Christopher John Gilbey OAM (born 13 May 1946, Islington) is an English-born Australian entrepreneur and music industry identity.
His more recent activities are in the field of materials science and signals processing from graphene-coated materials, a long way from the career he is best known for: shaping the careers of recording artists such as INXS, Tommy Emmanuel, Keith Urban, The Church, The Saints, AC/DC, Wa Wa Nee, Euphoria, Edith Bliss and Stevie Wright.
[citation needed] Gilbey joined the Australian music label Albert Productions in 1973, where he began as A&R manager and subsequently became vice-president of A&R.
At Alberts, Gilbey was deeply involved in the promotion of AC/DC,[3] including producing or designing the band's controversial radio advertisements and album covers.
Gilbey's production credits with Alberts include Grahame Lowndes' "Survival's A Song", SJC Powell's "Celestial Madness" and Bartholomew John's "Someone".
Gilbey left ATV Northern Songs at the time that the company was acquired by Robert Holmes a Court, and established a venture with MCA Music.
During the next eleven years Gilbey built one of the most successful independent publishing companies in Australia and signed writers such as Allan Caswell, INXS, Noiseworks, Peter Blakeley, Tommy Emmanuel, Sharon O'Neill, Shona Laing, Don Spencer and Wa Wa Nee, as well as producing hit records with The Sunnyboys and Doug Mulray.
[12] Gilbey became Entrepreneur In Residence at ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science where he developed spin-out opportunities for the center's scientific research.
He produced AdBioFab, consisting of three conferences a year bringing together industry, research and government to explore themes in 3D printing and medical bionics.
In 2012 he wrote the business plan and developed the strategy for the successful spinout of a hydrogen production technology company, AquaHydrex.