The event, organized by the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF), will return to London’s Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday 21 November.
In 2024, the Artist of the Year and Manager of the Year awards will be combined, with Chase & Status and Frame Artists co-founder Sophie Kennard sharing the honor.
Chase & Status (Will Kennard and Saul Milton) won a Brit Award this year and scored their first No.1 single in the form of Backbone, which features Stormzy's vocals. The duo have so far had a top five album and seven UK top ten singles.
It also won the BRIT Billion Award this year for 1 billion streams in the UK.
Sophie Kennard previously ran Chase and Status’ label MTA Records and co-founded Frame Artists with Bessie Abbott Black in April 2020.
After nearly 20 years at the forefront of drum and bass, Will and Saul continue to break new ground with Sophie’s support and expertise.
Annabella Coldrick & David Martin
Their roster also includes Eats Everything, Patrick Topping, Arielle Free, DJ Boring, Effy, Ewan McVicar, Melé, Mozey and Storm Mollison.
Annabella Coldrick, CEO of MMF and David Martin, CEO of FAC, said: “Chase & Status and Sophie Kennard have had a fantastic year. On the front lines, with Sophie’s support and expertise, Will and Saul continue to go out of their way, breaking new ground and championing a new generation of artists.Incredibly, Backbone. ’s all-conquering collaboration with Stormzy in 2024 has propelled them to even greater heights, and MMF and FAC are delighted to recognize Chase & Status and Sophie as Artist & Manager Team of the Year.”
The shortlist for Breakthrough Manager 2024, hosted by Amazon Music, has also been announced, with the winner announced at a ceremony hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Remi Burgz. The candidates are:
Alex Putman (TAAHLIAH, Jerskin Fendrix)
Dan Jenkins, Raw Power Management (Jordan Adetunji)
Jade Busola (This Is London)
Jasmine Watts, Circuit Management (Sammy Virji)
Lauren Ross de Wolf, Wolves Music Management (Moonchild Sunnery, Africa Express, Syrian Musicians Orchestra)
Memz (ZieZie, hazey, prinz, Liilz, fangio, Jomokays)
Oran Barton, Attention Management (Barry Can’t Swim)
Thor Sutherland, Way Out Music (Singer, Ixn Dave, Blueboy & Dash)
Scoop (Darkoo, Taves, BNXN (fka Buju), Tiwa Savage, Rose May Alaba)
Victoria de Juniac, VictoriaBDJ Management (Cian Ducrot, Tommy Lefroy)
Laura Lukanz, head of music industry at Amazon Music UK, said: “Managers are the backbone of the music industry, yet they are often the unsung people. We are excited to work with MMF to honor these incredible individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the careers of artists.”
This year’s Artist and Manager Awards will also recognize the partnership between Pet Shop Boys and manager Angela Becker, as well as the achievements of YUNGBLUD and Special Project Music.
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