The A&R Awards 2023: All The Winners

Credit: Alex Davison / MBW
Danny D (aka Danny Poku) and Tim Blacksmith brought the night to a close with a speech that brought the house down, collecting the Sir George Martin Award

At this point, even we don’t know what it is. There’s just something in the air at this event.

Last night in London, the great and good of the British music industry gathered for The A&R Awards – the UK-focused ceremony presented by MBW, in association with Abbey Road Studios.

As ever, the event recognised and celebrated artistic and industry talent across songwriting, production, record labels, music publishers, talent management and more.

It all kicked off with an Oustanding Contribution award celebrating Lyor Cohen‘s 40 years in the business, presented by Cohen’s friend, Julie Greenwald.

From there, the magic moments just kept coming. Where to start?

Roy Eldridge (Icon), presented by his son, Sam. Jusnah Gadi winning the Trailblazer: Richard Antwi award. And then, of course, Tim and Danny.

Tim and Danny, man!


Big winners on the night included Songwriter Of The Year: the Sony Music Publishing-signed Lostboy (aka Peter Rycroft). Producer of the Year went to Catherine Marks for her work with Boygenius.

Warner Chappell UK – home to RAYE, Dave, and Stormzy amongst others – had a big night, winning Publisher Of The Year (in the ‘major’ publisher category), while the company’s Amber Davis, took home the A&R Of The Year (Pop) prize.

It was also a big night for Virgin Music Group (winning UK Artist/Label Services company, primarily judged on UK-sourced signings – which in VMG’s case over the past year included Rema/Mavin Records). And Atlantic Records UK took home Major Label for the second year in a row, reflecting its work with artists including Burna Boy, Fred Again, and Ed Sheeran.

In addition to our returning headline partner, Abbey Road Studios, supporters of this year’s A&R Awards include Centtrip, Hipgnosis Song Management, Luminate, Milk & Honey, PPL, PRS For Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok, Vevo, YouTube Shorts and YouTube Music.

More coverage will be coming soon. For now, here’s every winner.


Outstanding Achievement
  • Lyor Cohen

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR – SUPPORTED BY ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
  • Catherine Marks

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR – SUPPORTED BY HIPGNOSIS SONG MANAGEMENT
  • Lostboy (Peter Rycroft)

SONG OF THE YEAR – SUPPORTED BY HIPGNOSIS SONG MANAGEMENT
  • Dance The Night – performed by Dua Lipa (Lipa/Wyatt/Ronson/Ailin)

A&R Of The Year: Adult Contemporary
  • Jamie Nelson – BMG

A&R Of The Year: Contemporary Black Music – supported by Spotify
  • Kilo Jalloh, Moe Bah & Mel Ijieh – 5K Records

A&R Of The Year: Electronic / Dance – supported by SoundCloud

A&R Of The Year: Pop – supported by PRS For Music
  • Amber Davis – Warner Chappell UK

A&R Of The Year: Alternative

A&R Administrator (‘The Forbesie’) – supported by PPL
  • Paul Walmsley and Rebecca La Porta – Polydor

Artist MANAGEMENT COMPANY (THE DAVID ENTHOVEN AWARD) – SUPPORTED BY CENTTRIP
  • Eleven Management

Songwriter/Producer Management Company
  • Milk & Honey Management

MANAGER OF THE YEAR – SUPPORTED BY YOUTUBE SHORTS
  • Benny Scarrs & Jack Foster

Artist/label Services Company (UK)
  • Virgin Music Group

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR (1) – SUPPORTED BY MILK & HONEY

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR (2)

INDEPENDENT Record Company – supported by TikTok
  • EGA

MAJOR LABEL – SUPPORTED BY Luminate
  • Atlantic Records UK

Icon – supported by YouTube
  • Roy Eldridge

Trailblazer: The Richard Antwi Award
  • Jusnah Gadi

The Sir George Martin Award
  • Tim Blacksmith & Danny D

Music Business Worldwide