Safta Jaffery (6 March 1958 – 25 September 2017) was the British founder and owner of one of the first producer management companies in the United Kingdom called SJP/Dodgy Productions. The company's producers produced albums for artists such as Radiohead, The Stone Roses, Roger Waters, Rolling Stones, Razorlight, Supergrass, Coldplay and The Cure, among others. They amassed over 150 certified platinum, gold and silver sales awards all across the globe. Jaffery was also the co-owner and managing director of the music publishing company Taste Music, Ltd. and the artist management company (and former record label) Taste Media, Ltd. Taste Media managed and produced a number of high-profile artists, most notably discovering, and representing the rock band Muse.
Safta Jaffery in France in 2017.
Early years and education
Safta (Safder) was born in London, England the son Dr. Syed Shabbir Ali Jaffery a prominent Anesthesiologist and consultant who worked in London, at Hackney Hospital and also in Mosul, Iraq. Safder spent his early childhood in Hyderabad, India, living with his grandmother and sister Aliya. Safta’s parents (Dr. Shabbir Jaffery and Laique Begum Jaffery) moved him back to London to attend secondary school at Spencer Park School in Wandsworth, London. Safder was a popular student and excelled academically and was appointed as a prefect. He discovered his love for music whilst at school and formed a band and performed live concerts as the lead singer. He had three brothers Jeff (Hyder), Aka (Akbar) and Mazher. Safta was initially married to Angie living in Croydon and then married again to Nadia and lived in Wimbledon. He has two children with Nadia; Annisa and Amir. He was a devoted father and husband.
Jaffery started his career in the late 1970s and early 1980s working in the A&R departments for Dick James Music, Decca Records, MAM Records and Magnet Records. In 1985, Jaffery set up the producer management company SJP/Dodgy Productions. The original roster included John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead), Mark Dodson (The Who, Anthrax), Pete Hammond (New Musik/Latin Quarter) and Chris Cameron (Hot Chocolate, George Michael). Other producer clients added in the 1990s included Michael Brauer (Coldplay/The Kooks), Ian Caple (Tricky/Tindersticks), David M. Allen (The Cure/The Charlatans), Chris Kimsey (Rolling Stones/INXS), Mark Plati (Prince/David Bowie), Chris Allison (Wedding Present/Shack), Tony Mansfield (B52's/Aha) and Nick Griffiths (Roger Waters/Pink Floyd).
Present clients include John Leckie, Ron Saint Germain (311, Tool, Bad Brains), Laurie Latham (Stereophonics/Jools Holland), Chris Brown (Beatles Anthologies/Starsailor). These producers have amassed over 150 certified platinum, gold and silver sales awards.
In 1994, Jaffery was asked by the Yamaha Music Foundation, a Japanese music production company, to assist them in widening the appeal of the Japanese group Chage & Aska outside of the Pacific Rim. The group had sold 45 million albums in their region, but had not been successful yet elsewhere. Jaffrey devised the concept of the international collaboration featuring western pop stars recording the songs of Chage & Aska. After meeting with heads of major record companies in Los Angeles, Jaffrey secured fifteen major international artists to record the album, and was awarded the title "International Executive Producer" to produce it. The resulting album entitled One Voice featured the artists Lisa Stansfield, Apache Indian, Michael Hutchence (of INXS), Rick Astley, Cathy Dennis, Maxi Priest/Shaggy, Wendy Matthews, Marianne Faithfull, Alejandro Sanz, Londonbeat and Boy George. The album, which began under Jaffrey's direction and supervision, was licensed to EMI Premier in the United Kingdom for world distribution. To date, the album was sold in 500,000 copies worldwide.
Taste Music and Taste Media
In 1996, Jaffrey co-founded two new companies, Taste Media, Ltd. and Taste Music, Ltd. As co-owner and managing director for both companies, Jaffery secured numerous territorial worldwide license record deals with various independent and major labels with a portfolio of artists including Muse, Vega 4, One Minute Silence, Shed Seven, Sundae Club and Serafin. Under his management, the company's artists sold more than 5 million copies across six album releases combined, achieving numerous platinum awards, one IFPI Award and 15 gold award sales discs. Artists represented by Taste Media also achieved Brit Awards, Q Awards, NME Awards, Kerrang! Awards, Music Week Awards and MTV Music Awards. In 2005, Warner Music purchased Taste Media, although Jaffrey retained the name logo and brand and re-launched the company in 2008.