The Music Week Awards return on Thursday, April 26 – it’s the biggest night in the music industry calendar as top executives compete for the prizes and earn the respect of their peers. As the anticipation builds, here Music Week answers all your questions about the ceremony - from who's hosting to what's on the menu. Now all that remains to be revealed for this year's awards are the winners, who will each be presented with their trophy on the night...
When is it?: Arrivals are at 6pm with networking drinks, dinner starts at 7pm and the first awards are presented from 8.45pm.
Where is it?: Grosvenor House Hotel, 86-90 Park Lane, Mayfair, London W1K 7TN
What’s for dinner?: The main course is English lamb cutlet – vegetarians will be served a Parmigiana and gnocchi dish.
Who’s presenting?: Lauren Laverne returns for top-notch hosting at the Music Week Awards. The award-winning presenter is a daily fixture on the morning show on BBC 6 Music, which has a healthy 2.34 million listeners. As the former singer in EMI-signed Kenickie, she also knows a thing or two about the music industry.
Who’s sponsoring?: This year’s sponsors are – in no particular order – The Box Plus Network, Louder, Official Charts Company, OuterInsight, PPL, Proper Music Group, Radiomonitor, Skiddle, and MQA. PRS Foundation are our charity partners and Tape London is our Platinum Partner.
Who’s nominated?: Only the best of the best in the music business. There are too many to mention here but check out the full list of hopefuls ahead of the night. There was a record number of entries this year in 22 categories. Reigning champions Syco will be competing with Atlantic, Columbia, Polydor, Virgin EMI and Warner Bros in the highly prestigious Record Company category. And A&R will be a hotly-contested category with top talent development teams from Atlantic, Black Butter Records, Capitol Records, Columbia Records, Dirty Hit, Island Records, Polydor, Syco Music and Warner Bros Records.
The Music Week Awards recognise the whole of the biz from live and law firms to publishing and retail. The Manager Of The Year category is going to be another heavyweight contest, with managers and management teams for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher, Rag’N’Bone Man, Skepta, Stormzy, Clean Bandit and Lana Del Rey all in the frame.
What is The Strat?: The biggest award of the night, The Strat is the Music Week Awards’ lifetime achievement category. Named after Tony Stratton-Smith (a manager and label boss nicknamed ‘Strat’), it’s awarded privately by the Music Week team and recognises the career of a true industry icon and innovator – previous winners include Jazz Summers, Sir Lucian Grainge, Michael Eavis, Rob Stringer and Sir Richard Branson. Last year’s packed ceremony saw First Access Entertainment CEO Sarah Stennett honoured with the special award.
How can I get a ticket?: Tickets for this year’s record-breaking ceremony are now completely sold out. To join the reserve list, please e-mail Becky Hancock on bhancock@nbmedia.com. And, if you can't beg, steal or borrow a ticket, Music Week will have comprehensive coverage of the awards ceremony online, on our social media platforms and in the print editions dated April 30 and May 7.
Where’s the after show party?: Tape London (nearby at 17 Hanover Square) will be the scene of jubilation and perhaps some commiseration. See you there…
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