The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF) has revealed the first winners at the upcoming Artist & Manager Awards, staged in association with artist funding platform beatBread.
The ceremony takes place at London’s Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday, November 17 - tickets are available now.
Becky Hill will pick up the award for Artist Of The Year and Martin Hall is confirmed to receive the title of Managers’ Manager (sponsored by SJM Concerts).
Having collaborated across her decade-long career with the likes of Tiesto, Little Simz, Oliver Heldens, Rudimental and Sigala, BRIT winner Becky Hill released her gold-selling debut solo album, Only Honest On The Weekend, in September 2021. The album includes platinum-certified UK No.3 single Remember, one of the best-selling songs of 2021, and has now sold over 120,000 copies.
According to Official Charts Company data, since October 2013, Becky Hill has been a presence in the UK Top 75 singles charts for 299 weeks - racking up 16 Top 40 hits, including 6 UK Top 10’s and one UK No.1. In 2022, she has already achieved four Top 40 hits with Wilkinson, Galantis, Joel Corry and David Guetta.
Over her career, Polydor-signed Hill has amassed over 22.6 million followers and four billion streams on Spotify alone. She was the third-most streamed British female solo artist on Spotify in 2021, behind only Dua Lipa and Adele, while her BPI certifications total 13x Platinum, 3x Gold and 3x Silver records.
Hill performed at the final of UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, alongside festival appearances at Benicassim, Creamfields, Electric Picnic and her own sell-out Ibiza Rocks residency. She also conceived and narrated The Art Of Rave, a podcast that reflects her roots in electronic music, featuring interviews with the likes of Roni Size, DJ Zinc, Andy C and Pete Tong.
Alongside her solo career, Becky Hill has written songs for a range of artists, including MK, Tiesto, Jax Jones, MNEK and Little Mix.
Previous Artist of the Year winners include Little Simz, Michael Kiwanuka, Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and Adele.
Becky Hill’s chart and streaming successes speak for themselves, and we’re very happy she’ll be joining us to celebrate what’s been an outstanding year of achievements
David Martin
David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition, said: “We’re delighted to recognise Becky Hill with our award for Artist Of The Year. Since her singing talents first gained public attention almost ten years ago on The Voice, Becky has developed into a hugely respected songwriter, artist and performer. Her chart and streaming successes speak for themselves, and we’re very happy she’ll be joining us to celebrate what’s been an outstanding year of achievements.”
Martin Hall will receive the lifetime achievement award for Managers’ Manager (sponsored by SJM Concerts).
“Celebrating a remarkable career dedicated to a handful of clients, notably Manic Street Preachers, who Martin has represented since 1990 - originally in partnership with his late brother, Phillip - the award recognises his dedication, resilience and loyalty to his artists,” said a statement.
Manic Street Preachers are back in the Top 5 with the reissue of Know Your Enemy.
Martin Hall’s other clients include The Script, who he co-manages with SJM founder Simon Moran, and Domino’s breakthrough band Wet Leg. All three acts have released No.1 albums in the past 12 months.
Previous recipients of the Managers’ Manager Award - formerly known as the Peter Grant Award - include Prime Management’s Rebecca Boulton & Andy Robinson, Modest! Management, Jonathan Kessler, Peter Rudge and Jim Beach.
Annabella Coldrick, chief executive, Music Managers Forum, said: “The long-term success that Martin has achieved with the Manics, The Script, and now with Wet Leg, has been extraordinary. These are very different artists, on vastly different career trajectories, and yet all have entrusted Martin to navigate the business on their behalf. That he has done this so consistently, and over such a lengthy period of time, is the mark of a truly great manager.”
beatBread, the music funding platform that enables artists to access growth capital while maintaining control of their careers and ownership of their music, is the headline sponsor for the 2022 Artist & Manager Awards. To date, the company has supplied funding to almost 500 artists and labels across multiple genres, six continents and a broad range of career stages.
beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair said: “The nature of the industry in 2022 is such that artists and managers have to be able to take the most important business decisions themselves rather than rely on labels to take them for them. Creative and financial control is increasingly critical to artist success, and we’re thrilled to be able to work with both the MMF and the FAC to celebrate the incredible work of artists and managers making a difference in the business today.”
Annabella Coldrick and David Martin added: “Both the FAC and MMF have enjoyed a really strong relationship with beatBread and we’re delighted to welcome them as headline sponsor for the Awards. These days, it’s important that artists and their managers can operate as sustainable self-contained businesses. Consequently, in order to retain that autonomy and independence, it is vital they have new types of financing to draw upon. This is precisely what beatBread provides, and it’s through models like theirs that we can help ensure the future of music is more equitable and artist-friendly than what came before.”
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