The Return of The Young Music Boss Awards 2023: Nominations Announced! 27 Jan 2023
A unique awards programme celebrating the outstanding achievements of the music industry’s unsung heroes.
Young Music Boss (YMB) welcomes the new year by announcing the return of the YMB Awards (YMBA). Taking place on 20 April at Woolwich Works in London, this remarkable event recognises the future of the music business by celebrating the executive and entrepreneurial talent behind the scenes.
The YMBA was born from the desire to highlight the achievements of those who are often overlooked and underrepresented in their respective fields. In 2022 we saw Central Cee score a number one album while conquering Global markets and witnessed an incredible campaign which landed Stormzy his third number one album, YMBA awards the executive talents who orchestrate these incredible successes in British music.
The music industry is constantly evolving, and YMBA strives to be innovative and adapt to changes within it by defying the traditional music award categories. This year the Awards ceremony welcomes two new categories to highlight areas of the business that generally remain in the shadows: ‘Best Marketer’ and ‘Best Tour Manager’ proudly sponsored by Live Nation, commenting “Live Nation supports Young Music Boss in its strategy to build networks for young music entrepreneurs. We are proud to sponsor the new category of ‘Best Tour Manager’ at the YMB awards this April 2023, as part of our efforts to encourage young people, from any background, into the live music industry.”
While the previous year’s individual and group categories will make a return, such as ‘Best Manager, Best Lawyer, Best A&R, Best Label, Best Service Agency and Best Digital Platform’ (to name a few). The Awards also feature a headline category ‘Music Entrepreneur of The Year’ sponsored by AIM (The Association of Independent Music) with the winner announced pre-show. Other sponsors and partners include the MMF Accelerator (Music Managers Forum) and PPL more.
The nominees were submitted by organisations and individuals across the industry which was then voted to a shortlist by a panel of judges consisting of respected industry professionals, ahead of public vote opening at 6pm on Thursday 26h January 2023 at www.ymbawards.co.uk/vote.
Powered by renowned tech company CEEK, the Awards will be exclusively streamed on www.ceek.com with winners gifted two of CEEK’s most in demand products, the 4D headphones and the CEEK VR 360 headset along with the YMBA trophy.
Jusnah Gadi, Founder says: “Our aim at YMB is to empower and support young music professionals. The idea to host an awards evening was driven by the apparent lack of visibility of so many incredible creatives and entrepreneurs doing massive things to energise and innovate the industry. We hope this event helps to bring them to the forefront.”
And the nominees are…
Individual
- BEST MANAGER
- Love Mavunga (Juls)
- Y Beez ( Central Cee)
- Mark Henry (Knucks)
- Tobe Onwuka (Stormzy)
- Anique Cox (Bree Runway)
- BEST PUBLICITY & RELATIONS
- Arati Popat (Unknown T, Lowski, Mostack)
- Rachel Campbell (Stormzy + Various at Wired PR)
- Lisa Boateng (Various at Huxley PR)
- Sheniece Charway ( Youtube Music)
- Abisola O (Columbia Records)
- BEST RADIO / ONLINE PERSONALITY
- Nella Rose
- Young Filly / Chunkz
- Zeze Millz
- Remi Burgz
- Yinka Mbokini
- BEST PRESENTER
- Henry V
- Remel london
- Samuel Eni
- Monikah Lee
- Tega Alexander
- BEST DJ
- Rachel Anson
- Tiffany Calver
- DJ P Montana
- DJ Skyla Tylaa
- DJ Kenny Allstar
- BEST MARKETER
- Jacqueline Eyewe (Stormzy)
- Knacai Ceres-Mcleod (Motown)
- Luke James Pascoe (Plug & Pattern)
- Stephanie Adamu (Empire)
- Patricia Odje (DLT)
- BEST DIRECTOR
- Kalvie Peterson
- Daps (Flex God Daps)
- Ray Fiasco
- Troy Roscoe
- Gabriel Moses
- BEST PRODUCER
- Juls
- Jae5
- P2J Richard Olowaranti Mbu Isong
- Knox Brown
- Litek & WhyJay
- BEST PUBLISHER
- Shauni Caballero (Sony Music Publishing )
- Zaza Kazadi (BMG)
- Chi Chi Nwakodo (Sony Music Publishing)
- Chris Grey (UMPG)
- BEST LAWYER
- Wale Kalejaye (Sheridans)
- Anthony Orum (BSM)
- Michael Lucas (Lee & Thompson)
- Oviri Clarke (Warner Chapel)
- BEST STYLIST
- Melissa’s Wardrobe
- Leah Abbott
- Alize Demange
- Jennifer Eleto
- Suarvo
- BEST PHOTOGRAPHER
- Fiasal Hassan
- Jahnay Tennai
- Rackzmedia
- Andrew Timms
- Gabriel Moses
- BEST JOURNALIST
- Mimi the Music Blogger
- Tara Joshi
- Christine Ochefu
- Traploreross
- Kyann-Sian Williams
- BEST A&R
- Samuel Adebayor (UMG)
- Glen Sonko (0207 Def Jam)
- Carlyn Calder (Scribz Riley)
- Niyah Smith (Graduation Records)
- Jade Busola (Atlantic Records)
- BEST TOUR MANAGER
- Janelle Fraser (Stormzy, Dave etc at Tourlife Management)
- The Live Source (Eni, Unknown T, Young T & Bugsey)
- Harle Laviniere
- London the Plug
- BEST AGENT
- Craig D´Souza (WME)
- Whitney Boateng (Wme)
- Hannah Shogbola (UTA)
- Ant Brown (CAA)
Groups
- BEST DIGITAL PLATFORM
- GRM Daily
- MixtapeMadness
- No Signal
- The Blues Project
- Groundworks
- BEST PUBLICATION
- GUAP
- Viper Mag
- TRENCH
- The Grape Juice
- BEST LIVE MUSIC PLATFORM
- Strawberries & Creem Festival
- DLT
- YAM Carnival
- Soul Surge
- I AM Next
- BEST (SERVICE) AGENCY
- Sanctuary LDN
- VAMP
- Metallic INC
- Translate NC
- TheZooxyz
- BEST LABEL
- 0207 Def Jam
- Graduation Records
- 5K Records
- Finesse Foreva
- Rebel Records
More information on the categories and nominees can be found at www.ymbawards.co.uk.
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THE HEADLINES
Hipgnosis Song Management fires back at Songs Fund board (see Business)
Blackstone bid for Hipgnosis receives backing from board (see Business)
Taylor Swift’s new album breaks Spotify records (see News)
Independence - what’s up with that BPI press release about 2023 music consumption? (see Comment)
Creator Remuneration Working Group meet for the first time (see News)
Concord's takeover of Hipgnosis (see Analysis)
Concord set to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund (see Business)
Is the music industry gaslighting artists? (see Comment)
BPI’s new Yearbook highlights an independent sector growing for a sixth consecutive year (see Reports)
Can’t cross the moat? Walk around it. (see Comment)
The conversation around Fandom needs to change (see Opinion)
Viagogo: Carrying on ticketing, despite the controversy (see News)
Taylor Swift songs return to TikTok (see Digital)
Spotify plans new remixing tools for the TikTok generation (see Digital)
Is Spotify plotting a largescale push into short-form video? (see Digital)
AIM CEO Silvia Montello resigns for personal reasons (see News)
The techification of entertainment (and why it needs to reverse) (see Comment)
AI music startup Udio launches backed by artists and Instagram’s co-founder (see Digital)
Artists are seeing their music removed from DSPs for streaming fraud they didn’t commit (see Features)