Table of contents for No. 1389 in Music Week

Dinner is served For my first editorial of the year, I’m setting myself a challenge: I’m going to talk about 2024 without mentioning artificial intelligence. For one, we covered it in-depth in our 2023 In Review issue. For another, there are other things to pay attention to, y’know. So, to the other question on every executive and manager’s lips right now: can the UK – or any other country, for that matter – break a new act on a global scale in 2024? This against a run of successive years in which returning superstars have dominated the attention economy. With a slew of big hitters all due back in the coming months, it will be interesting to see how, and where, newer acts’ stories can find space to be heard.…

THE BIG HONOURS Music industry figures and artists have been recognised in the 2024 New Year Honours list. Selina Webb (above right), Universal Music UK executive vice president, is awarded an MBE for services to the music industry, neurodiversity and charity. Carla Marie Williams (above left), songwriter and founder/CEO of Girls I Rate, is honoured with an MBE for services to music. Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis is awarded a knighthood for services to music and charity. THE BIG IMPACT ABBA Voyage’s producers have published the analysis of its year one socio-economic impact on London and the local community. Digital versions of ABBA perform seven times a week in the purpose-built 3,000-capacity ABBA Arena in East London. ABBA Voyage contributed £322.6million in turnover to the London economy between May 2022 and…

@itsNadiaJae Day 1 of 2024 and I’ve got the flu (Nadia Jae, BBC 1Xtra) Monday, January 1 @ShaniaTwain New year, same queen. Let’s go 2024!! (Shania Twain, artist) Monday, January 1 @townsendyesmate Does anyone remember the password to my office computer. And also a single aspect of how my job works. (Mike Townsend, ADA) Tuesday, January 2 @ybeeez One idea and some hard work, that’s all it is. (Ybeez, manager) Wednesday, December 20 @Busted One year closer to the Year 3000. Happy new year everybody (Busted, artists) Monday, January 1 @JonRichard If there’s something I’ve learned this past year, everything is cringe until it works out. (Jonathan Richard, Sony Music UK) Tuesday, January 2 @CarlaMarieUK When the energy isn’t right and it’s taking your peace… don’t be scared to go back to…

THIS MONTH'S HOTTEST BRAND NEW ACT GGLUM Meet the London-based rising star putting her stamp on the world of indie bangers… Key Track: Easy Fun Label: Secretly Canadian Management: Native Management Instagram: @gglum_ You released Easy Fun in November last year – what does it say about you as an artist? “I feel like most of what I’ve released up until this point, minus a few songs, have all been me figuring out what I want to do. With Splat! and Easy Fun, I settled into what I like making, slightly more ‘bandy’ but still with electronic elements. I wanted to try out a few things, and Easy Fun is different, but it’s still what I want to do.” Who inspires you the most with your music? “When I used…

“Making a debut album is about putting the blinkers on and not comparing yourselves to anyone else” Holly Minto Your debut album The Mess We Seem To Make is rife with vulnerability. Do you feel ready to share that with the wider world? “The vulnerability comes from us tackling taboo topics such as sexual trauma and drugs. We were nervous writing about that stuff, but the main vulnerability came for us as musicians. Whether it was due to Covid and self-doubt, or just us being a womxn band, but to feel accepted as a musician sometimes you feel the need to prove your virtuosity. But what is that for if it’s not for the benefit of the song? At some point, each one of us had that breakthrough realisation. We all…

TYLA Label: Since ’93 Key Track: Water “Tyla is, first of all, the girl next door. She’s relatable, really humble and an ‘all rounder’ artist – the dancer, performer, singer and she writes. She’s really talented, you can tell she puts 110% into her performances and her music is very much a representation of who she is. She’s a South African girl, she’s biracial and she’s owning everything about herself – that makes her different, which is so good to see. Young girls need more of what Tyla is doing. “I first discovered her on a Kooldrink track, Getting Late, about two years ago and after that I saw her performing. It was really nice to see her bubbling and to hear her [voice] before I saw her, we’ve kind…

Jody Gerson Universal Music Publishing Group “Music exists because of songwriters. My hope will always be for songwriters to receive deserving recognition and fair pay for use of their works, and I will never stop fighting for that.” Paul Hourican TikTok “Reading the news, it seems that 2024 is going to be a tough year for a lot of people. Music is always a great escape and has the power to lift spirits and bring everyone together, and that provides a great opportunity for our industry, despite the challenges. This year, let’s work together to share music, to support each other and to help artists and creators continue to make the music that the UK is famous for and which is enjoyed and appreciated all around the world.” Sheryl Nwosu…

Management: Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch, Alex Wall & Chris Johnston, Q Prime Label: Columbia Records CEO & Chairman: Jason Iley President: Dipesh Parmar MD: Amy Wheatley A&R: Martin Dell Marketing: Henry Whittingdale & Benj Cullen Digital Marketing: Caitlin Fine Socials: Harry Moore & Will Smith (PACT) Publisher: Sony Music Publishing Agent: Andy Cook (CAA) Print Press: Jon Lawrence (Chalk Press Agency) Online Press: Harriet Brampton (Chalk Press Agency) Radio: Steph Wilkinson TV: Samantha Sewell Creative Director: Michael Lewin…

01 CHRISTMAS WISH WHAM! Last Christmas (RCA) SALES: 567,194 After landing the Christmas No.1 for five years in a row, LadBaby’s decision to step aside from releasing a festive single resulted in a more keenly-fought competition. Ultimately, it was Last Christmas by Wham! that emerged to fill the void, taking the Christmas title for the first time. By the close of 2023, it had been No.1 for the fourth straight week in December, and seventh week in total. It was also the No.1 on Music Week’s monthly rankings – which don’t impose the ACR rule. The six times platinum track from 1984 has now reached sales of 4,119,355 since Official Charts Company data began in 1994. “George would be beside himself [that] after all of these years, we’ve finally obtained the…

This Life Chart position: No.1 Label: EMI TEAM Take That Management: Chris Dempsey/ Emma Powell/James Corbitt (YMU) EMI co-presidents: Rebecca Allen/ Jo Charrington MD: Lucy Dann (EMI) A&R: Thomas Haimovici (EMI) Marketing: Charlotte Birch/Daisy Carberry (EMI) Digital Marketing: Kelly Allwood (EMI) Publisher: Sony Music Publishing/ BMG Agent: James Wright/Olly Ward (UTA) Press: Maria Barham/Katie Baptie/ Richard Dawes (DawBell) Director Of Media: Suzy Walby(EMI) Radio: Mark Rankin (EMI) TV: Pippa Evers (DawBell) Podcasts: Flossie Easthope (EMI) CRM Strategy: Elisa Cottarelli (EMI) Digital Strategy: Kate Wyn Jones (EMI) Socials: Maïté Castelain (Be-Hookd) Creative Director: Studio Fury…

THIS MONTH: SOUND ADVICE Hosted by: Olly Carter Contact: soundadvicepod1@gmail.com What was the initial inspiration behind launching the Sound Advice podcast? “Sound Advice was born from my experience as a musician and observing the challenges independent artists face daily. I’ve been so lucky to be able to do a degree in Popular Music, which is something very few people get to do, and I got so many opportunities to not only learn from lecturers, but also from work placement opportunities, guests working in the industry and the community of like-minded students in the department. The more I learned, the more I wanted to make that experience far more accessible for independent artists, so that was the moment I realised Sound Advice had to come to life.” You’ve said you want…

Digital accounts manager, Absolute Label Services You started at Absolute as an intern. Did you always want a career in music? “I grew up around music and from an early age I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything other than working in music in some form. I’ve always been into soul and R&B and would sing at open mics, then I learnt to produce and create music in my bedroom. I studied songwriting at ICMP [Institute Of Contemporary Music Performance] where I honed my creative skills and got really interested in the business side of the industry. Shortly after that, I was really drawn to Absolute as I felt their values really resonated with mine.” Over the four years you have been with Absolute, how have they supported and nurtured your…

“I was the first woman CEO at PRS and there still aren’t many in the industry, but I like a challenge” ANDREA CZAPARY MARTIN Andrea Czapary Martin knows better than to claim victory prematurely. It was a lesson she learned the hard way back in her competitive skiing days. “I remember doing one race, it was the BMW Series ski circuit, I was always good in slalom and I thought, ‘This is when I’m going for gold,’” recalls Martin, her arms aloft. “I was almost at the finish line… and I fell just before.” The memory is vivid enough to ensure the champagne corks are not popping at PRS For Music HQ just yet, even as the organisation’s stated target of £1 billion in distributions by 2026 hurtles ever closer into…

Cast a glance at the British music industry of 2023, and it won’t take long to find Cre8ing Vision’s fingerprints. The social enterprise, established in 2010 by co-directors Kwame Kwaten, Andrea Euell and Nicola Charles, is best known for The Ultimate Seminar, its free annual summit for young people aspiring to work in the business, but embarked on a new chapter around five years ago. It all began when A&R expert Kwaten, MD of artist management company Ferocious Talent, was approached by a label services firm looking to scour CV’s 10,000-strong database of would-be execs, setting off a chain of events that would change lives and alter the landscape of UK A&R in the process. “It was all sparked by one ask from a label services company, which came to…

CHARLI XCX SPEED DRIVE Barbie: The Movie was a sensation at the box office last summer and its star-studded soundtrack album was no different. Here, songwriter and producer Finn Keane, better known as Easyfun, talks teaming up with Charli XCX on one of its breakout tracks, the frenetic Top 10 hit Speed Drive… Charli and I had just been working on her new record, and it had been really fun. It must have been early spring [2023] and she texted me saying, ‘I’d love to do another couple of days with you.’ We were going to write for her album again, but the night before the session she called me up and said, ‘Mark Ronson just called me.’ That happens if you’re Charli XCX, I guess. She said, ‘He wants…

01 TIME OF LIFE TAKE THAT This Life (EMI) SALES: 139,419 Take That came out on top in December with their ninth No.1 album. This Life opened with sales of 116,163 to score the biggest weekly sales for a British act on the albums chart in 2023. Only Taylor Swift had a bigger seven-day total last year, when 1989 (Taylor’s Version) debuted at the summit with 184,965 sales in November. Take That’s chart result was their biggest opening weekly sale since the group’s seventh studio album, III, debuted at the summit with 144,538 sales in December 2014. Having been certified gold in its opening week, This Life racked up 139,454 sales in total last month, including 133,446 physical copies, 2,864 downloads and 3,144 sales-equivalent streams. 02 SNOW BRAINER MICHAEL BUBLÉ Christmas (Warner…

Thrust into the spotlight as the winner of The X Factor in 2012, James Arthur has since gone onto global success, celebrating a diamond-certified single in the US and billions of streams. Here, he reflects on fame, making mistakes and his mental wellbeing… My new album takes influence from Bruce Springsteen and Americana… “There was a longing to make more organic, natural-feeling music again. I was a bit late to The Boss. Growing up, I really loved the softer version of Springsteen in Bryan Adams. I loved a lot of music that came out of America with that big ’80s feel to it. My bandmates are really into all of that, so I dived in and my musical director has been educating me. The melting pot of influences is very…

frontline “We’re the dominant seller of vinyl in the UK” DOUG PUTMAN, HMV Why was it the right time to return to Oxford Street after the closure in early 2019? “Rents and rates are better than they were – those were always going to be the two biggest things for us. My point was always, if we could get the right rent deal we would do it. From the landlord’s perspective, do you want HMV or do you want a candy shop? The other thing is that the business is in a very different spot today than when I bought it. You had the bankruptcy, the administration and we just needed to fix the business – it was bleeding a lot of money. We were profitable last year [and 2022], so…

frontline GHETTS Tumbi (Warner Records) For his new album On Purpose, With Purpose, Ghetts is mixing things up. While it still captures the rap star in thrilling form lyrically, musically it also sees him reaching out into everything from soul, R&B and gospel to Afrobeats and Amapiano. For a compelling glimpse of where he’s heading, look no further than Tumbi, a percussive and seductive jam primed for the dancefloor. With the album set to include collaborations with Kano, Wretch 32, Sampha, Unknown T, Dexta Daps and Moonchild Sanelly, expect big things. Contact: Ben Harris ben@runmusic.co.uk BRING ME THE HORIZON Kool-Aid (Sony/RCA) Not content with playing a huge UK arena tour this month, Bring Me The Horizon have also dropped their massive new single Kool-Aid. Built around a propulsive riff accented by…

JANUARY 26 Alkaline Trio Blood, Hair, And Eyeballs Rise Ashley Kutcher House On The Water Darkroom Benny The Butcher Everybody Can’t Go Def Jam Courting New Last Name Lower Third Etta Marcus The Death Of Summer & Other Promises Polydor Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes Dark Rainbow International Death Cult/AWAL Future Islands People Who Aren’t There Anymore 4AD Ghost Atlas Dust Of The Human Shape UNFD Gruff Rhys Sadness Sets Me Free Rough Trade James Arthur Bitter Sweet Love Columbia Little Man Tate Welcome To The Rest Of Your Life Best Of Three Lyrical Lemonade All Is Yellow Def Jam New Model Army Unbroken EarMusic NewDad Madra A Fair Youth Randall King Into The Neon Warner Sigma London Sound 3Beat The Smile Wall Of Eyes XL Tom Odell Black Friday…

Management: Tara Richardson, Peter Mensch & Cliff Burnstein (Q Prime) Label: Island Records CEO & chairman: David Joseph (Universal Music UK) President: Louis Bloom MD: Nicola Spokes A&R: Jack Greengrass & James Talbut Marketing: Sam Flynn Digital Marketing: Lewis Lister Publisher: Kobalt Agent: Ben Coles & Emma Banks (CAA) Print Press: Jon Lawrence (Chalk Press Agency) Online Press: Matt Ganfield (Chalk Press Agency) Radio: Olivia Carson (They Do) TV: Tony Fletcher Creative Director: Joshua Mitchell…

RAY BLK (ARTIST, ACTRESS & ENTREPRENEUR) Ray Blk has been making huge waves since releasing her breakout mixtape, Havisham, in 2015, two years later becoming the New Artist winner at Music Week’s Women In Music Awards and the first unsigned winner of BBC’s Sound Of poll. The Nigerian-born, South London-based artist has released two EPs, the first featuring Stormzy, SG Lewis and Wretch 32, and a critically acclaimed debut album, 2021’s Access Denied. Blk has been featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30, toured with Nicki Minaj, sold out her own UK and US shows, and worked with the likes of Gorillaz and Wyclef Jean. She launched a nail brand in 2021 and last year made her acting debut in BBC/Netflix series Champion, for which she served as executive producer of…

One year ago, in this column, I suggested that the live music industry would need to take urgent financial action to prevent the closure of many grassroots venues. I warned that if we didn’t act, they would close, and I laid out a challenge: by January 1 2025, every ticket sold at each arena and stadium should contribute £1 into a Pipeline Investment Fund that underwrites the cost of venues, artists and crew in the grassroots sector. The top tier of the live industry had a remarkable 2023, hosting hundreds of big-scale events at significantly increased ticket prices. That’s to be celebrated – the public engaging with them creates economic activity and employment, and it rewards artists for creating loyal fanbases. Furthermore, a lot of these shows also feature groundbreaking…

UNITED KINGDOM Cordelia Little Life Video Creations: 260,300 Singer-songwriter Cordelia has taken over For You Pages with her single Little Life, which focuses on finding inner peace. The sentimental lyrics speak to creators who have been showing their appreciation for the ‘little things’, like day-to-day tasks and relationships. Some have been using the sound to reflect on their friendships, whilst others are using it to explore the choices they’ve made in the past year. The musical side of TikTok has taken a liking to Little Life, with many sharing their own covers. Cordelia has also been duetting creators’ videos and sharing her reactions. Josh Mateer, A&R lead at TikTok, pays tribute to how TikTok has supported Little Life’s streaming growth and how Cordelia has used the platform to connect with…