Legendary music executive to headline annual Stump Entrepreneurship Lecture at BSC

For Immediate Release
Mar. 7, 2022

Music business icon Miles A. Copeland III – a Birmingham-Southern alumnus best known for managing The Police and co-founding I.R.S. Records – will deliver the College’s 2022 Stump Entrepreneurship Lecture on Thursday, April 7.

Copeland, one of the most successful record executives and managers in the history of music, managed Sting, Squeeze, and the Bangles, and co-founded I.R.S. Records, one of the most influential music labels of the 1980s. I.R.S. Records launched the careers of the Go-Go's, R.E.M., Fine Young Cannibals, and Concrete Blonde, among others.

The Police (including Copeland’s brother Stewart on drums) were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, R.E.M. in 2007, and the Go-Go's in 2021 — during the ceremony, guitarist Charlotte Caffey called Miles Copeland "a mad genius.” In his storied career, Copeland has worked with artists such as the Sex Pistols, Keith Urban, The Cramps, Blondie, The Moody Blues, and many more.

Copeland is the author of the 2021 memoir "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: My Life in the Music Business.” Copeland will share how, after graduating from BSC, he took chances, failed, tried again, and rose from near bankruptcy to become one of the most influential forces in the music business.

Copeland will speak at 7 p.m. in Munger Auditorium on campus. The talk is free and open to the public.

The Stump Entrepreneurship Lecture is part of the Birmingham-Southern Entrepreneurship Program, endowed by BSC graduates Jane and Kevin Stump of Birmingham. Students who have earned the title of Stump Scholars will also spend time meeting with Copeland prior to his public talk.

Media contact: Amy Abeyta, AVP of Communications, at [email protected] or 205-226-4922.