Clifton Consults is a general management and business strategy consultancy, founded in 2023 by Patrick Clifton. He established the practice to support businesses in the music and tech space to develop, troubleshoot and optimise their strategies. As Clifton Consults has evolved, the practice has engaged on projects for small tech start-ups all the way to frontline major labels. It has helped clients deliver answers to challenging questions, to overcome obstacles and to rethink or evolve both what they do and how they do it . The projects mirror some of the topics Patrick covers on his Tunes and Tales blog on Medium

Clifton Consults lists Universal Music, Warner Music, BMG, Edition Records and vinyl start-ups Press On Vinyl and Fairsound among its clients. 

Patrick has over 25 years’ experience working in both music and technology, experience which is brought to bear for clients looking to bridge the often contrasting cultures of these distinct fields of business. His career started in the independent music sector where he worked at Independiente,  Zomba and Blue Mountain Music as well as seminal nightclub, The End.  He joined Amazon in Seattle in 2011, relocating to the UK in 2012.  Over the next ten years he helped transform Amazon’s music business in the UK, where he launched the firm’s music streaming service and helped to grow it to take the position as number two in the market behind Spotify. In 2019 Patrick was appointed Head of Music for UK, Australia and New Zealand, a general management role overseeing Amazon’s streaming, download and retail businesses.

Patrick left Amazon in 2022 to take a leadership role in the vinyl records industry.  He set up Clifton Consults in 2023.

Patrick holds an M.A from Cambridge University and an M.B.A from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, where he also won the G. Robert Strauss Marketing Prize. He is also an occasional writer of fiction and drama and a DJ.