Denis Handlin AM

Denis Handlin AM, is the Chairman & CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia & New Zealand and President, Asia. He commenced his career with the company in 1970 and has been leading it since 1984. Denis is also Chairman of the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) and the Chairman of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Asia Board. In 1996, he became the first Sony Music Entertainment executive to be honoured with the CEO Special Recognition Award. Denis was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005 in recognition of his services to charitable causes, artist development and the music industry. Further prestigious awards recognising his contributions have included – 2009 the Ted Albert Award from the Australian Performing Rights Association for Outstanding Services to the Music Industry, in 2012 the “Label Executive of the Year – Major” award from the Worldwide Radio Summit Industry Awards Los Angeles and in 2014 the ARIA Industry Icon Award.

Denis is strongly committed to community work and is a founding member of the Sony Foundation of Australia which has raised close to $27 million since 1998 for youth based charitable causes. Denis was appointed as a Patron of the Youth Off The Streets scholarship program in its inaugural year in 2004 and is an inaugural Board Member of the Ricky Stuart Foundation.