Brit Awards 2013 take shape

04-05 - NEWS SPREADV3_News and Playlists 27/11/2012 16:46 Page 4
4 Music Week 30.11.12
www.musicweek.com
NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF
n CAPITOL: Universal has appointed
Steve Barnett as Chairman and CEO of
its Capitol Music Group, which now
includes The Beatles catalogue.
n BREAKOUT: The Music Week-backed
monthly night returns to Camden’s
Proud Galleries on Thursday
JAMES CORDEN, O2 CONFIRMED • HIRST DESIGNS • DIGITAL COMMITTEE
Brit Awards 2013 take shape
EVENTS
social network sites.
Damien Hirst becomes the
third British creative to put his
stamp on the Brits trophy. The
‘blank canvas’ was given its
inaugural makeover by designer
Vivienne Westwood in 2011,
whilst last year’s trophy was
designed by legendary pop artist
Sir Peter Blake.
Artists now represent the
largest percentage of the Brits
Voting Academy since their
addition in 2011, adding a peer-topeer aspect for the artists winning
Awards. The full Voting Academy
is made up of a cross-section of
invited members from every level
of the UK music industry.
The Brit Awards 2013
nominations will be launched at
an exclusive media
event at The Savoy
in London on
January 10. The event will
be hosted by Radio 1’s Nick
Grimshaw (above). Highlights
from the nominations launch
will be broadcast on the official
Brits YouTube channel
immedietely after the show.
Meanwhile, UMTV will once
again release the official Brit
Awards album in 2013.
Haydn Williams, general
manager of UMTV said: “This
year has been an incredible year
of music from all genres, and
our album will reflect this
diversity and quality.”
A full list of 2013 Brit
Awards categories will be
announced in the coming weeks.
The 2012 Brits drew the
event’s highest-ever TV viewing
figures since 2005, peaking at 7.8
million on ITV.
The two biggest winners on
the night, Adele and Ed Sheeran,
both saw their albums return to
the Top Three, while albums
from winners Emeli Sandé, Lana
Del Rey and Coldplay all
returned to the Top 10. Blur’s
Best Of re-entered the charts at
No.22, more than a decade after
its original release in 2000.
(MP & Culture Minister);
Professor Jonathan
Shalit (ROAR); Professor John
Board (Henley); Helen
Gammons (Henley); Jo
Dipple (CEO, UK Music), Andy
Heath (chairman, UK Music);
Geoff Taylor (CEO, BPI); Nick
Gatfield, (Sony Music UK);
Andria Vidler (CEO, EMI
Music UK & Ireland); Clive
Dickens (COO, Absolute
Radio); Paul Bennett (Henley);
Adam Barker (director of
legal and business affairs,
Universal Music UK); Nigel
Elderton (managing director &
European president, Peermusic)
and Jeremy Marsh (Warner Bros
Records UK).
n BY TIM INGHAM
December 11, with Dot Rotten and
Rascals set to headline. ID will be
required for entry. More info:
musicweek.com/breakout
n IMAGEM: The publisher has signed
Suffolk-born One Direction writer
Fiona Bevan. She has collaborated
with the likes of Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)
and fellow Imagem artists Ryan Keen
and Nick Mulvey (Fiction Records).
n ISLE OF WIGHT: John Giddings’
Brit of all right: February’s show will
benefit from a dedicated digital group
festival has secured The Stone Roses
as 2013 headliners - a UK festival
exclusive. Bon Jovi will also headline
the event, which will take place
between June 14–16.
n WE7: Tesco has rebranded digital
music platform We7 following
its purchase of the service in June. The
supermarket has folded the platform
into its non-subscription digital film
and TV service Blinkbox.
n CHRIS STAMP: The early co-manager
of The Who and Track Records
founder passed away last Saturday
(November 24) aged 70.
n UNION SQUARE: Union Square
Music Publishing has signed a deal to
represent the catalogue of Swing Out
Sister’s Corinne Drewery and Andy
Connell. The deal includes the full
back catalogue of nine studio albums.
n PSY: Gangnam Style, the novelty
dance song by Korean artist Psy, has
he Brit Awards will return
to London’s O2 Arena on
Wednesday, February 20,
2013 with the ceremony’s famous
trophy being given a makeover by
Damien Hirst (above).
For the first time, a full-time
Brits Digital Committee has
been appointed to ensure the
digital campaign is as strong
as possible, chaired by Universal
Music UK digital director
Paul Smernicki.
The committee aims to ‘allow
the audience at home to enjoy a
truly interactive experience’.
Last year saw over a million
tweets on the day of the Awards,
with 58% of those occurring
during the ceremony.
Organisers say that fans will
T
be able to see more exclusive
content than ever before from
every aspect of the Awards across
the official website and Brits
THE
BRITS
DIGITAL COMMITTEE
• Paul Smernicki (Universal &
Committee Chairman) • Dan Duncombe (EMI)
• Jack Melhuish (Warners)
• Juston Cross (Sony)
• Scott Wright (XL)
• Tony Barnes (Virgin)
• Stuart Bell and Richard Dawes
(DawBell)
• Maggie Crowe (BPI)
• Giuseppe DeCristofano (BPI)
become the most-watched YouTube
video of all time as it continues to
clock up views that now amount to
over 324 million.
n ABSOLUTE: Absolute Radio is the
first UK commercial radio station to
announce an Xbox app, bringing
its seven channels to Xbox Live
Gold subscribers.
n DIDO: Sony have confirmed that a
new Dido album will be released on
RCA in Q1 next year, to be titled Girl
Who Got Away.
n EMI: Gabrielle Aplin’s PR is handled
internally by Debra Geddes at EMI,
contrary to a recent Music Week
listing. Meanwhile, RE: the ‘Turn On
The Talent’ piece in the November 11
edition of Music Week, Michael
Kiwanuka has been playlisted five
times to date by Radio 1.
For all of the latest Music
Industry news, bookmark
.com
Getting
down to
business
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey
and ROAR Group chairman
Professor Jonathan
Shalit hosted a dinner at the
House of Commons last week to
discuss requirements for the
development of middle and
senior executives within the
music industry.
The dinner was prompted by
Helen Gammons, programme
director of the MBA for the
Music Industry at Henley
Business School.
Major label CEOs praised
the MBA, and recognised a need
for a programme that brings all
sectors of the music industry
together. Warner Bros Records
vice-chairman Jeremy Marsh,
together with Sony Music CEO
Nick Gatfield, recommended
that Henley created a short
intensive programme for some
senior level execs, a suggestion
welcomed by Gammons.
Attendees were: Ed Vaizey,