Last night (April 5) the 2017 Music Week Awards in association with Amazon Music took over London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, with the after party at Tape. As the UK's only music awards that recognise labels, publishing, live, retail, A&R, radio, marketing and PR, it was a huge night for the industry. Not only did the night produce some big winners, and some incredible moments, it also generated some absolutely stellar quotes from up on the stage. Here we collect 10 of the very best...
“If I were to be reborn as a woman, I would like to be Sarah Stennett”
Len Blavatnik, Access Industries founder and owner of Warner Music
“I will leave you with one final thought: let’s support the young people we work with, let’s allow them to express themselves, let’s help guide them through their mistakes. To the young people in this room who feel they can’t always express themselves in a room full of experienced executives or who aren’t always heard, to those navigating the unchartered waters of a rapidly changing industry, I encourage you to be brave, embrace your individuality and in the words of my father, hang on in there.”
Sarah Stennett, First Access Entertainment
“The ‘90s was a pretty weird time to be a teenage girl in the music industry. In the course of our not particularly successful 4-year career, we were interviewed for a TV show in Stringfellows. Apparently this seemed like the logical place to do that with teenage girls. Times change. The upside was that we learned the correct way to pour champagne… which is all over the tits.”
Lauren Laverne, 6 Music & Music Week Awards presenter
“I found some paperwork the other day, it is 15 years ago this week that I was told my old Radio 1 Sunday evening session was going to be axed because, and I quote, ‘I had lost touch with the audience’. I was going to pack it in but then I got the call from 6 Music and everything changed.”
Steve Lamacq, 6 Music
“Thank you to everyone that gives me the opportunity to share music that I genuinely love and believe in. I grew up having a real serious connection to music. If I can share that with people that want to hear it, then that’s my life made. Thank you very much.”
MistaJam, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra
“We’ve been at it for 47 years and we’re still winning - isn’t that great!”
Michael Eavis CBE, Glastonbury founder
“I think the majority of this campaign came from toilet breaks at 3am [while] being heavily pregnant, where you just need the loo all the time.”
Sophie Hilton, Decca Records
“We’d like to give recognition to all the grassroots venues – this is kind of a turning point in that we’re not seen as toilet venues on tour anymore. There’s a lot of good, hard work and creativity [going on] and, essentially, without people in small venues across the country, no one would be sat here now. That’s the scene of creativity, and that’s what we should be championing.”
Nathan Clark, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
“Thank you for that particularly ‘warm’ welcome. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the clients. We haven’t got time to name them all, but it would be remiss of me not to mention two people – and I’d rather not have to because they’re no longer here. One of them was Amy Winehouse, the other was George Michael. They are much loved, much missed, and we are all more poorer for them not being around.”
Chris Organ, Russells Solicitors
“We hope to change the relationship our audience has with donating, leaving behind the traditional emotional ads that focus on guilt and replacing them with a positive and compelling feeling to join our movement.”
Liana Mellotte, War Child
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