Dean Ormston discusses Brett Cottle’s legacy at APRA AMCOS

The Industry Observer invited APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston to guest on Fear At The Top to discuss the highs and lows of his work, and the legacy of his predecessor, Brett Cottle.

Ormston spoke highly of Brett Cottle, describing him as a “wonderful CEO to work for, and a wonderful mentor.”

“I hope I absorbed as much as I could have absorbed while he was here,” he added.

Check out Dean Ormston discussing Brett Cottle’s legacy at APRA AMCOS:

Ormston also remarked on the ease of the handover, describing the six-month transition as “generous” and “smart”.

Speaking on the best day of the job so far, Ormston said his first official day was his most exciting day. “I felt incredibly privileged to get the gig, and to sit at Big Cottle’s desk,” he said.

Ormston also attributed the ability of his team to navigate through challenges such as COVID-19 to the culture developed by Cottle. He noted that he was keen to ensure remote working didn’t have a lasting negative effect of this culture created by the previous CEO.

“We need to get people back and working in physical spaces, I think that’s really important,” he said.

Ormston spoke about his worst day on the job; the day he first began “number crunching as to how much money [the company] would be down due to COVID-19.”

APRA AMCOS reported an overall downgraded financial year last October, with the public performance income being the hardest hit - almost $20 million below reported figures from last year. The losses were due to a combination of the effect COVID-19 and the 2020 summer bushfires had on the music industry.

Still, Ormston spoke about the importance of accepting challenges as part of being in a commercial business.

“We’re in a competitive, global context… Make sure you’ve got momentum in your thinking… If you’re in that head space, whether it’s a good day or a bad day, well, whatever. Deal with it.”

:: Watch the full Fear At The Top episode with Dean Ormstrom.