The Music Producers Guild has honoured record producer, sound engineer and professor Susan Rogers with the PPL Present The MPG Award For Outstanding Contribution To UK Music.
Rogers, who is the first female recipient of the award, was staff engineer for Prince from 1983-1987, working on five albums including the seminal Purple Rain and Sign O’ The Times. She has also produced and mixed records for David Byrne, Barenaked Ladies and Tricky. Rogers is currently a professor at Berklee College Of Music and runs a not-for-profit studio called The Record Company in Boston, US.
The MPG board of directors is now 60% female and female membership is also at 13% - up from 5% in 2016.
Olga FitzRoy, executive director, MPG, said: “We are delighted to present this award to Susan. Through her work with Prince, she shaped the sound of the records that influence producers and artists to this day. We hope that by shining a light on her extraordinary career, we can remind women everywhere that we have a long and proud record of overachieving in an industry where we are still underrepresented."
The Outstanding Contribution honour is a gifted award by the Music Producers Guild Awards Committee. Previous winners include Hugh Padgham, Youth, Paul Epworth and George Martin.
Susan is a deserving winner, having helped create some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed music of all time
Peter Leathem, PPL
Tony Platt, MPG Awards Group MD, said: “Susan's career epitomises the important contribution that the teams of people supporting artists make and that the MPG celebrates with our Awards. Collaboration and the sharing of skills and knowledge is at the heart of all creative pursuits, especially music making, and we are delighted to be able to recognise Susan's significant and continued role in that.”
Peter Leathem, CEO of PPL, said: “The PPL Present The MPG Award For Outstanding Contribution To UK Music is reserved for those whose work has had a truly significant impact on music. Susan is a deserving winner, having helped create some of the most popular and critically-acclaimed music of all time. Her work with Prince delivered five albums, including Purple Rain and Sign O’ The Times, and a catalogue of hugely-influential hits that are still being listened to today.
"She continues to contribute to our industry through teaching and sharing her talent and knowledge with the next generation of producers and engineers. PPL is proud to present this award to Susan in recognition of her outstanding work across the decades, as well as the important role she plays in the industry today.”
The announcement comes before the full 2021 MPG Award winners are announced on the June 10. The traditional ceremony at London's Grosvenor House will not take place this year due to Covid restrictions, with winners to be announced online.
