The Music Business UK Awards took place last night (November 4) at the Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden, London.
The sold-out UK-focused ceremony, presented by MBW in association with YouTube, recognized and celebrated artistic and industry talent across songwriting, production, record labels, music publishers, talent management, and more.
The first major honor of the night went to Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), who received the International Executive of the Year award, sponsored by PRS For Music.
The prestigious Sir George Martin Award, meanwhile, went to RCA Records Chairman and CEO, Peter Edge, presented on stage by Steve Lacy.
In his acceptance speech, Edge paid tribute to the award’s namesake, telling the audience: “Growing up in small-town Nuneaton, Warwickshire, I spent hours in my bedroom lost in music. And the Beatles were part of the firmament. They’ve remained that for me, a touchstone I’ve gone back to time and again throughout my career.”
He added: “So tonight, to have my name spoken in the same sentence as Sir George Martin’s — I’m beyond humbled.”
Edge also shared “a few guiding pillars” that he’s tried to follow during his career. “The first and most important pillar,” said Edge, is to “trust the artists”. The second is “to be patient as they grow”.
“And finally,” he added, “when you’re working with artists, you‘ve got to be willing to take risks with them. They’re so often ahead of the culture. But the true greats, they change the culture.”
He also thanked “everyone who’s supported [him] over the years and made this journey possible,” and gave a shout-out to his “Sony Music family”, including “Rob Stringer, Jason Iley, Fleck [John Fleckenstein] & the whole team at RCA”.
Other big winners of the night included Capitol Records UK, which scooped the Major Label: UK A&R Team Of The Year award off the back of successes with the likes of Olivia Dean and Sammy Virji, while Capitol’s Jo Charrington and Willem Ward won the A&R Of The Year: Pop award.
Polydor Label Group, meanwhile, which houses Capitol, Polydor Records, and 0207 Def Jam in the UK, picked up the prize for Major Label: UK Record Company/Group Of The Year, and Polydor’s Richard O’Donovan won in the A&R Of The Year: Alternative category.
Elsewhere, Publisher Of The Year (in the ‘major’ publisher category) was scooped by Kobalt, while the award for Artist/Label Services company, judged solely on UK-signed independent projects made by the nominees, went to The Orchard.
Artist Management Company of the Year went to Ignition, UROK & Debbie Gwyther (in recognition of their joint success with Oasis’ record-breaking global comeback tour), while Owain Davies (Sam Fender) won individual Manager of the Year honors.
Milk & Honey won Songwriter/Producer Management Company of the Year.
In addition to our headline partner YouTube, supporters of this year’s Awards included Hipgnosis, Milk & Honey, PPL, PRS For Music, Spotify, TikTok, Vevo and Chorus.
Here’s every winner:
International Executive Of The Year – supported by PRS For Music
Jody Gerson
Sir George Martin Award
Peter Edge
Producer Of The Year (non-featured) – Supported by YouTube
Zach Nahome
Songwriter Of The Year (non-featured) – supported by Hipgnosis
Max Wolfgang
A&R Administrator (The Forbesie) – supported by PPL
Sarah Stern, Sony Music UK
A&R Of The Year: Adult Contemporary
Glyn Aikins & Joe Iddison, RCA
A&R Of The Year: Dance/Electronic
Adrienne Bookbinder, Sony Music Publishing UK
A&R Of The Year: Pop
Jo Charrington & Willem Ward, Capitol Records UK
A&R Of The Year: Contemporary Black Music – supported by Spotify
Zaza Kazadi, Sony Music Publishing
A&R Of The Year: Alternative
Richard O’Donovan, Polydor
Trailblazer: Richard Antwi Award
DJ AG (Ashley Gordon)
Artist Lawyer Of The Year
Nicky Stein, Clintons
Business Manager of The Year
Daniel Ross, NKSFB
Breakthrough Artist Manager
Emily Braham, Yo&Co
Songwriter/Producer Management Company (UK)
Milk & Honey
UK Artist Management Company (The David Enthoven Award) – supported by Chorus TM
Ignition, UROK & Debbie Gwyther
Artist Manager Of The Year – supported by TikTok
Owain Davies, OD Management
Major Label: UK A&R Team Of The Year
Capitol Records UK
Independent Publisher Of The Year (UK)
Major Publisher Of The Year (UK) – supported by Milk & Honey
Kobalt
Artist & Label Services Company Of The Year (UK)
The Orchard
Independent Label Of The Year (UK)
NWS Music Group
Major Label: UK Record Company/Group Of The Year – supported by Vevo
Polydor Label GroupMusic Business Worldwide
