Westbury Music

Founded in 1984 by Caroline Robertson, Westbury Music Ltd is an independent publisher of contemporary British music. Currently looking after some 70,000+ works spread over several hundred catalogues, now one of the most respected independent publishing companies in the world.

From the start, our strength lay in specialist music, rather than mainstream or pop. The first ever signing was Rubber Band Music, the catalogue of legendary funkateer, Bootsy Collins. Over the next fifteen years, the company grew into a music consultancy and administering publisher of high repute. Jazz and classic Reggae were to be our earliest acquisitions. The emergent UK underground Dance scene of the 1980s literally exploded in the next decade and Westbury found itself in the thick of the action as one of the few music publishers actively championing the diversity of new musics.

The company kept abreast of every changing facet of the new breed, until we found ourselves representing Hardcore (developing into Jungle and Drum n Bass), Acid House, House, Garage and Techno catalogues. Typically, the clients would be the underground labels themselves, the ones who were actively creating and developing the new styles and categories.

As well as the dance catalogues, our footing in the Jazz and Reggae genres grew to a stature that meant that we controlled many classic and new titles, while still maintaining their independent status.

The last few years have seen major changes at Westbury Music as we adapted to the opportunities (and difficulties) of Independent Music Publishing in the 21st Century. Long-term staffers Jon, Felix and Paulette are directors and shareholders in the company bringing vision and stability to see Westbury well into the future.

Jon controls royalties and business affairs. Paulette looks after communications, new business and sits on the Board of the MPA and the PRS. Felix operates in A&R and creative areas including synchronisation and marketing, as well as being managing director overseeing the whole operation.

Additionally, a consolidation of our core administration business has enabled expansion in our other roles as a Publisher: a broadening in A&R policy has helped create an impressive catalogue of new songs, catalogues and composers which includes some of the best of all the genres of Contemporary Independent Music in the UK, a shift of focus from mostly administrative publishing matters to a primarily creative outlook has allowed Westbury to exploit our uniquely varied catalogue with great success, particularly in the areas of film, advertising and games, which would not perhaps be possible for more traditional, catalogue-orientated publishers.

Now, at 25 years young, Westbury enjoys a position akin to cult status – being uniquely successful in working purely with independent, left-field and sometimes oddball musics. Because we love the music we handle, care and attention is our norm rather than the exception and, being an independent company with our own peculiar vision, we have an ability to move and flex with the best of them in pop, even managing to squeeze in the charts on a regular basis.

In these recent times of upheaval, we have seen the ‘Death of Dance Music’ ©, the re-re-re-rise of Reggae and Dancehall (and what now!?!), the collapse of the UK independent record sector, the rise of the majors, the resurrection of the independent sector and the fear induced panic-merging of the majors in the face of dwindling income first from CD sales and then the digital evolution. And, despite all that, we are still on the same road we started on 25 years ago, albeit much further on, in a far nicer car and in a faster lane.

Westbury works with independent musics because, unfortunately still, that is the only place where true creativity (rather than manufactured media-pop) is still to be found. We are justifiably proud of the catalogues we represent from Reggae to Scottish Folk to Electro to Gypsy Brass. We have no hesitation in claiming that the music we represent is some of the best music around today.

So, it being our 25th year, we’ll be making it a special one, beginning with this, the launch of the new website. But we will also be doing events across the UK (well, London, well Brixton). Expect to hear some fine new Westbury tunes made by both our new and our long standing clients, including podcasts, remixes and dub-plates, all coming to an audio listening device near you.....