Veteran A&R Rep Rich Castillo Launches Lionbear Music

British A&R veteran Rich Castillo has launched Lionbear Music Group, an independent music label and artist development incubator.

Why it matters:

• Castillo has more than 20 years' experience in A&R, working at Polydor Records, Atlantic and EMI Records.

• At EMI he led the A&R team on projects with Olivia Dean, Elton John, The Libertines and Chase & Status.

• He is currently the Head of A&R at Charlie Lycett's Graduation music company, through which he set up Lionbear Records.

• Lionbear is distributed through Graduation's label services arm.

How it works:

• Speaking with Music Week Castillo explains, 'When you plug into a big frontline label, the artist needs to be defined and developed so it's very clear what the proposition is.'

• He adds: "Our mission is to define each artist and allow them to express themselves properly before they get put under the scrutiny of having a bigger team trying to navigate what they are."

• Lionbear also encompasses films, publishing and podcasts.