Trevor Nelson on getting into the media: “You go in and you make sure they hire another one like you”

nme.com:

Trevor Nelson has spoken to NME about his career, the state of UK R&B, and shared some advice for young people on getting into the media industry.The DJ and radio pioneer was speaking to NME after hosting a panel talk at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies’ London campus.As part of Confetti’s 2024 Industry Week inviting leaders from the worlds of music and media, Nelson spoke to Crowd DNA content and media agency professional Andy Crysell, actor and movie producer Hester Ruoff, former head of content at Spotify Vino Vethavanam, and Dale Davis – the former musical director for Amy Winehouse.Having started out working in a record store before becoming a DJ and presenter on the then-pirate radio station KISS FM, the MBE recipient told the crowd that the biggest low point of his career came after the channel was legalised in 1990.“I had a daytime show and, two years into that show, I got fired,” Nelson told the panel and audience. “When my boss told me in he was in tears because he couldn’t believe I had just been fired, and I didn’t care.

My social life sort of affected my work life so much that I thought I’d rather not be here [at the radio station] – which is an unbelievable thing to say now because this is all I care about.”He also spent over a decade presenting on MTV, worked as an A&R for Cooltempo and EMI Records and worked with R&B and soul superstars D’Angelo and Lynden David Hall.

Nelson also revealed that he almost signed the prolific hitmaker Sia.“When I was in the record labels – [I thought] where’s the talent?