Kevin Brennan MP, Carla Marie Williams, Crispin Hunt and the late Rupert Hine have been named as the first recipients of an Ivors Academy Honour.
The new award brings back the tradition of the Academy’s Gold Badge Awards, which recognised exceptional people from the music industry who create positive change and champion music creators.
The Gold Badge Awards were founded in 1974 and last presented in 2019. The roll call of past recipients includes Joan Armatrading, Janice Long, Peter Gabriel, Beverly Knight, Bob Geldof, Trevor Nelson, Paulette Long and Michael Eavis.
Joan Armatrading, songwriter and fellow of The Ivors Academy, will present recipients with Ivors Academy Honours on September 20 at Tanners Warehouse in Bermondsey, London. The awards reception follows The Ivors Academy’s Global Creators Summit on AI in music, supported by PRS For Music.
Tom Gray, chair of The Ivors Academy, said: “Ivors Academy Honours is our opportunity as a community of songwriters and composers to recognise the innovators, the trailblazers, the leaders and unsung heroes who inspire and champion us. Kevin, Carla, Crispin and Rupert have made a real difference to music creators, and we are proud and humbled to celebrate their achievements.”
Graham Davies, CEO of The Ivors Academy, said: “With the Ivors Academy Honours we are able to give due public attention and thanks to people from across the music who have worked, often behind the scenes, to make our industry better. We look forward to giving our further awards over the coming year."
As a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Kevin Brennan MP was a driving force behind their report on streaming. Brennan followed the report with a Private Member’s Bill in 2022 that proposed a series of reforms to the ways that music creators are remunerated. He is chair of the Music All Party Parliamentary Group.
Ivor Novello-nominated songwriter, mentor and entrepreneur Carla Marie Williams founded Girls I Rate in 2016. The movement, which partners with Music Week on the monthly Mentor Me feature, provides women with a voice and platform, and creates opportunities within the music and creative industries. GIR initiatives include Future Hitmaker, a safe space for women artists, songwriters and producers to come together, collaborate and gain access to commercial work with major labels and publishers, along with the Mentor Me programme dedicated to female creatives aged 16-30.
“Carla’s exemplary leadership has created an impactful movement for change within the music industry,” said the Ivors Academy in a statement.
Multi-platinum selling songwriter and producer Crispin Hunt began his career as lead singer of the Longpigs and has since worked with Jake Bugg, Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Ray, Ellie Goulding and Luke Sital-Singh. Alongside his creative work, Hunt has dedicated much of his professional life to campaigning on behalf of music creators including roles on the boards of the Featured Artists Coalition, PRS For Music and PPL.
The Academy wishes to recognise the “immense contribution” he made as chair of The Ivors Academy from 2016 to 2022.
Rupert Hine, who died in 2020, is being posthumously recognised as a trailblazing producer, songwriter and musician.
A founding member of the British Record Producers’ Guild (the forerunner of the MPG), Hine’s contributions to producing included the development of MIDI. An active director of The Ivors Academy, he dedicated much of his latter career to supporting creators and encouraging innovation across the music industry, particularly in technology.
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