The Music Week Awards 2024 has almost arrived… and we’re excited about this one for a number of reasons (some of which will have to stay under wraps until the night itself).
The May 2 ceremony is the biggest night in the music industry calendar as careers and achievements are celebrated across 25 categories. The Music Week Awards is unique in covering all sectors of the thriving UK music business.
This year’s ceremony takes place as the industry marked a huge achievement in the past week with the biggest weekly vinyl sales in 30 years, thanks to the combined effect of Record Store Day and Taylor Swift.
The Music Week Awards 2024 reflects success in campaigns last year – a ninth consecutive year of growth for British recorded music. It was also a busy year for the live sector with touring and festivals back to full strength in 2023 following the pandemic.
Here’s what to look out for at this year’s ceremony…
1 CHANGE OF VENUE
If you’re wandering around a little lost in Battersea Park at 6.15pm, you’ve made a terrible mistake. This year’s Music Week Awards has made the move to the JW Marriott Grosvener House London, Park Lane, W1.
2 SOLD-OUT CEREMONY
There were a record number of entries for this year’s Music Week Awards. And there was a rush for tickets to the ceremony with the event selling out well in advance.
Guests will now have their e-tickets for the ceremony, which begins with doors opening for networking drinks at 5.45pm, followed by dinner at 7pm and the awards at 9pm.
3 NEW HOST
Dotty, Apple Music’s lead cultural curator of Black Music, UK and the host of The Dotty Show, is hosting this year’s ceremony. The Apple Music 1 show is nominated in the Radio Show category.
“I’ve been to the Music Week Awards before and really felt the sense of occasion,” said Dotty in our digital cover feature. “But I’ve never won an award, so I’ve always been the bridesmaid instead of the bride, but now I’m going straight to being the priest!”
4 AWARD CONTESTS
There are always some fascinating contests at the Music Week Awards – see all this year’s finalists here.
The big one for the recorded music sector is the Record Company category, which will be announced on stage after 10pm. EMI will be defending their title against contenders including Polydor (winners for three years running from 2019 to 2021), Atlantic (victors in 2022), Columbia, Decca, Insanity, Island, Ministry Of Sound, RCA, Relentless and Warner Records Parlophone Label Group.
5 GLOBAL IMPACT
Back for a second year following its successful launch in 2023, the International Marketing Team category recognises the success of UK labels in growing the profile of acts in global territories.
The teams recognised have helped UK-signed artists – including the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Cian Ducrot, Fred Again.., PinkPantheress, Libianca, Casso, PJ Harvey, Grian Chatten, Jungle, Little Simz, Lovejoy, Arlo Parks, Raye, Jorja Smith and NSG – achieve an international impact.
The International Marketing Team category will be a competition between majors (Sony Music UK, Universal Music UK, Warner Music UK), indies (Partisan, PIAS) and artist/label services companies (AWAL, The Orchard).
6 CATALOGUE SUCCESS
With the power of catalogue becoming more evident in the streaming era, it’s fair to say that competition in the Catalogue Marketing Campaign category has been hotting up in recent years.
This year’s line-up includes some true greats such as Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Kinks and Fela Kuti, pop icons including Wham! and Madonna, plus acts such as Haim and Miguel who made their mark with catalogue releases for the first time.
7 CHARITY PARTNER
Music Minds Matter is the event charity partner for this year. Music Minds Matter offers free, confidential support to everyone in the UK music industry, alongside online sessions, peer support networks and online resources.
You’ll hear more about the charity on the night. In the meantime, catch up with our interview with Grace Meadows, the new head of Music Minds Matter.
8 NEW TECH
Technology and music are growing ever closer as industry leaders work to help artists cut through and build audiences globally.
This year’s Music Consumer Innovation category includes entries drawing on AI (Spotify DJ), social media initiatives (Meta Loves Music London, TikTok & Eurovision), spatial audio (Amazon Music & George Ezra) and even a new music format (Yoto cards featuring Universal acts The Beatles and Queen).
9 INDUSTRY ICON
Alongside the 24 judged categories, The Strat recipient is chosen by the Music Week team in recognition of outstanding achievements – read up on the history of the prestigious award here.
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 CAA super agent Emma Banks (2023), 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 AFTER PARTY
Make sure to stick around for the Music Week Awards after party at the venue. BBC 1Xtra’s rising star Kaylee Golding (who presents on air weekdays from 1-4pm) will be spinning the tunes as the celebrations continue into the night.
Sponsors and partners for this year's Music Week Awards include Deezer, PRS For Music, Downtown, Blinding Talent, Believe, Wise Music, PPL, SoundCloud, RadioMonitor, Music Venue Trust, Official Charts Company and charity partner Music Minds Matter.
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
