News
Photography Credit: Joe Magowan
Elton Jackson Discusses Sony Music UK’s Culture and Mental Health Initiatives
With responsibility for managing Sony Music UK’s overall wellbeing provision, Elton Jackson has been at the forefront of a shift in the company’s approach to caring for its artists and staff since he took on the newly created role of Director of Artist and Employee Wellbeing in 2021.
In a recent interview with Music Week, Elton – a trained psychodynamic psychotherapist and former Samaritan – explored the positive impact of both the culture and mental health initiatives implemented at Sony Music UK. In his role, he provides holistic and comprehensive in-house support for artists in all aspects of their career, and for employees who require additional assistance or access to further resources. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-house role of its kind within the industry,” he said, adding: “We can have difficult conversations here, but I think we can have those conversations because we’ve got the culture that we’ve got.”
Discussing his goals, Elton said: “I don’t think there’s a beginning, middle and end, because I believe therapeutic intervention and community culture is something that you just need to keep feeding into. I want to do more of the same but better. I do workshops and training sessions, and so on, and that gives me a great path to the community here.”
Sony Music has invested heavily into mental wellbeing provision, providing all employees with mandatory mental health management training, in collaboration with leading mental health charity, Mind. Other company initiatives include the Artists Forward and Artist Assistance schemes – both aimed at supporting on-roster talent in terms of wellness provision and career resources.