Kim Bayley's constant reinvention of the UK's digital entertainment and retail association, ERA, is an exemplar of what trade association leadership at its best can deliver.
During her tenure representing the digital services and retailers who sell music, video and games in the UK (a sector now worth around £12bn a year) membership has doubled, member satisfaction has risen consistently and she has introduced a host of new member events and new services.
Recognition by CEO Today is the latest in a string of honours which have recognised both the association's 'crown jewels' event, Record Store Day, the annual celebration of indie record shop culture, and Bayley's own leadership skills.
Her two decades at the helm of ERA have seen Bayley navigate the near collapse of the physical CD and DVD businesses, and then pivot the organisation to represent not just hundreds of indie record shops and High Street names like HMV and GAME but also the new generation of streaming giants such as Spotify, YouTube, Sky and Amazon.
It is a testament to Bayley's leadership and collaborative skills that she has succeeded in welding these very disparate groups into an effective coalition.
Historically known as the British Association of Record Dealers, ERA began as an association of record shops, expanding with its members into video and games.
Bayley's first insight was to express this shift in a change of name to the Entertainment Retailers Association in 2006. She evolved the name again in 2022 when ERA stopped being an acronym and it became instead Òdigital entertainment and retail association ERAÓ, reflecting the fact that streaming services now account for more than 90% of the entertainment business.
In between she dealt with the collapse of the physical CD business - which halved between 2001 and 2008 - and identified a new three-pronged membership strategy which brings together (i) the most significant digital and mail order services, (ii) the surviving High Street chains (HMV and GAME) and (iii) hundreds of independent record stores.
In recent years, Bayley has led ERA through unprecedented and sometimes hostile scrutiny from critics of music streaming's impact on musicians. Thanks to her leadership both the DCMS Select Committee and the Competition & Markets Authority accepted ERA's view that streaming has been a net benefit both for musicians and for the public.
Meanwhile, she has successfully upgraded ERA's insight and research capabilities, launching more than 10 years ago its benchmark consumer tracking study, the centrepiece of a suite of insight services which have made ERA the acknowledged expert on the entertainment business and consumer.
Since 2009, ERA has organised Record Store Day UK, the annual promotion of indie record shops which not only serves to highlight the vital role of record shops in music's complex ecosystem, but also delivers a £10m boost to trade. In 2024 more than 270 indie record shops participated. RSD has not only become a national media event, with the notable support of BBC Radio 6 Music, but it has proven a lifeline for indie stores and the catalyst for the much-discussed vinyl revival, attracting ambassadors including Elton John and Kate Bush.
Kim Bayley lives the collaboration and pragmatism which she has embedded in ERA's mission and purpose. This has been effectively displayed in her work on two DCMS-sponsored steering groups which have delivered groundbreaking industry accords on metadata and transparency. Her achievement was particularly notable due to the fact that she was the only streaming service representative in a Transparency Committee dominated by artist, songwriter, record company and music publisher representatives.
Few industries are as fast-moving as entertainment. Virtually none have ridden the rollercoaster ride of bust in physical followed by boom in streaming which has characterised the past two decades.
ERA's successful transformation (and continued existence) under Kim Bayley is a testament to her ceaseless battle to keep the organisation relevant.
