LONDON — Pet Shop Boys and Paloma Faith were among the major honorees at the 2024 Artist & Manager Awards, which also saw the creative teams behind Yungblud and British dance duo Chase & Status pick up prizes in recognition of their clients’ commercial success.

Held at London’s Bloomsbury Big Top on Thursday (Nov. 21), the annual awards show organized by U.K. trade bodies the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF) is one of the few industry events that exclusively celebrates the achievements of both artists and their managers.

One of the night’s biggest prizes was the artist and manager partnership award, collected by the Pet Shop Boys and their long-time manager Angela Becker, who has represented the dance pop duo since 2009.

“At a time when we needed it, [Angela] brought into our lives good advice, organization, honesty and strategy to help us carry out some of our strange, spontaneous and willful ideas, and make them into a reality,” singer Neil Tennant told the audience of industry executives, artist managers, entrepreneurs, and invited guests. “She has helped us flourish in those 16 years and we love her for that.” Tennant was joined onstage by his musical partner Chris Lowe and Becker.

“Learning the language of your client’s hopes and fears will open doors to profound impact, ensuring that their work echoes in the hearts of audiences long after,” Becker responded, adding: “I am continually elevated and inspired by the pursuit of new ways to communicate Pet Shop Boys’ vision.”

This year’s icon award was presented to Faith, whose sixth studio album, The Glorification of Sadness, reached No. 2 on the Official U.K. Album Chart in February and who organizers praised for being “political, strong, a true individual, and a brilliant songwriter and artist.”

“Being named an icon is truly an honor and one I certainly don’t feel when I’m at school drop-off and pick-up with yesterday night’s gig makeup halfway down my face and wearing a dirty grey tracksuit,” joked Faith, collecting the award from her long-time manager and “partner-in-crime” Innis Ferguson at Lateral Management.

“Innis is the person who allowed me to become more than a singer. She and the company [Lateral Management] are the reason why I’m winning the award because they don’t just view me as a music artist.  They view me as whatever I want to be, whenever I want to be it,” said Faith, who recently published a best-selling book and has previously featured in an acclaimed, fly-on-the-wall BBC documentary. Faith went on to urge other artists to speak out about social and political issues. 

“It’s a waste of a platform not to be politically engaged and not use your voice for good,” she told the audience. “Throughout history, musicians have always spoken out about social issues. It should be part of all our work to continue to do that job. It’s our duty. Please do not squander your influence on superficial things alone when you can make the world better.”

Other prizes given out at the ceremony included the fan champion award, which went to Yungblud, Tommas Arnby, Adam Wood and the management team at Special Projects Music, in recognition of their “innovative and hands-on approach to building and nurturing Yungblud’s fanbase.”

“I will do everything for my community, everything is for them. We work every day to try and make them feel safe, to try and make them feel heard and to try and make them feel seen,” said Yungblud, real name Dominic Harrison, in a video acceptance speech filmed in California. Accepting the award in London on his behalf were two of his biggest fans, Corey and Kenya.

British dance duo Chase & Status and their manager Sophie Kennard (Frame Artists) triumphed in the artist and manager team of the year category.

“Management is really a thankless job,” said the band’s Will Kennard. “All artists are a total nightmare and managers have to deal with them day-in and day-out on so many different levels. What they do is really quite heroic, and they don’t really get the recognition they deserve,” he said paying tribute to his “incredible, irreplaceable” manager.  

Riverman Management founders Alex Weston and Dave McLean were awarded the prestigious title of managers’ manager in tribute to their successful three-decade long career, which began in the early 1990s when they promoted some of the first U.K. shows by Nirvana, Green Day, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. The company’s artist management roster now includes Friedberg, Dea Matrona, Tom Fleming and Placebo, who the firm has represented since 1995.

“Over the years, with the introduction of technology and with the continuously increasing and expanding workloads, [artist] management has become a job that I sometimes question why any sane person would enter or continue to [do],” said Weston, accepting the managers’ manager award from FAC board director and former member of The Fall, Brix Smith.

“What other job on this planet requires us to have so much wide-ranging knowledge, so many skills and so much responsibility and time invested?” she went on to say. “But we do it because we are 100% committed and passionate about each of the artists we take on and truly believe, against all the odds, we can break them and their music. They are the future of our industry and put their faith and trust in us to help them achieve those ambitions,” said Weston before offering a note of caution to major labels: “Sometimes it’s worth remembering that managers need support too.”

Other winners on the night included British funk group Cymande, who took home the originator award, and Grammy-nominated Scottish musician Sophie, who died in 2021 at age 34. With the blessing of her family, who were present at the awards ceremony, Sophie was posthumously given the pioneer award.

Later in the evening, electronic music producer Barry Can’t Swim (real name Joshua Mainnie) received the breakthrough artist award, while Victoria de Juniac was named breakthrough manager in recognition of her work with Irish singer-songwriter Cian Ducrot.

The ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Remi Burgz and featured live performances from Moonchild Sanelly, BEKA and Hana Lili.

Here’s the full list of winners at the 2024 Artist & Manager Awards:

Artist & Manager Partnership: Pet Shop Boys & Angela Becker (Becker Brown)

Artist & Manager Team of the Year: Chase & Status & Sophie Kennard (Frame Artists)

Icon: Paloma Faith

Managers’ Manager: Riverman Management

Pioneer:  SOPHIE (posthumous award)

Originator: Cymande

Fan Champion: Yungblud & Special Projects Music

Breakthrough Artist: Barry Can’t Swim

Breakthrough Manager: Victoria de Juniac (VictoriaBDJ Management)

Secret Weapon: Hope James (Atlas Artists)

Writer / Producer Manager: Ant Hippsley (Milk & Honey)

Team Achievement: Finesse Foreva