This year’s A&R Awards are just weeks away and, as the excitement builds, PPL has stepped up to sponsor the Administrator of the Year category – AKA The Forbsie.
It’s a special one this, not just because it sings the praises of often unsung heroes within the A&R multiverse, but because it is named after Ashley Forbes, the much-admired and much-missed A&R Administrator at EMI (where she worked for over 32 years) who sadly died in 2021. Forbes herself was a previous winner of the award.
This year’s event takes place on the evening of Tuesday November 7th at London’s Grand Connaught Rooms, where a capacity crowd (yep, we’re all sold out now, sorry) will celebrate the work of the past year’s most successful execs, managers, producers and songwriters – and hail a handful of industry legends.
Natalie Wade, Director of Music Industry Engagement at PPL. said: “It is such a pleasure to return to support the A&R Administrator category at the 2023 A&R Awards. I often say the A&R admins are the glue in the department, coordinating across so many elements to keep the label team running smoothly.
“We are proud to champion their contribution to our industry.”
“Their role in making sure that tracks are properly documented and logged is so important in helping organisations like PPL maxmise value for performers and recording rightsholders when their music is played – we are proud to champion their contribution to our industry.”
The finalists for the 2023 A&R Awards were announced earlier this week.
Other categories at the event will include Producer of The Year; A&R of the Year: Adult Contemporary; A&R of The Year: Contemporary Black Music, A&R Of The Year: Electronic/Dance (sponsored by SoundCloud); Song of the Year and Songwriter of the year (both sponsored by Hipgnosis); Publisher of the Year (sponsored by Milk & Honey), Major Label of The Year, Independent Label of The Year, and Management Company of the Year – as well as show-stopping special presentations such as the A&R Icon and the Sir George Martin Award.
The headline sponsor of the A&R Awards is, as always, Abbey Road Studios.
Music Business Worldwide