Atlantic, Polydor, Sony/ATV, Spotify and Glastonbury were among the big winners at the Music Week Awards 2018 – the biggest night of the year for the music industry.
Max Lousada collected The Strat - the special award that recognises an industry icon and pioneer. Ed Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp, of Grumpy Old Management, was named Manager Of The Year.
The awards ceremony returned to the Grosvenor House Hotel in London tonight (April 26) to celebrate the best of the best in the business. The sold-out event was attended by well over 1,200 guests – including top executives and global superstar Dua Lipa – who gathered to discover who had triumphed across 24 categories ranging from record companies, publishers and PR to law firms, retailers and festivals.
The night was full of memorable moments. There were some unexpected dance moves and impromptu stand-up comedy from Coda’s Alex Hardee, Kilimanjaro's Stuart Galbraith used the spotlight to scald secondary ticketing, while emotional tributes were paid to George Michael and Avicii.
The prestigious Record Company Of The Year Award went to Atlantic Records, following a global success story for Ed Sheeran in 2017. The Artist Marketing Campaign also went to Atlantic for Sheeran. Ben Cook’s label couldn’t quite manage a 10th consecutive win in the Promotions Award category – Warner Bros Records triumphed thanks to successful campaigns for Liam Gallagher and Dua Lipa.
For the A&R Award (Sponsored by Tape London), Polydor triumphed on the night in a hotly-contested category, with co-president Ben Mortimer humourously warning rival labels not to poach his winning team. Sony/ATV Music Publishing was named Publisher Of The Year.
Glastonbury Festival retained its Festival Of The Year title (Sponsored by Louder) after a top-notch 2017 edition featuring that man again – Ed Sheeran.
The ceremony concluded with The Strat Award, which went to Max Lousada, CEO, recorded music, Warner Music Group, and CEO/chairman Warner Music UK. Double BRIT winner Dua Lipa made the presentation to Lousada, whose tribute video included superstar artists Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran and Stormzy along with Beats 1 presenter and creative director Zane Lowe.
You can read Lousada’s acceptance speech in full here, along with a collection of tributes to this year’s winner of The Strat here.
BBC 6 Music was the Radio Station winner – and the network’s presenter Lauren Laverne was our star host for the occasion again this year, using her speech to address Spotify's IPO, the people she owes money to, and give Ed Sheeran some friendly advice for his next album's title.
MQA was the social media sponsor, while PRS Foundation was the charity partner (see below for category sponsors).
And the Music Week Awards 2018 celebrations – and commiserations – continued at Tape London (Platinum Partner).
The full list of 2018 Music Week Awards winners is below.
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO CHARITY
PRS Foundation
PR CAMPAIGN
Stormzy, Wired PR
TICKETING COMPANY
Eventim
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR
Lee & Thompson
MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Stuart Camp, Grumpy Old Management
MUSIC & BRAND PARTNERSHIP (Sponsored by OuterInsight)
Big Shaq/FIFA 18/Universal Music Globe /EA
LIVE MUSIC AGENT (INDIVIDUAL)
Alex Hardee, Coda Agency
PROMOTIONS TEAM (Sponsored by RadioMonitor)
Warner Bros Records
LABEL/ARTIST SERVICES COMPANY
Caroline International
GRASSROOTS VENUE: SPIRIT OF THE SCENE
The Boileroom, Guildford
INDEPENDENT RETAILER (Sponsored by Proper Music Group)
Rough Trade
SALES TEAM (Sponsored by Official Charts Company)
Warner Music UK
RADIO SHOW
Annie Mac, BBC Radio 1
RADIO STATION (Sponsored by PPL)
BBC Radio 6 Music
CATALOGUE MARKETING CAMPAIGN
George Michael, Sony Music Commercial Group
LIVE MUSIC PROMOTER (COMPANY) (Sponsored by Skiddle)
Kilimanjaro Live
ARTIST MARKETING CAMPAIGN (The Box Plus Network)
Ed Sheeran, Atlantic Records
MUSIC RETAILER/STREAMING PLATFORM
Spotify
INDEPENDENT RECORD COMPANY
Play It Again Sam
A&R AWARD (Sponsored by Tape London)
Polydor Records
RECORD COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Atlantic Records
FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Louder)
Glastonbury Festival
PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
THE STRAT
Max Lousada
