about...

James Ellett - Founder

Outsett is an artist management and consultancy company founded by James Ellett in 2020.

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James began his career in the music industry over fifteen years ago at Prestige Management (McFly, The Vamps), where he helped scout emerging talent for acts that would go on to achieve multi-platinum success. At just eighteen, he was hired by Ashley Tabor at Global, joining the publishing and records division and contributing to campaigns and working with both artists and songwriters signed to the company, including Jungle, Ellie Goulding, Lawson, The Wanted, Elyar Fox, The Academic, Nathan Sykes, The Vaccines, Cover Drive, Tom Aspaul, and James Reynolds.

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During his time in Global's Los Angeles office, James signed several acts to the publishing roster, including COIN, who would later surpass a billion global streams, and Dawin, whose worldwide smash "Dessert" went on to achieve multi-platinum status across multiple territories.

Following his return to the UK, James joined Modest! Management, where he spent five years learning under Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee, who during this time were managing major global campaigns for One Direction, Little Mix, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Olly Murs. Gaining hands-on experience in major label artist management while also working as an A&R across the company's publishing division, James worked closely on campaigns for artists including Hey Violet, winners of The Voice UK, and played a key role in developing and launching New Rules through Elektra Records.

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In 2020, James launched Outsett, building a boutique home for artist management and creative consultancy. Alongside artist management, he launched a publishing venture within the company, broadening Outsett's reach across A&R strategy and songwriter development. Over the past five years he has grown the company into a respected platform for artist development, A&R strategy, and publishing relationships. For the past six months, James has been developing and managing rising artist Grace Bridie, whose profile continues to grow.

In September 2025, James joined the team at ZenKai Management, where his work is predominately focused on campaigns for cultural icon Leona Lewis, the singer behind the global hit "Bleeding Love" and many other chart-topping releases. Alongside this role, he continues to lead Outsett and remains at the forefront of major artist campaigns across management, development, and publishing.

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