Last night (April 26) a sell-out crowd flooded into London’s Grosvenor House Hotel for the 2018 Music Week Awards: the industry’s biggest and best night out.
It was a night of big winners, and lots of memorable moments. There were also speeches of comedic genius (Alex Hardee of Coda Agency, take a bow), and heartfelt feeling issued onstage. Here – as our collective hangovers hopefully start to subside – we collect the 10 best quotes from a night to remember...
1. “I couldn’t stand here tonight without acknowledging our collective responsibility for making sure that the music industry becomes more diverse and more inclusive. That’s the only way we’ll raise up a new crop of music-lovers, of risk-takers and trouble-makers. People who’ll take music in revolutionary directions we can’t even imagine. Because this business isn’t about me, or you. We’re just taking care of it for the next generation.”
Max Lousada, CEO of recorded music for Warner Music Group & chairman and CEO of Warner Music UK: Winner – The Strat
2. “What I love – and I’m so grateful for – is that Max has always shared his ambition for my career and for a lot of others artists. He’s always given so much input and honesty. Alongside being the chairman, he’s always been very honest. He’s basically also been a big part of the A&R part of my career. He’s always someone I can go to and someone who will always be honest with me. I’m really, really grateful for that. I just want to say congratulations, Max. Thank you so much.”
Dua Lipa, special guest
3. “People say that streaming will do for music what Facebook and Twitter have done for media. Give it away for free and put fascists in charge. I’m kidding. Make it instantly accessible, and shareable amongst a global community.”
Lauren Laverne, 6 Music: Music Week Awards 2018 host
4. “I’ve always said agents are overpaid and under-skilled. Don’t deny it. But to get new acts and break new acts nowadays, it’s a team effort, and I’d like to dedicate this award to that team – I’d like to dedicate it to the record labels that still have the balls to put the money behinds acts, to the artists and A&Rs who make these beautiful works, to the digital teams that know the difference between what Perescoping and teabagging is – I’ve made that mistake. I’d like to thank the PR, the pluggers, the tour managers… You know, these days there’s a team of 20-30 people to create a successful collaboration. I’d like to thank all of them, apart from the publishers. You publishers are onto a better scam than us agents…”
Alex Hardee, partner/agent, Coda Agency: Winner - Live Music Agent (Individual)
5. “Stuart asked me to come and collect this award for him tonight because he’s actually undergone a painful eye operation, and he can’t actually see very well at the moment. He did ask me that I should definitely not make any joke or reference linking his sight impairment with the amount of time he spends alone in hotel rooms. So I won’t.”
Jon Ollier on behalf of Stuart Camp, Grumpy Old Management: Winner - Manager Of The Year
6. “The only problem is that no one’s ever been prepared for this apart from Damien. So I don’t know what to say…”
Jane Arthy, VP radio, Warner Bros: Winner – Promotions Team
7. “I’m really proud of this lot [the Polydor A&R team], they are, with the exception of me and maybe Paul Walmsley, a very young and dynamic team. So keep your hands off, Ferdy and Ben Cook. They’re very good, you can’t have them. They’re amazing.”
Ben Mortimer, co-president Polydor Records: Winner – A&R Award
8. “Last year was a landmark year, breaking the charts. I guess they’ll never be the same again. But this team did it, and I can’t thank them enough. I’m very proud of every one of them.”
Ben Cook, Atlantic UK president: Winner – Record Company Of The Year
9. “This project started out as a celebration of an iconic album and it turned into, due to the saddest of circumstances, a celebration of an incredible artist. I’m so grateful to accept this award on behalf of an amazing team of people who worked with absolute dedication and passion on this campaign – far too many to mention – but the biggest honour has to go to George [Michael]. Thank you, George.”
Joanna Kalli, head of marketing, Sony Music Commercial Group: Winner – Catalogue Marketing Campaign [George Michael]
10. “On a poignant note: I just want to dedicate this award to Avicii who was one of our songwriters who passed away last week. A great loss.”
Guy Moot, UK MD and president worldwide creative, Sony/ATV Music Publishing: Winner –Publisher Of The Year
You can read the full list of Music Week Awards 2018 winnners here.
Max Lousada's full Strat acceptance speech can be read in full here.
