Rising Star: Meet Hold Tight's Hannah Gillicker

Hannah Gillicker is head of broadcast at Hold Tight, here she tells the story of her music industry journey so far and discusses heavy music and radio... What’s been the best moment of your career so far? “Gender Roles’ live gig for Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds in November 2019. The whole team was at Maida Vale and it was a really special experience, the band were live on air and they nailed their interview and session. I’ll never forget it! After completing my Hold Tight internship, I was tasked with developing the company’s radio offering, to take us from working predominantly with niche online and regional stations, so having a band perform a live session at Maida Vale was a huge achievement for me.” Is there a secret to success for rock and metal at radio? “I think the key is having a strategy in place, building strong foundations and working up the ladder. Success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes persistence and nurturing relationships; but with the right timing, a strong, long-term plan and, of course, picking your most radio-friendly tracks, there can be great success in radio for rock and metal artists. There is also an element of luck and so much is based on what you’re working with and what people are looking for. However, persistence and always thinking about how to make the best pitch help maximise that luck.” How do you want to help artists? “My main motivation for working in the music industry was to have an active role helping acts to grow. As a radio plugger, I want to help bands and artists to broaden their audience, by breaking them into national radio and providing them with opportunities that they have always dreamed of, like live sessions and interviews. Being part of that process is so rewarding and a real privilege.” Heavy music is thriving in the UK Hannah Gillicker What does the UK’s heavy music scene need to do to keep growing? “The heavy music scene is thriving in the UK right now – it’s been really heartening to see so many albums from heavier bands in the UK Top 40 this year. That said, there’s still more that can be done. Putting heavier music in front of mainstream audiences and opening up opportunities for music fans to broaden their taste would encourage growth, from cross-genre collaborations to more diverse festival line-ups – Boomtown and ALT+LDN are great examples.” If you ran the music industry for a day, what would you change? “I would banish the term ‘female-fronted’ – it isn’t a genre! There is now pretty good awareness across the UK industry around how outdated terminology needs to evolve with the times, however there’s still more that can be done. When working with international artists, it can also be quite apparent that the term is yet to be similarly banished across the global industry.” HANNAH’S RECOMMENDED TRACK: Browse the very latest music industry jobs on the Music Week jobs page.

Charts analysis: Dave debuts at summit with biggest week one sale so far this year

The man from Streatham who needs no alias other than his real-life first name, Dave this week celebrates the release of the fastest selling album in almost two years. His second full-length release, We're All Alone In This Together, debuts spectacularly at No.1 with a colossal sale of 74,191, the highest single week total for any album since Coldplay moved 80,974 copies of Everyday Life in November 2019. It is the fastest-selling hip-hop album since Tinie Tempah’s Disc-overy sold 84,993 in its first week in October 2010. Confounding wisdom that rap artists only ever pull in large numbers at streaming, Dave enjoyed even consumption across all market sectors, selling an impressive 40,354 physical copies (along with 1,285 downloads) while the album's tracks were streamed 38.5m times in all for a further 35,552 calculated sales. By way of comparison Dave's full-length debut Psychodrama enjoyed an opening week of 26,390 when it debuted at No.1 in March 2019, its lifetime sales now totalling 306,081. This all means that unusually the latest numbered volume in the Now That's What I Call Music series of hits compilations isn't the de-facto biggest album of the week. Volume 109 debuts atop the Various Artists chart with 20,886 sales - down on the 25,876 with which its predecessor opened back in April. Back to the artists chart and some sympathies are due for Anne-Marie, who picked an awkward week for the release of her second album Therapy. Putting in what is by any standards an impressive showing, it can still only be a distant No.2. Still, easily the best of the rest, the album manages a chart sale of 18,260 to take second place for the week, slightly down on the 20,342 with which her debut Speak Your Mind opened in 2018. Olivia Rodrigo's Sour drops out of the Top 2 for the first time in the 10 weeks since its release, 12,880 sales only enough for No.3. KSI's All Over The Place only spent a week at the top but still holds its own at No.4 (8,764 sales). It means the curious sight of two different Top 5 albums both with a track in common, Don't Play, appearing on both this and Anne-Marie’s record. Chart rules do allow for this occurrence, so streams of the song are counting towards the chart-eligible totals of both records. The Top 5 is once more rounded off by Doja Cat's Planet Her, static again at No.5 with 5,876 sales. Kid Laroi added a new "chapter" and a handful of new tracks to his F**k Love mixtape, the collection rebounding back to No.6 (5,787 sales). The 10th anniversary of the death of Amy Winehouse prompts her masterpiece Back To Black to make yet another chart comeback. The 2006 album soars to No.7 (4,223 sales) in its highest chart placing since September 2011. After topping the charts in its original form at the end of last year, McCartney III now becomes the punningly-titled McCartney III Reimagined featuring remixed and collaborative versions of its songs. Paul McCartney is joined by the likes of Beck, Phoebe Bridgers and Josh Homme and debuts in its own right at No.13 (3,520 sales). A belated vinyl release for Miley Cyrus' Plastic Hearts album has also sent it surging back up the listings, returning to the table at No.27 to chart for the first time since April. It adds 2,442 to take its total to date to 92,918. American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne is back on the British charts for the first time in seven years. Downhill From Everywhere is his first album release since 2014's Standing In The Breach and charts at No.35 (2,051 sales), just shy of the No.31 scaled by its predecessor as his 13th chart album on this shores. Meanwhile 79-year-old David Crosby has also returned to the studio for the first time in three years. His eighth solo work For Free is this week’s No.53 (1,673 sales). Bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Emma-Jean Thackray makes her British chart debut with Yellow, this week's No.58 album with 1,615 sales. Finally Heaven 17 have their first chart album in 28 years as hits collection The Essential arrives at No.73 (1,384 sales). In a flashback to days when a nationwide stock-clearance sale at HMV could send catalogue product surging back onto the albums chart, the release of a series of limited-edition vinyl specials to mark the chain's 100th birthday this week has prompted the return of some familiar titles. Hence the otherwise random reappearances of albums from The Stone Roses (No.22, 2,653 sales), Louis Tomlinson (No.45, 1,798 sales), Sam Smith (No.48, 1,726 sales), Alanis Morrissette (No.49, 1,722 sales) and Kate Bush (No.52, 1,682 sales). Albums sales overall are all but unchanged at 1,825,077 (down 0.6% on last week) but physical sales are up a massive 23.23% to stand at 380,496, their market share of 20.85% the highest it has been since Christmas week last year. Subscribers can access all the latest charts here.

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