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CAA’s Emma Banks wins top Music Week Awards honour

CAA London co-head Emma Banks collected the top honour at last night’s 2023 Music Week Awards in London.

The leading agent was presented with The Strat – awarded annually to an industry icon – by singer and CAA client Becky Hill.

Video tributes came from the likes of Live Nation’s Denis Desmond, SJM Concerts’ Simon Moran, WME’s Lucy Dickins, Peter Mensch and Tara Richardson of Q Prime, and Banks’ CAA longtime colleague Mike Greek, as well as artists such as Katy Perry, Florence Welch, Jack Black, Paramore and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more,” said Desmond. “Over the years, you’ve built a fantastic business. Your many groundbreaking achievements are well recognised in what was a male-dominated business. You were firm; you were fair. You think of the long-term interests of your artists. You have no problem telling it like it is, and that it is not always about the money.”

“You’ve had a fantastic career so far, you are one of the most influential music agents of all time and deserve – really deserve – all the accolades you receive,” added Greek. “You’re a champion for your clients, an inspiration to all of us that know you, and you’ve made such a positive difference to so many lives, be it clients, be it colleagues or friends. It’s been an amazing ride to work alongside you all these years, and long may that continue.”

“We will be a far worse place if Brixton Academy doesn’t exist”

Banks used her acceptance speech to encourage more support for grassroots venues (“These venues have given so many important artists their start. We can’t let that die”), while also rallying people to support the campaign to save O2 Academy Brixton from closure.

“We will be a far worse place if Brixton Academy doesn’t exist,” she said, while also paying tribute to touring crew and staff (“The people that get up first and go to bed last”).

Hosted by BBC Radio 1’s Vick Hope, the sold-out event took place at Battersea Evolution and was attended by more than 1,400 industry guests.

Winners in the live categories included Kilimanjaro Live (Live Music Promoter), which also triumphed at the inaugural LIVE Awards last year, UTA (Live Music Agency), Reading & Leeds Festival (Festival of the Year), Dice (Ticketing Company) and Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club (Grassroots Venue: Spirit Of The Scene). In addition, The 1975’s manager Jamie Oborne of All On Red Management was named Manager of the Year.

Emma Banks and Mike Greek will deliver a joint keynote at this year’s International Festival Forum (IFF), taking place between 26-28 September in London. After more than 30 years of working together, the powerhouse duo behind CAA’s London office will share the conference stage for the first time ever.

This year’s keynote is due to take place at 11.30am on Thursday 28 September at IFF’s new home, Omeara, in south London.

 


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Hardee, SJM, Ticketmaster triumph at MW Awards

Wasserman Music agent Alex Hardee, SJM Concerts and Ticketmaster were among the winners in the live categories at last night’s Music Week Awards in London.

Hosted by comedian, presenter and TikTok star Munya Chawawa, the event took place at Battersea Evolution and was attended by more than 1,400 industry guests.

Hardee, whose roster includes the likes of Bastille, Sia, Liam Gallagher, London Grammar, Grace Jones, Lewis Capaldi, Kacey Musgraves, and Rag’n’Bone Man, danced onto the stage to collect the award for Live Music Agent of the Year. After cutting a flurry of trademark jokes, Hardee showed his serious side by dedicating the honour to the late Steve Strange.

“He was from a place in Belfast where it was so rough you looked overdressed with both your ears, and he became one of the biggest agents in the world,” said Hardee. “I’d like to dedicate this award to him. Steve, we love you.”

Elsewhere, SJM Concerts retained the Live Music Promoter of the Year prize and Ticketmaster UK was named Ticketing Company of the Year.

“Ticketing is a tough business, and I’m delighted we’ve found a way to work together to build something truly special for fans”

In addition, AXS and The O2 claimed Live Music Innovation of the Year for AXS Mobile ID. Through their collaboration, customers who purchase from other agents can now instantly receive and access their tickets through The O2’s venue app.

“We are honoured to win this award together with our friends at The O2, but we also share this recognition with our new partners at Ticketmaster, See Tickets, Gigantic, Eventim and Ticketzone,” said AXS UK MD Chris Lipscomb. “Ticketing is a tough business, and I’m delighted we’ve found a way to work together to build something truly special for fans.”

Adam Pearson, commercial director at The O2, added: “This project has been a real team effort and the recognition for this award should absolutely go to every single person who has played a part in getting us to this stage.”

Meanwhile, the Music Venue Trust (MVT) CEO Mark Davyd picked up the Grassroots Venue: Spirit of the Scene award on behalf of Hull’s 200-cap The New Adelphi Club, accompanied by Elbow frontman Guy Garvey.

“None of these guys are in it for the money and they all deserve our support and our protection”

Both took the opportunity to extol the virtues of MVT’s recently announced Music Venue Properties (MVP) initiative to buy the freehold of grassroots music venue properties.

“We can between us really simply become shareholders,” said Garvey. “If you’re in a position of power in any of the big, powerful companies in this room, you could make sure that everybody who works for you is a share owner in the Music Venue Trust initiative Own Our Venues. We could stop the very feeding cycle, that makes sure that we all live and work and love in this beautiful industry, being under threat constantly because none of these guys are in it for the money and they all deserve our support and our protection.”

Other notable winners included Elton John’s managers David Furnish and Rachael Paley of Rocket Entertainment, who won Manager of the Year, while music industry pioneer Jamal Edwards, who died in February aged just 31, was recognised with a special award accepted by his mother, Brenda Edwards.

The night’s final award, The Strat, which honours an industry icon, went to legendary publicist Barbara Charone. The MBC PR co-founder was presented with the gong by Warner Music CEO, Recorded Music, Max Lousada, with star clients such as Madonna, James Blunt, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Olly Murs giving video tributes.

 


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Kili, Glasto, Eventim and more honoured at MW Awards

Kilimanjaro Live, Glastonbury Festival, Eventim UK and Coda’s Alex Hardee were among the live business winners at last night’s Music Week Awards 2018 in London.

Kili took home the Skiddle-sponsored award for live music promoter (company), while Hardee was named best live music agent (individual). Eventim was honoured as best ticketing company, and Glastonbury as festival of the year.

Ed Sheeran’s manager, Stuart Camp, meanwhile, took home the gong for manager of the year, while the 275-capacity Boileroom in Guildford was named best grassroots venue.

The annual event was this year attended by more than 1,200 guests at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair.

 


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Dice named best ticketer, SJM best promoter at Music Week Awards

The 2016 Music Week Awards took place last night at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, with SJM Concerts, Dice and Ed Sheeran agent Jon Ollier triumphing in the live categories.

Ollier, who joined CAA’s London office early last year from Free Trade Agency, took home the award for best live music agent, while east London-based ticketing start-up Dice, which has made a name for itself over the past few years by selling tout-proof tickets that are irretrievably tied to the mobile device from which they were bought, caused an upset by beating mainstays Ticketmaster, Eventim and AXS to the best ticketing company prize.

“We’re absolutely buzzing, and the award is a huge deal to us,” Dice founder Phil Hutcheon tells IQ. “Dice is growing fast and our focus is always on building an amazing product for fans and artists. Promoters are seeing huge increases in ticket sales as a result. Our mission is to grow the music industry massively by doing the right thing.”

SJM Concerts – led by, it emerged earlier this week, the 799th-richest man in Britain, Simon Moran – won the award for best live music promoter, sponsored by London venue the Troxy.

Elsewhere, Paul McDonald and Ryan Lofthouse of Closer Artists, which represents James Bay, James Morrison, John Newman and George Ezra, were jointly named manager of the year, while Universal Music Group CEO Max Hole took home the Strat award for lifetime achievement.

A full list of winners is available on the Music Week website.