LONDON — Pet Shop Boys and Paloma Faith were among the top honorees at the 2024 Artist & Manager Awards, which also saw the creative teams behind Yungblud and British dance duo Chase & Status receive awards in recognition of commercial success for clients their.
Held at London's Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday (November 21), the annual awards show organized by UK trade bodies Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF) is one of the few industry events whose achievements are exclusively celebrated by both artists and their managers.
One of the biggest awards of the night was the artist-manager collaboration award, collected by Pet Shop Boys and their longtime manager Angela Beckerwho has represented the dance pop duo since 2009.
“At a time when we needed it, [Angela] brought good advice, organization, honesty and strategy to our lives to help us take some of our weird, spontaneous and deliberate ideas and make them come true,” singer Neil Tennant he told the audience of industry executives, artist managers, entrepreneurs and guests. “She has helped us flourish over these 16 years and we love her for it.” Tennant was joined on stage by his musical partner Chris Lowe and Becker.
“Learning the language of your client's hopes and fears will open doors to deep resonance, ensuring their work resonates in the hearts of audiences long after,” Becker replied, adding, “I'm constantly uplifted and inspired by the search for new ways to communicate the vision of the Pet Shop Boys'.
This year's icon award went to Faith, whose sixth studio album, The Glory of Sorrowreached No. 2 on the UK Official Albums Chart in February and was praised by promoters for being “politic, strong, a real person and a brilliant songwriter and artist”.
“Being called an icon is truly an honor and I certainly don't feel it when I go to school with last night's makeup halfway down my face and wearing a dirty gray tracksuit,” Faith joked. collecting the award from her longtime manager and “partner in crime” Innis Ferguson in Lateral Management.
“Innis is the person who allowed me to be more than just a singer. Her and company [Lateral Management] it's the reason I win the award because I'm not just seen as a music artist. They see me as whatever I want to be, whenever I want to be,” said Faith, who recently published a best-selling book and previously featured in an acclaimed BBC documentary. Faith went on to urge other artists to speak out about social and political issues.
“It's a waste of a platform to not be politically engaged and use your voice for good,” he told the audience. “Throughout history, musicians have always spoken about social issues. It should be part of all our work to continue to do this work. It is our duty. Please don't waste your influence on superficial things when you can make the world a better place.”
Other awards presented at the ceremony included the fan champion award, which went to Yungblud, Thomas Arnby, Adam Wood and the management team of Special Projects Music, in recognition of their “innovative and hands-on approach to building and nurturing Yungblud's fan base.”
“I will do anything for my community, everything is for them. We work every day to try to make them feel safe, to try to make them feel heard and to make them feel seen,” Yungblud, real name Dominic Harrison, said in a video acceptance speech filmed at California. They accepted the award in London on behalf of two of his biggest fans, Corey and Kenya.
British dance duo Chase & Status and their manager Sophie Kennard (Frame Artists) triumphed in the category of artist and manager of the year.
“Management is really a thankless job,” the band said Will Kennard. “All artists are a total nightmare and managers have to deal with them day in and day out on so many different levels. What they're doing is really quite heroic and they don't really get the recognition they deserve,” he said, paying tribute to his “incredible, irreplaceable” manager.
Founders of Riverman Management Alex Weston and Dave McLean were awarded the prestigious title of manager manager in tribute to their successful three-decade career, which began in the early 1990s when they promoted some of the UK's first shows from Nirvana, Green Day, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. The company's artist management roster now includes Friedberg, Dea Matrona, Tom Fleming and Placebo drugwhom the company has represented since 1995.
“Over the years, with the introduction of technology and with the ever-increasing and expanding workload, [artist] Management has become a job that I sometimes question why any sane person would enter or continue [do]said Weston, accepting the managers' manager award from the FAC board director and former member The fall, Brix Smith.
“What other job on this planet requires us to have so much knowledge, so many skills, and so much responsibility and time?” he continued to say. “But we do it because we are 100% committed and passionate about each of the artists we take on and truly believe, against all odds, we can break them and their music. They are the future of our industry and they have their faith and trust in us to help them achieve those ambitions,” Weston said before issuing a note of caution to large companies: “Sometimes it's worth remembering that managers need support”.
Other winners of the night were the British funk group Cymandewho took the creator award and Grammy nominated Scottish musician Sophie, who died in 2021 aged 34. With the blessing of her family, who were present at the award ceremony, Sophie received the Pioneer Award posthumously.
Later in the evening, electronic music producer Barry Can't Swim (real name Joshua Mainnie) received the breakthrough artist award, while Victoria de Juniac named a pioneer manager in recognition of her work with Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot.
The ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Remy Burgess and featured live performances from Moonchild Sanelly, BEKA and Hannah Lily.
Here is the full list of winners at the 2024 Artist & Manager Awards:
Collaboration of artist and director: Pet Shop Boys & Angela Becker (Becker Brown)
Artist & Manager Group of the Year: Chase & Status & Sophie Kennard (Frame Artists)
Icon: Paloma Faith
Director of Directors: Riverman Management
Pioneer: SOFI (posthumous award)
Creative: Cymande
Fan Champion: Yungblud & Special Projects Music
Breakthrough Artist: Barry can't swim
Breakthrough Manager: Victoria de Juniac (VictoriaBDJ Management)
Secret weapon: Hope James (Atlas Artists)
Writer / Executive Producer: Ant Hippsley (Milk and Honey)
Team Achievement: Finesse Foreva
