Chris Cooke

Chris Cooke is an editor, journalist and media entrepreneur. He is co-Founder and MD of CMU, a company that helps people navigate and understand the music business. It does this through media like the CMU Daily bulletin, Setlist podcast and CMU Library; consultancy unit CMU Insights, with its seminars, reports and conference sessions; future talent programme CMU:DIY; and the Pathways Into Music Foundation, which supports music educators and talent development organisations.

Via CMU, Chris writes, talks, teaches and consults about the music industry. He leads sessions and discussions at music conferences around the world; guest lectures at various UK music colleges; and curates the core conference strands at The Great Escape showcase festival in Brighton each May. He also wrote the book ‘Dissecting The Digital Dollar’ and compiled the ‘Music Copyright Explained’ guide for the UK’s Intellectual Property Office. CMU is part of Chris’s business 3CM UnLimited, which champions and supports the content, culture, communication and music industries via media, research and training, educational initiatives, and live events. Through 3CM he also publishes cultural recommendations service ThisWeek Culture and its sister magazine ThreeWeeks at the Edinburgh Festival; and he helped to launch the award winning Taylor Bennett Foundation, which is enabling more ethnic diversity in the communications industry.

Earlier in his career, Chris worked on a number of research and consulting projects looking at best practice in corporate communications and reputation management. He later led the design and content elements of youth marketing programmes for big brands and managed the content delivery of major music partnerships between leading artists and national newspapers. He also produced fringe theatre shows in Edinburgh and London. With degrees in both English and Law, Chris regularly writes about, discusses and comments on the music business, intellectual property, and the wider media, cultural and communication sectors.