With an irrefutable reputation achieved over thirty-plus years working with a stellar cast of clients (U2, The Stone Roses, David Bowie, New Order, The Police, Depeche Mode, Simply Red, Bob Marley, Massive Attack, , REM, Matchbox Twenty, The Pixies, Elvis Costello, Genesis, Johnny Cash, Annie Lennox, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, and many more) it is not for nothing that U2’s manager, Paul McGuinness, has said, “Tony Michaelides has long been one of the UK’s foremost record promoters and undoubtedly one of the best that U2 have had the pleasure of working with.”

Tony is acknowledged by both the artists he has nurtured and by his peers for the wealth of experience he has gained through an illustrious career that began with working for Transatlantic, A and M, Charisma and Island Records. And from there to founding and running his own promotions company, TMP for over 25 years — one of the most highly respected and successful in the UK. During that time, in 1984 Tony was invited to replace Mark Radcliffe on one of the UK’s most popular radio stations, Piccadilly/Key 103 and for the next 12 years presented his own music program, ‘The Last Radio Program,’ which was a Sony nomination for ‘Best local radio show.’ In that time he interviewed some of the music industry’s most respected acts whilst also introducing the ‘live sessions’.

In the late 80’s he began working with Circa Records and their artists who included Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry. He also undertook all regional promotions activities at Factory Records for over 10 years working with the likes of Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, James etc. During that time Mute Records also approached him to handle their artists which included Depeche Mode and Erasure. Mentoring sessions in Canada and the UK continued together with some artist management (Peter Hook and Revenge.)

In the 90’s Tony forged a long-standing relationship with BMG lasting through to the millennium and enjoying one of their most successful periods ever with Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston, Take That, Natalie Imbruglia, Westlife and Puff Daddy. During that period he also spent several years working with the ‘two Simon’s’ Fuller and Cowell.

1997 marked a personal highlight in Tony’s career when he was asked to be publicist for David Bowie’s ‘Earthling Tour,’ responsible for all press, radio, and television. The following year TMP began working with Lippman Entertainment, one of the world’s most successful management companies and the opportunity to work with multi platinum act, Matchbox Twenty. They also became the UK consultants to Warner Chappell’s LA office and Atlantic Records in New York.

The new millennium dawned, record companies were downsizing and as Tony says “If I can no longer do it the way I want, then I don’t want to do it all.” Emulating Bono’s famous words at the Point Theater in Dublin as U2’s Rattle & Hum tour came to a close, “It’s been a fantastic journey, we’re going to go away now and dream it up all over again.” Tony’s new journey was about to take him to America. In the time spent waiting for the paperwork to complete he acted as an advisor to The Music Managers Forum, “Master Classes,’ a consultant for the Manchester Business Consortium and became a regular panelist and moderator at the UK’s major music conference, “In the City.” He was a founding member of ‘The Manchester Music City Network’ and a trusted member of The Brits Voting Academy.

In 2004 Tony was granted a Green Card as an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability,” for services to the music and arts, an accolade awarded to a small percentage of people who have reached ‘The Pinnacle of Excellence in the Field of Endeavor.’ After a little down time it seemed natural to document his journey in the music industry and to write a book, “Insights from the Engine Room, Lessons Learned from Rock n Roll.”

In 2010, Tony met with Rony Abovitz, who was planning the launch of tech start up, Magic Leap. Tony came on board to introduce Rony to his peers in the music industry. In 2012, Tony was appointed Chief Evangelist, where he remained until 2018 when he moved on to take an advisory role. With a wealth of stories and the added bonus of working with some of the world’s leading artists it became abundantly clear that these stories should be shared with a larger audience. A new day had dawned, and as Tony says, “I learned from some of the greatest people to have ever graced the music industry, the likes of whom will never exist again. And to be now given the opportunity to inspire others with the stories and ‘The Lessons Learned from Rock n’ Roll’ it has become both a pleasure and a passion.” It’s what Tony likes to call ‘Moments That Rock’, and to share them helps others understand the ingredients of greatness in the making of real Rock Stars. An approach to do a TEDx talk and then an invitation from the British Consul General in Miami to present their keynote speech at Brit Week and Tony was sold on the idea. ‘I love meeting people and to be allowed into their world and to present mine is incredibly rewarding.’

Currently writing his 2nd book, Tony also spends his time coaching and mentoring, together with presenting ‘The Promised Land,’ his own weekly radio show on Fab Radio International, the largest independent internet radio station in Europe.