The Music Week Awards is almost here… Tonight we celebrate the achievements of the music industry across 24 categories.
Tables and tickets have long sold out for our biggest ever edition of the ceremony, which returns to Evolution London in Battersea.
The awards categories will once again provide a fascinating series of contests. Remember, this is for achievements in 2022, so some of this year’s big artist campaigns – including a phenomenal performance by Lewis Capaldi’s second album this week – will be able to stake their claim at next year’s ceremony.
Read on for what to expect at the Music Week Awards 2023…
1. RECORD ATTENDANCE
The music industry has seen consistent growth in recent years, a success story reflected in the annual celebration of achievements across the sector. As a result, the Music Week Awards keeps getting bigger even while the number of categories remains the same.
There were a record number of entries for this year’s awards and, following the publication of our finalists in March, the event soon sold out. As a result, this will be our biggest ever Music Week Awards with more than 1,400 guests.
2. NEW HOST
BBC Radio 1 star Vick Hope is our new awards presenter for 2023. As she’s taking on Music Week Awards duties, you won’t hear her on air at drivetime today as the station has kindly given her a break.
“Celebrating the achievements of the teams behind the biggest and brightest artists and the people who help shape the cultural moments and soundtracks to our lives is a real pleasure,” said Vick Hope, as she was unveiled as our host for 2023.
Catch up with our digital cover to find out more about the Radio 1 star, including her commitment to new music, favourite festivals, and her pride in the success of fellow Geordie Sam Fender.
3. NEW AWARDS
New for 2023, the International Marketing Team Of The Year recognises the success of UK labels in growing the profile of acts in global territories. The category makes its bow this year with a contest between BMG UK, Partisan, PIAS, Sony Music Entertainment UK, Universal Music UK and Warner Music UK.
Live Music Agency has also been rejigged to recognise the collective achievements of the nominated companies, including ATC Live, CAA, Mother Artists, Primary Talent International, Pure Represents, UTA, Wasserman Music, WME and X-Ray Touring.
4. RETURNING CATEGORIES
This year’s ceremony also sees the return of the popular category, Festival Of The Year. Our other live categories returned last year, but with festivals we held back as 2022 was the first full season of events since Covid.
The category will be contested by events including Bluedot, BST Hyde Park, Creamfields, End Of The Road, Liverpool Sound City, Reading & Leeds Festival, Southbank Centre: Grace Jones’ Meltdown, Standon Calling, Tramlines, TRNSMT and Wireless Festival.
5. TITLE DEFENCE
Winning a Music Week Award is a huge achievement, but then the pressure is on to retain the trophy. In recent years, Polydor had a great run as Record Company Of The Year three times, while Atlantic (Promotions Team) and BBC Radio 6 Music (Radio Station) have had periods of Man City-style dominance.
Current holders in some major categories are in the running once again, including Atlantic Records (Record Company Of The Year), Polydor (A&R Award), Universal Music Recordings (Catalogue Marketing for ABBA), Sony Music Publishing (Publisher Of The Year) and BBC Radio 1 (Radio Station Of The Year).
6. UK TALENT
Although it’s an industry awards show, the Music Week Awards is, naturally, all about the music. So powerful British artist campaigns from 2022 will be at the heart of the ceremony, whether that’s the rise of Sam Ryder (whose manager David May has a nod), the global pre-eminence of Harry Styles (recognition for Columbia across multiple categories including Artist Marketing Campaign, as well as UMPG) and the breakthrough by Cat Burns (Artist Marketing for Since ’93/RCA).
7. MUSIC & TECH
Music Consumer Innovation was a new category launched in 2019, when it was largely recognising innovations by DSPs. Since then, it’s flourished to represent the full gamut of music and tech partnerships.
Alongside finalists including Amazon Music, Spotify and YouTube, this year we recognise NFT campaigns for Muse and The Amazons, Vevo’s relaunched TV app powering smart TV viewing and an innovative 5G festival featuring performers in multiple locations, staged by Metropolis Studios.
8. 50TH BIRTHDAYS
Congratulations to headline sponsor the BPI, who are marking their 50th anniversary at the Music Week Awards 2023. The trade body is also sponsoring the A&R Award, a key category in which its label members will be going head to head. Click here for a history of the BPI from our latest edition.
We’re also recognising five decades of Wise Music Group, our drinks reception sponsor. The music publisher is concluding its year of anniversary celebrations. So that's 100 years of industry expertise on just a few tables at our awards.
9. A LEGENDARY MUSIC EXECUTIVE
Alongside the 24 judged categories, The Strat recipient is chosen by the Music Week team in recognition of outstanding achievements.
The award was named after Tony Stratton-Smith (nicknamed ‘Strat’), a former journalist who became a larger-than-life industry character as a manager and the founder of Charisma Records.
Previous winners include PR guru Barbara Charone (2022), MOBO founder Kanya King (2021), Darcus Beese (2019) and Max Lousada (2018). This year’s winner will be revealed at the ceremony’s conclusion…
10. PARTY TIME
The after party starts as soon as the final award has been handed out, so stick around for a DJ set by BBC Introducing tastemaker Abbie McCarthy, a former Music Week Awards finalist.
Click here for this year’s Music Week Awards finalists.
To make sure you don’t miss out on next year’s Music Week Awards ceremony, for all table enquiries please contact: Kate.Smith@futurenet.com
