Miles Copeland III

Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of the Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing R.E.M., the Bangles, Berlin, the Cramps, Dead Kennedys, the Alarm, the Go-Go's, and others.

Early life, family and education Copeland was born in London, England, to Miles Axe Copeland Jr., a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer from Birmingham, Alabama, US; and Lorraine Adie, a British archaeologist who worked in British intelligence. They had three sons: Ian, Miles, and Stewart, and a daughter, Leonora. The family lived in the Washington, D.C. area and throughout the Middle East, in particular Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon. At an early age, Copeland and his brothers learned and were fluent in Arabic.

Career While attending school in Beirut to earn his economics degree, Copeland promoted his first concert. After college, he moved to London, met two progressive rock musicians at a club, and helped them form Wishbone Ash.

BTM and Illegal Records In 1974, Copeland founded the management agency and record label BTM (British Talent Management) and signed a number of progressive rock acts such as Squeeze, Renaissance and Curved Air. In the summer of 1975, he organized a multi-band tour of European music festivals, named Startruckin' 75, which featured several BTM bands as well as Soft Machine, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Lou Reed (replaced by Ike & Tina Turner). However, Reed's failure to appear at any of the shows and other logistical issues resulted in significant losses for Startruckin 75', and ultimately the failure of BTM. Copeland filed for bankruptcy and BTM closed down in 1976. and to sign The Cortinas, Chelsea, and The Models to Step Forward Records in 1977. Copeland's office was the headquarters for Sniffin' Glue and Other Rock 'N' Roll Habits..., a monthly punk zine by Mark Perry. and the number one single for 1983, "Every Breath You Take". He continued to manage Sting through seven solo albums. Copeland was not, however, included in the reunion era of the Police, leading to a 2007 interview in which Copeland lamented that money was the issue.

I.R.S. Records The success of the Police and the novel methods used to popularize them enabled Copeland to found I.R.S. Records through a deal with A&M Records.

Personal life Another of Copeland's brothers, Ian Copeland, was a booking agent, music promoter, and US Army veteran, who described much of the New Wave adventures of Miles, Stewart, and himself in his book Wild Thing: The Backstage, On the Road, In the Studio, Off the Charts Memoirs of Ian Copeland (1995, Simon & Schuster). they produced an album in support of the event.

In September 1989 Miles Copeland was involved (through Lol Creme) with a bizarre high-budget western called Gil Farrington On the Devil's Plain. The movie was written specifically for Sting and later investigated by Ridley Scott, but was never made.