Alexi Cory-Smith, co-founder and CEO of London-based catalog firm Bella Figura Music, and formerly an executive at BMG’s U.K. division, has died. She was 58.
“We are devastated to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of our co-founder and CEO, Alexi Cory-Smith,” said a statement released on Friday (July 3) by Bella Figura, who manages the rights of evergreen hits like Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.”
“Alexi built Bella Figura Music from the ground up, bringing the vision and passion from a successful career in the music industry. Her leadership, creativity, and unwavering commitment to our team and our work leaves a lasting legacy,” the firm said in remembrance of Cory-Smith.
“Our thoughts are with Alexi’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement continued. “We ask that their privacy be respected. We are committed to honouring Alexi’s vision and achievements and will share further updates when we are able. In the meantime, our focus is on supporting one another and remembering an extraordinary leader who meant so much to all of us.”
In a statement sent to Billboard, BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) CEO Jo Twist said, “We are profoundly saddened to learn of the passing of Alexi Cory-Smith. She made a highly valued contribution as a leading figure in our music industry, including as BPI Council member when representing BMG, and we extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends and colleagues on their great loss.”
Cory-Smith opened the doors of Bella Figura in 2022 alongside longtime colleague Neelesh Prabhu.
“For us, it’s quality, class, it’s successful, it’s curatable. I began Bella Figura with a very simple thing: I wanted to own my own publishing company,” Cory-Smith said in an interview on The Money Trench podcast, speaking of her turn to entrepreneurship after accumulating years of professional experience across major labels.
Of putting everything into Bella Figura, she noted, “It’s the best thing I ever did in my life, personally, selfishly and professionally. I love this business … It’s learning and doing and making mistakes all at the same time, but it’s fantastic. It’s the thing I’m proudest of. It’s the thing, I love it, I get up every day super excited.”
As of 2025, Bella Figura had accumulated a portfolio worth more than $160 million. The London-based firm made a push into the U.S. market, bringing on industry vet Gary Gersh to open an office in Los Angeles last year.
An acquisition of producer/songwriter Paul Epworth’s publishing catalog in April 2026 added more major hits to the firm’s growing collection — including co-writes and productions from Adele’s 21 (“Rolling in the Deep”) and the James Bond theme “Skyfall,” and his work from Florence + The Machine’s Lungs and Ceremonials albums. “For us, acquiring Paul’s catalog defines what Bella Figura was built to do,” Cory-Smith said at the time. “His body of work speaks for itself. Songs that have moved hundreds of millions of people and stand the test of time.”
Before launching Bella Figura, Cory-Smith held notable leadership roles at BMG U.K. over the course of several years — last serving as president, repertoire and marketing, at the time of her departure from the company in 2017. There, she led the label’s publishing and recordings business, spearheading relationships with key artists including the Rolling Stones and Roger Waters.
“The Rolling Stones deal — well, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards specifically, because it was about them as writers and the songs — that was for me, a turning point. Very distinctly,” she said in her appearance on The Money Trench, recounting a milestone professional accomplishment.
Prior to BMG, she worked at Virgin, EMI and more, after moving her way up from being what she humbly described as “basically office junior, girl Friday, do it all” at her first job in the business, at IRS Records.
Unaware of the opportunities that she’d one day make for herself in the music industry, she originally thought she’d be a criminal lawyer. “I was going to save the innocent man from the establishment,” she recalled on The Money Trench. Though criminal law wasn’t her calling, she found she loved the work of making a deal and did pursue a law degree she’d apply to her career in music, before delving into learning and becoming an expert in the publishing business.
“It was worth every second and every penny and every tear,” she said of the work she and her team have put into continuously building Bella Figura. “I don’t regret a second, but it wasn’t easy.”
“I’d like it to go and go,” she said of her vision of her firm’s future.
