MMF UK elects new chair, vice-chair at AGM

Diane Wagg, co-chair since 2014, becomes sole chair of the Music Managers Forum, with Biffy Clyro manager Paul Craig becoming vice-chair

By IQ on 06 Jul 2017

Wagg and Craig

The Music Managers Forum (MMF) in the UK has overhauled its board of directors following yesterday’s annual general meeting.

Diane Wagg of Deluxxe Management (Cortney Dixon, D!!ves), formerly co-chair of the association with Stephen Budd, has been elected sole chair. Budd steps down to “focus on a number of upcoming projects”, says the MMF, including Amnesty International and Sofar Sound’s Give a Home concert series for World Refugee Day.

Nostromo Management’s Paul Craig (Biffy Clyro), meanwhile, becomes vice-chair.

Also elected were five new board members: Claire Southwick of Primitive Management, Ellie Giles of Various Artists, Paul Crockford of Paul Crockford Management, Steven Braines of The Weird & Wonderful and Tom Burris of ie:music. Brian Message (ATC Management) and Paul Burger (Soho Artists) were reelected.

Outgoing board members Carol Crabtree (Solar Management), Gary McClarnan (Sparklestreet), Ian McAndrew (Wildlife Entertainment), Scott Rodger (Quest Management) and Tim Clarke (ie:music) have been appointed to the MMF Custodians – a newly elected group meeting on a biannual basis to advise on MMF policy.

The five new board members were elected under a new system of governance for the MMF that will see its 16-person board rotate on an annual basis, with members elected to serve a fixed three-year term and with at least five required to stand down each year to make way for a newly elected group.

“Together we’ve overseen the continued development and progress of the MMF as a trade organisation that represents the full diversity of the UK’s music management community. That work carries on”

“Working with Stephen these past three years has been a pleasure,” comments Wagg. “He’s one of the industry’s best-loved characters and sharpest entrepreneurial operators. Together we’ve overseen the continued development and progress of the MMF as a trade organisation that represents and is relevant to the full diversity of the UK’s music management community. That work carries on to create a transparent and fair world for all artists, including well over a thousand of the best acts on the planet who are represented by our ever-increasing membership.

“And while Stephen continues to break new and exciting ground with the Give a Home concert series, I am delighted to welcome onboard Paul Craig, who has played such a fundamental role in developing Biffy Clyro into the all-conquering festival-headlining band that they are today, as our first ever vice-chair.”

Craig adds: “Having served as a board member for a number of years, it is a great honour to accept the position of vice-chair and to work alongside Diane, our chief executive Annabella Coldrick and the rest of the MMF team. Over recent years, the MMF has made great strides to become more inclusive and to provide the support, education and lobbying that all modern-day managers need, from the most established to those taking their first steps.

“In such a fast-paced commercial environment we all need to learn from each other, and the MMF is essential to building that community among managers and helping us all stay up to date as the industry evolves.”

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