MUSEXPO has announced Polydor Label Group president Ben Mortimer as the 2027 recipient of the Seymour Stein – Global A&R Award.
The British executive will be presented with the honour during the International Music Industry Awards gala dinner on March 24 next year as part of the 27th global edition of MUSEXPO in Burbank, California.
Mortimer will also participate in a keynote interview at the annual music business conference and showcase, discussing his career journey.
After starting out as a music journalist, writing for titles including The Face and Mixmag, Mortimer moved into A&R at Virgin Records, where he worked with artists including Jamie T and The Chemical Brothers. He joined Island Records in 2009, playing a key role in the launch of Florence + The Machine, before becoming director of A&R at Polydor in 2012, where he worked with talent such as HAIM, James Blake, Lana Del Rey, Ellie Goulding, The 1975 and Michael Kiwanuka.
Appointed co-president of Polydor in 2016 and sole president in 2021, Mortimer has overseen releases including The Rolling Stones’ Grammy Award-winning Hackney Diamonds in 2023 and their new album Foreign Tongues. Other successes have included Sam Fender’s 2025 Mercury Prize-winning album People Watching, and Fender's record-breaking chart collaboration with Capitol UK’s Olivia Dean on Rein Me In, as well as No.1s with Florence + The Machine and Lewis Capaldi.
In 2023, Mortimer created the dance imprint, Chaos, which has delivered successes including breakout artist Jazzy, BRIT-nominated Confidence Man, and Chrystal's The Days (Notion Remix), which reached the Top 10 in the UK, Germany and Australia, and No.1 in New Zealand.
Commemorating the legacy of the late Seymour Stein – renowned for signing the likes of Madonna, Talking Heads, Ramones, Pretenders, Depeche Mode and The Cure – the Global A&R Award honours visionary executives who "continue to shape the global musical landscape through innovation, creativity, and an unrelenting passion for artists and their craft".
The award was conceived by Sat Bisla (president & founder, A&R Worldwide/MUSEXPO), Richard Gottehrer (co-founder, Sire Records), and Stein's daughter Mandy Stein, with the full support of the Stein family. Past recipients include Wendy Goldstein, president & chief creative officer, Republic Records (2024), Michael Goldstone, founder & co-owner, Mom+Pop Music (2025), and Kim Frankiewicz, EVP, Worldwide A&R at Concord Music Publishing (2026).
Disney Music Group president Ken Bunt was also confirmed last week as recipient of MUSEXPO's Lifetime Achievement Award.
MUSEXPO 2027 is scheduled for March 21-24. Further announcements regarding next year's event will be revealed in the coming months.
