News

• Jorja Smith named Artist of the Year

• Tinie Tempah / Imhotep awarded Entrepreneur of the Year

• The band formerly known as easy life to receive our inaugural award for Artists’ Voice

• Culture Media & Sport Committee to receive Industry Champion award

• All join previously announced winners Duran Duran & Wendy Laister (Artist/Manager Partnership, sponsored by Hipgnosis Songs), Bello (Manager of the Year, sponsored by PPL), The Cookie Crew (Pioneers, sponsored by TikTok), The Flight Club (Producer / Songwriter Manager), and Forever Living Originals (Team Achievement)

• Awards for Breakthrough Artist and Breakthrough Manager (sponsored by Amazon Music) to be revealed on the night

• Final tickets available now

The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and the Music Managers Forum (MMF) are delighted to reveal more awardees for the upcoming Artist & Manager Awards in association with beatBread – with JORJA SMITH, TINIE TEMPAH / IMHOTEP, THE BAND FORMERLY KNOWN AS EASY LIFE, and the CULTURE MEDIA & SPORT COMMITTEE joining the roll call of winners.

The ceremony, which is the only celebration of achievements across the artist and manager community, returns to London’s Bloomsbury Big Top on the evening of Thursday November 23rd.

First up, we are delighted that Jorja Smith will receive a richly deserved award for Artist of the Year, in light of her acclaimed second studio album, falling or flying, and summer anthem “Little Things”.

Both have cemented Jorja’s undeniable reputation as one of the UK’s most recognised and celebrated voices, capable of travelling across genres, whether in jazz, soul, R&B, or funky house. A hugely sought-after talent, she has collaborated with artists of the stature of Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Burna Boy, and Stormzy and recorded guest appearances with the likes of Giggs, Gorillaz, FKA Twigs and Calvin Harris.

Recorded predominantly with West Midlands-based production duo DAMEDAME*, and released independently via FAMM, falling or flying entered the UK chart at number 3 – winning over listeners with its range and depth. “With a voice that often sounds like it’s on the verge of tears, [Jorja] brings flickers of vibrato, jazzy curlicues, grainy inflections and subtle pauses and accelerations to her phrasing,” ran a lead review in the New York Times. “It’s not modesty at all — it’s precision, and it has been ever more sharply honed.”

Initially gaining attention with her debut track, “Blue Lights”, in 2016, Jorja has gone on to win two BRIT awards and received an Ivor Novello nomination. Her debut album, Lost & Found, was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Having recently performed a medley of falling or flying tracks on The Tonight Show featuring Jimmy Fallon, performing a special show at the iconic Apollo Theatre and with international interest and momentum building, Jorja Smith is an artist reaching the top of her game. This week, Jorja will release a reimagined Amazon Original version of East 17’s classic Xmas single, “Stay Another Day”, exclusively for Amazon Music.

Previous Artist of the Year recipients at the Artist & Manager Awards include Adele, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Lewis Capaldi, The 1975, Michael Kiwanuka, Little Simz and Becky Hill.

Tinie Tempah’s successes as an entrepreneur and creative leader are extraordinary. As an artist, his career stats speak for themselves – building his credentials through a succession of self-released mixtapes, before breaking through in 2010 with the double whammy of “Pass Out” (a number one single) and the 2 x platinum album Disc-Overy, which similarly debuted at the top. Tinie has since picked up numerous accolades – including two Brit Awards, a MOBO, and an Ivor Novello. Exhibiting a trademark versatility, he has collaborated on huge tracks with Jess Glyne, Wiz Kid, Calvin Harris, SHM, Martin Garrix and Zara Larsson, performed at Glastonbury and Coachella, and supported Jay-Z, Usher and Rihanna. 13 years from “Pass Out”, Tinie still attracts 6m monthly Spotify listeners and has an astounding 1.6bn cumulative global streams across all digital platforms.

From the start, Tinie was also exploring creative fields beyond his own music. Co-founding the groundbreaking Disturbing London label with former music manager Dumi Oburota, he was named Best Dressed Man at GQ’s Men of the Year awards, selected as an ambassador for London Fashion Week and forged partnerships with brands including JBL, Audemars Piguet, Cartier and Nike.

With the launch of Imhotep in 2015, this entrepreneurial side has only blossomed. Initially a music publishing business, Imhotep has since expanded into a full-service creative agency, incorporating a state-of-the-art recording studio, a management business, TV production, fashion and food. On the music side, among Imhotep’s roster of artists, songwriters and producers are Hargo, Dantae The Kid, Rxwntree and Okan. Imhotep clients have written and produced tracks for the likes of Micheal Jackson, Drake, Dave, Central Cee, Black Eye Peas, Alicia Keys, ArrDee, Digga D, Clavish, Unknown T, plus many more.

Elsewhere, Tinie has made serious moves into TV, presenting two seasons of the property programme Extraordinary Extensions for Channel 4, as well as co-developing his current hit show Bangers, which first aired in October 2023. Other ventures include food business RAPS (available on Deliveroo), fashion line What We Wear and Shelter, a new rave concept, which recently debuted at Ministry of Sound.

It’s an extraordinary and inspirational run of success, and one we look forward to celebrating on November 23rd.

The ceremony will also see the band formerly known as easy life collect the inaugural Artists’ Voice Award, recognising how they’ve taken to social platforms and the wider media to highlight many of the everyday challenges faced by artists and music makers.

Formed in Leicester in 2017, easy life released two hit albums – their debut Life’s A Beach and 2022 follow-up MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE… both reached number two in the UK charts – and have developed a growing reputation one of Britain’s most celebrated live acts, performing huge headline shows this year at Alexandra Palace and Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.

Rocking the boat is never easy on the way up, but, in what’s been a difficult year for the band after a recent much-publicised threat of legal action by easyGroup, they have continued to speak out prominently on issues the FAC and MMF  care deeply about, including the ongoing bureaucratic nightmares of Brexit, the costs of touring, and the unfairness of onerous venue levies being imposed on artist merch sales. All resonated with our campaigning work on 100% Venues and #LetTheMusicMove and we are incredibly grateful for their contribution to those causes. When artists’ speak, people listen!

Finally, we will also be shining a light on the work of 2023’s Industry Champion, the Culture Media and Sport Committee, who have played a pivotal role in scrutinising the economics of streaming and putting the concerns of artists firmly on the Government agenda. Announced in October 2020, the Committee’s formal investigation enabled a succession of artists and managers (including former FAC co-chair Ed O’Brien, and current MMF vice-chair, Kwame Kwaten) to speak openly to MPs about their experiences in the music business, and resulted in a genuinely groundbreaking report, published in July 2021, that called for “a complete reset of music streaming” in order to fairly reward performers and creators.

As a result of that report, all sides of the industry have been encouraged to participate in Government-led programmes to deliver streaming reform. In 2023, those programmes are finally seeing tangible progress, albeit at a slower pace than many would like. With MPs on the Committee also weighing in on important issues such as AI and Brexit, and now promising to turn their collective eye to the live market, the FAC and MMF would like to thank them for their help and intervention and for their championing of the music makers who contribute so much to British culture.

Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive, Music Managers Forum & David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition said:

“We are really proud to reveal the final line-up for the 2023 Artist & Manager Awards in association with beatBread. There is so much talent within our two communities, and we are overjoyed to announce Jorja Smith as our Artist of the Year, Tinie Tempah and Imhotep as our Entrepreneur, and the band formerly known as easy life for our inaugural Artists’ Voice award. All are very special talents. We are also delighted to recognise the important work of the Culture Media & Sport Committee. The UK remains a beacon for great music, and for that to continue it is vital those who create, record, produce and perform that music are given all possible support to reach their potential.”

Tickets for the 2023 Artist & Manager Awards in association with beatBread are available now – please find details here.

As previously announced, in recognition of lifetime achievement, DURAN DURAN and their longtime manager WENDY LAISTER will be picking up the Artist-Manager Partnership award (sponsored by Hipgnosis Songs) at the ceremony. Other previously announced winners are BELLO (Manager of the Year, award sponsored by PPL), THE COOKIE CREW (Pioneer, award sponsored by TikTok), THE FLIGHT CLUB’S SAMUEL ADEMOSU & RUTH GYANIAO (Producer / Songwriter Manager) and FOREVER LIVING ORIGINALS (Team Achievement).

The two awards for Breakthrough Artist and Breakthrough Manager (the latter sponsored by Amazon Music) will be announced on the night, where Doc Brown aka Ben Bailey Smith will return as our host.

As well as full access to the awards, attendees will enjoy a red carpet cocktail reception, a two-course meal and entry to an exclusive Artist & Manager Awards in association with beatBread afterparty.

At last year’s sell-out ceremony, winners were Becky Hill, Bose Ogulu, Tim Burgess, Martin Hall, Carl Cox, beabadoobee, Callum Reece, Groundworks, Krept & Konan, ABBA Voyage, Red Light Management and Music Declares Emergency.

The Artist & Manager Awards are headline sponsored for the second year running by beatBread, the pioneering music funding platform that enables artists to access growth capital while maintaining control of their careers and ownership of their music.

Launched in November 2020, and already a highly valued Associate Member of the MMF and partner of the FAC, beatBread has firmly established itself as one of the best ways for independent artists to source funding to further their careers. The company provides advances on streaming income for both catalogue and unreleased repertoire, empowering artists and giving them complete choice of their distribution, marketing and promotion partners. beatBread advances range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $3M per artist.

To date, the company has supplied funding to more than 800 artists and labels across multiple genres, six continents and a broad range of career stages.

Artists and managers who want to explore what their capital options might be can do so quickly and easily without any obligation, simply by answering a few questions at www.beatbread.com.

Earlier this year, beatBread launched its Investor Network, a platform that enables distributors, industry insiders and qualified investors to bid on fractions of an artist’s deal, allowing artists to leverage the best possible terms to finance their careers as a result.