WME’s Lucy Dickins to receive 2023 MITS Award

WME’s global head of contemporary music and touring Lucy Dickins is to be honoured with this year’s Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS).

The leading agent, who works with artists such as Adele, Mumford & Sons, Stormzy, Sault, Cleo Sol, Little Simz, James Blake and Jamie T, will be presented with the award at a gala ceremony on Monday 6 November in recognition of her contribution to the music industry.

The event will take place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel in aid of two UK music charities: The BRIT Trust and Nordoff & Robbins.

“I’m truly humbled by this recognition and honoured by the many colleagues and clients I’ve gotten to work with throughout my career and at WME,” says Dickins. “The live music industry has faced many challenges but we always come back stronger because of the artists and their fans who are at the core of what we do.

“It’s been an opportunity of a lifetime to grow in this industry and serve our clients and their teams and I look forward to coming together to celebrate with the people who have been central to my journey.”

Dickins’ roster also includes Hot Chip, Bryan Ferry, Laura Marling, Rex Orange County and Mabel, as well as rising actst Reneé Rapp , David Kushner and Katie Gregson-MacLeod.

Dickins, who joined WME in 2019 and is a member of Endeavor’s Diversity and Inclusion working group, began her career working as a junior product manager for an independent UK record label PWL before joining International Booking Talent (ITB) as an assistant in the early 1990s and rising through the ranks at the agency.

Her grandfather, Percy Dickins, founded legendary music weekly the New Musical Express (NME), while her father, Barry, formed ITB in 1978. Her uncle Rob was longtime head of Warner Music in the UK, and her brother Jonathan heads up management company September Management with a roster that includes Adele.

“Lucy is a force to be reckoned with within our music industry”

“Lucy’s track record speaks for itself,” says co-chair of the MITS Award committee, Toby Leighton-Pope. “Adele, Olivia Rodrigo, Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and so many others, all with whom she’s achieved extraordinary acclaim and success. That kind of impact on the industry is undeniable and her contributions continue to shape the industry landscape.

“I’ve known Lucy for more than 25 years and she is above all else one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She is truly deserving of the recognition of her MITS Award. Congratulations, Lucy.”

Dickins will join the ranks of previous MITS recipients including Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue, Emma Banks, Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Rob Stringer, Sir Lucian Grainge and Michael Eavis. Last year’s ceremony was held in honour of the late music pioneer Jamal Edwards MBE, the first posthumous award given in the history of the MITS.

“Lucy is a force to be reckoned with within our music industry,” adds Dan Chalmers, co-chair of the MITS Award committee. “She has always had an innate ability to spot talent and nurture it, she was one of the first to meet an unknown Adele at the time and take her CD and we all know where that led!

“Lucy is extremely popular and it’s those strong industry relationships, unwavering dedication to her clients and fierce reputation that makes her one of the most sought-after agents of all time. It’s clear that her clients trust her implicitly, she always goes above and beyond to ensure their success, and that’s why she is so deserving of her MITS Award.”

Celebrating its 32nd year this year, the MITS Award is sponsored by PPL, SJM Concerts, Voly Music and YouTube.

Revisit IQ’s 2022 feature on Dickins, looking back on her first 25 years in the music industry, here.

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