build a career in the music industry.

In 1976 John and I moved to London where, using the contacts he had built up working in retail, he was offered a job as Artist Development Manager at EMI Records. From there he forged a path through the industry, working for Decca, Polydor and RCA in roles from label manager to marketing manager, marketing director to managing director and eventually to chairman of BMG Records, UK and Ireland. At the same time he served several years as chair of the BPI, the organisation that represents the UK music industry, as well as serving on the board of the Brits School, which launched many leading artists on the road to stardom.

Throughout his career, John loved working with the artists he represented. From the Albion Country Band to Take That, from Kate Bush to Annie Lennox, from Dexy’s Midnight Runners to M People and too many others to name, and from all the ones who never quite made the big time but never gave up trying, John never tired of hearing the stories of how the artists had found their way in a tough world. He was in awe of the determination they all shared to get their music heard and was proud to play his part in giving emerging artists the chance to develop their talent.

However it was not only musicians that John admired. He maintained throughout his life an interest in the creative arts in general. Recognising the urge to create that unites visual artists as well as musicians, writers and composers, he also recognised the difficulties many have to overcome to forge a career in the arts, and the determination it takes to keep trying.

If you think the John Preston Trust could help you, please do not hesitate to make an application. John would be delighted to know that the legacy of his love of music and the visual arts will help artists of the future develop their talent and interest in their chosen field.

Roz Preston
January 14th 2023