Max Lousada

Did You Know?

• His mother was a photographer, and his father was a social worker and political activist.
• As a child, he spent his Saturdays selling newspapers of the Socialist Workers Party near Elephant and Castle.
• He enrolled at University of Brighton but left after six months.

Career

Lousada got his start in Brighton’s early dance music scene, hanging out at spots like the Jazz Rooms and The Zap while putting on his own club nights. Along with four friends, he launched a distribution and management company called In A Silent Way, named after a Miles Davis album. This collective blended fashion and music, importing and exporting records for DJs and independent shops. Through a web of labels and stores, he brought in everything from French hip-hop vinyl to Adidas trainers.

After stints at several small indie labels and shops, he founded his own imprint, Ultimate Dilemma. Rawkus Records founders Brian Brater and Jarret Myer then tapped him to run the New York label’s operations outside North America. At Rawkus, he collaborated with artists like Mos Def and got the track "Ms. Fat Booty" played on BBC Radio 1. At the time, Rawkus was independently run but funded by News International and partnered with Mushroom Records UK.

That same company also started funding Ultimate Dilemma, and Lousada moved his base from the Old Truman Brewery—where Rawkus Records UK had been the first label tenant—to Mushroom’s studios in Fulham. Warner then turned East West into the UK arm of Atlantic Records. He was named managing director of Atlantic Records UK in 2004, finding success with acts like The Darkness, James Blunt, and Funeral For a Friend. He later rose to president and then chairman in 2009.