Last Friday’s An Evening with OP Marc Marot gave the Princethorpe community a fascinating insight into life in the fast-moving global Music Industry from the late 80s through to the 2000s and beyond. 

Old Princethorpian Marc Marot, who left the College in 1977, took his audience on a rollercoaster ride of the highs and lows of his self-professed ‘chaotic’ and ‘serendipitous’ career. His talk charted his journey from leaving school with dreams of becoming a rockstar and working at a record store, to managing iconic bands and performers, such as the Cranberries, Stereo MCs, Pulp and U2 and running global record labels and talent management companies including Polygram and Crown Talent Management. 

Mentored by music industry legend, Chris Blackwell, Mark’s career started in music publishing at Eaton Music, he swiftly progressed to become the youngest managing director of Island Records at just 30 years old. His talk was interspersed with snippets of recordings from an eclectic range of hits from artists Massive Attack to De La Soul and The Verve to Elbow, much to the audience’s delight. 

Marc also spoke affectionately of his time at Princethorpe, the lifelong friends he made and is still in close contact with today, several of which were in the audience, and of the burgeoning of his music career playing his cello in the school orchestra. 

His career branched out into film and TV production, and he was one of the first embracers of the power of the world wide web. Having worked closely with U2 developing their award-winning website, Marc also spoke with great admiration for the band’s lead singer Bono and his charitable work, particularly the Jubilee 2000 campaign aimed at cancelling Third World debt. 

Marc spoke of the need for drive and dogged determination when pursuing your dreams and seeking out opportunities. He recognised that being fearless had been an important factor in his success. He has prided himself on discovering new and original talent over his career but admitted that the music industry is now a much different place, with social media playing a huge part in the success of artists. 

In latter years Mark has branched out into the art field with a collaboration with Scarlett Raven with augmented reality digital art based on the 100-year anniversary of The Battle of the Somme. 

The evening rounded off with a lively Q & A from the audience, with many questions from young Princethorpians with a desire to enter the industry and time for more questions over a buffet supper in the Sixth Form Centre. 

We thank Marc for so generously giving of his time and for sharing his amazing career with us.