2024Â Artist & Manager Awards returns to the Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday 21 November 01 Mar 2024
The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and the Music Managers Forum (MMF) are delighted to reveal that our annual awards ceremony, the Artist & Manager Awards, returns to London’s Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday 21st November 2024.
The prestigious event celebrates both the creative artists who release music and perform shows and their entrepreneurial partners who help them build businesses.
Over the years, the Awards has recognised some of the most illustrious names in music, and ticket sales for 2024’s event will go live in coming weeks - with the first winners to be revealed soon after.
Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive, Music Managers Forum & David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition said: “The Artist & Manager Awards is a real high point in the calendar. It’s a particularly busy time of year, so we’re encouraging all to save the date now for 2024’s ceremony and look forward to delivering another special celebration of our community. Please get in touch now if you wish to sponsor an award or reserve a table.”
At last year’s ceremony, which was headlined sponsored by beatBread, we recognised the enduring success of Duran Duran and their long-time manager Wendy Laister with our coveted lifetime award for Artist & Manager Partnership.
On receiving this joint recognition, Wendy said: “As managers our role is to empower artists, to guide them, and to ensure that their voices are heard. To be acknowledged for this work is both humbling and motivating. Thank you to the Music Managers Forum and the Featured Artists Coalition for this incredible honour and for acknowledging the importance of enduring partnerships in an industry known for its ephemeral nature.”
Also attending the ceremony with a surprise appearance was Central Cee, who took to the stage as his manager, Bello, received a hugely deserved award for Manager of The Year.
“When I started managing Cench, I didn’t do it for the money,” said Bello. “I saw a kid who had a lot of talent and I just wanted to stand by him and be someone who he could trust blindly and help him reach his goals. I personally do this for the kids who had a similar upbringing to myself who have loads of talent and often go overlooked. It’s 24/7, non-stop and we’ve both made huge sacrifices in life to make this dream come true. Hopefully I can expand and do a great service for many other artists in the future. And if not, inspire the next generation who will.”
Other 2023 awardees were Nia Archives, Tinie Tempah, Forever Living Originals, The Cookie Crew, The Band Formerly Known As Easy Life, Jorja Smith, Louise Latimer (manager of Self Esteem & The Big Moon), The Flight Club and the Culture Media & Sport Select Committee.
Relive highlights from last year’s ceremony in our 2023 After Movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUGh05uXvC4
Over 600 attendees came to the 2023 Artist & Manager Awards from all corners of the industry, while individual award sponsors included Hipgnosis Songs, PPL, Amazon Music and TikTok.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities or tickets, please contact Annika Craine - annika@themmf.net
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THE HEADLINES
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How far should cultural boycotts go? (see Features)
How Subvert is building a co-op owned Bandcamp alternative (see Digital)
Lucian Grainge outlines UMG’s strategy for generative AI partnerships and product development (see News)
The future of music streaming: Change or be changed (see Comment)
Sam Altman: the man who stole the rights from copyright. If he’s the future, can we go backwards? (see Features)
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl discusses the company's “tremendous catalogue” (see Features)
There’s a £1 idea that could save small music venues. Is Live Nation holding it back? (see Features)
Breaking down the arguments around VMG’s Downtown Music acquisition (see Analysis)
Vevo report shows how fandom turns passion into impact and purchasing power (see Reports)
The music industry must plan for the day when AI music-generation tools produce humanlike music in bulk (see Features)
Price cap on ticket resales set to be introduced (see News)
Raye and Sony’s Jon Platt speak out for songwriters at Ivors Academy Honours Ceremony (see News)
Does Daniel Ek deserve to be the richest ever man in music? (see Comment)
Independent music community publishes '100 Voices' on why Universal’s acquisition of Downtown should be blocked (see News)