Vick Bain is stepping down chief executive officer of The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).
Bain joined BASCA 13 years ago and held several positions before being appointed CEO in 2012. The news comes after a period of ill health earlier this year, from which Bain has now fully recovered.
Bain said: “I have endured a difficult year, overcoming breast cancer and other related conditions. I have now officially received the all-clear and am feeling fighting fit but after experiencing a life-threatening condition and reviewing my priorities I feel the time is right to hand-over the reins to someone else, and focus on other ambitions, of which I have many.
“It has been a great honour to serve and lead BASCA for so long and I wish the organisation, our fantastic members, and my wonderful colleagues all the very best for the future”.
It has been a great honour
Vick Bain
Bain was inducted onto the Music Week Women In Music Awards Roll Of Honour in 2017 in recognition of her outstanding work at BASCA.
She led the organisation through a major modernisation programme andrecently oversaw an extensive structural review with the subsequent implementation of new governance procedures.
Bain oversaw BASCA’s major events – The Ivor Novello Awards, The Gold Badge Awards and The British Composer Awards – and was instrumental in establishing a partnership network with universities. She been a vocal advocate for increased inclusivity and diversity issues within the music industry.
She also built and strengthened relationships with music industry umbrella organisations including UK Music and the British Copyright Council and helped launch The Council of Music Makers.
Bain’s leadership forged strong relationships with MPs from across the political spectrum in the All Party Parliamentary Group for Music. Bain campaigned for issues surrounding digital music, songwriter credits and diversity, achieving wide press coverage.
In 2015, Bain helped creators win a copyright tribunal at the High Court, marking the first time BASCA had been involved in a judicial review.
Reflecting on the achievement, Bain told Music Week: "The exception as it was written was going to be a dangerous precedent in European copyright law; it had to be overturned, but we had to take government through a judicial review to do it – and we did."
She also revitalised The BASCA Trust by bringing in new trustees, additional resources and a partnership with the PRS Foundation.
Read Bain’s Roll Of Honour interview here.