The Brit Awards will returnto London’s O2 Arena onWednesday, February 20,

2013 with the ceremony’s famoustrophy being given a makeover byDamien Hirst (above).

For the first time, a full-timeBrits Digital Committee hasbeen appointed to ensure thedigital campaign is as strong as possible, chaired by UniversalMusic UK digital director Paul Smernicki.

The committee aims to ‘allowthe audience at home to enjoy atruly interactive experience’. Last year saw over a milliontweets on the day of the Awards,with 58% of those occurringduring the ceremony.

Organisers say that fans will

www.musicweek.com4 Music Week 30.11.12

NEWS

be able to see more exclusivecontent than ever before fromevery aspect of the Awards acrossthe official website and Brits

social network sites.Damien Hirst becomes the

third British creative to put hisstamp on the Brits trophy. The‘blank canvas’ was given itsinaugural makeover by designerVivienne Westwood in 2011,whilst last year’s trophy wasdesigned by legendary pop artistSir Peter Blake.

Artists now represent thelargest percentage of the BritsVoting Academy since theiraddition in 2011, adding a peer-to-peer aspect for the artists winningAwards. The full Voting Academyis made up of a cross-section ofinvited members from every levelof the UK music industry.

The Brit Awards 2013nominations will be launched at

an exclusive mediaevent at The Savoyin London onJanuary 10. 

The event willbe hosted by Radio 1’s NickGrimshaw (above). Highlightsfrom the nominations launch will be broadcast on the officialBrits YouTube channelimmedietely after the show.

Meanwhile, UMTV will onceagain release the official BritAwards album in 2013.

Haydn Williams, generalmanager of UMTV said: “Thisyear has been an incredible yearof music from all genres, and our album will reflect thisdiversity and quality.”

A full list of 2013 BritAwards categories will beannounced in the coming weeks.

The 2012 Brits drew theevent’s highest-ever TV viewingfigures since 2005, peaking at 7.8million on ITV.

The two biggest winners onthe night, Adele and Ed Sheeran,both saw their albums return tothe Top Three, while albumsfrom winners Emeli Sandé, LanaDel Rey and Coldplay allreturned to the Top 10. Blur’sBest Of re-entered the charts atNo.22, more than a decade afterits original release in 2000.

JAMES CORDEN, O2 CONFIRMED • HIRST DESIGNS • DIGITAL COMMITTEE

Brit Awards 2013 take shapeEVENTS! BY TIM INGHAM

Culture Minister Ed Vaizeyand ROAR Group chairmanProfessor Jonathan Shalit hosted a dinner at theHouse of Commons last week todiscuss requirements for thedevelopment of middle andsenior executives within themusic industry.

The dinner was prompted byHelen Gammons, programmedirector of the MBA for theMusic Industry at HenleyBusiness School.

Major label CEOs praisedthe MBA, and recognised a needfor a programme that brings all

sectors of the music industrytogether. Warner Bros Recordsvice-chairman Jeremy Marsh,together with Sony Music CEONick Gatfield, recommendedthat Henley created a shortintensive programme for somesenior level execs, a suggestionwelcomed by Gammons.

Attendees were: Ed Vaizey,

(MP & Culture Minister);Professor JonathanShalit (ROAR); Professor JohnBoard (Henley); HelenGammons (Henley); JoDipple (CEO, UK Music), AndyHeath (chairman, UK Music);Geoff Taylor (CEO, BPI); NickGatfield, (Sony Music UK);Andria Vidler (CEO, EMI

Music UK & Ireland); CliveDickens (COO, AbsoluteRadio); Paul Bennett (Henley);Adam Barker (director of legal and business affairs,Universal Music UK); NigelElderton (managing director &European president, Peermusic)and Jeremy Marsh (Warner BrosRecords UK).

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! CAPITOL: Universal has appointedSteve Barnett as Chairman and CEO ofits Capitol Music Group, which nowincludes The Beatles catalogue.! BREAKOUT: The Music Week-backedmonthly night returns to Camden’sProud Galleries on ThursdayDecember 11, with Dot Rotten andRascals set to headline. ID will berequired for entry. More info:musicweek.com/breakout! IMAGEM: The publisher has signedSuffolk-born One Direction writerFiona Bevan. She has collaboratedwith the likes of Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)and fellow Imagem artists Ryan Keenand Nick Mulvey (Fiction Records).! ISLE OF WIGHT: John Giddings’festival has secured The Stone Rosesas 2013 headliners - a UK festivalexclusive. Bon Jovi will also headlinethe event, which will take placebetween June 14–16.! WE7: Tesco has rebranded digitalmusic platform We7 followingits purchase of the service in June. Thesupermarket has folded the platforminto its non-subscription digital filmand TV service Blinkbox.! CHRIS STAMP: The early co-managerof The Who and Track Recordsfounder passed away last Saturday(November 24) aged 70.! UNION SQUARE: Union SquareMusic Publishing has signed a deal torepresent the catalogue of Swing OutSister’s Corinne Drewery and AndyConnell. The deal includes the fullback catalogue of nine studio albums.! PSY: Gangnam Style, the noveltydance song by Korean artist Psy, hasbecome the most-watched YouTubevideo of all time as it continues toclock up views that now amount toover 324 million.! ABSOLUTE: Absolute Radio is thefirst UK commercial radio station toannounce an Xbox app, bringing its seven channels to Xbox Live Gold subscribers.! DIDO: Sony have confirmed that anew Dido album will be released onRCA in Q1 next year, to be titled GirlWho Got Away.! EMI: Gabrielle Aplin’s PR is handledinternally by Debra Geddes at EMI,contrary to a recent Music Weeklisting. Meanwhile, RE: the ‘Turn OnThe Talent’ piece in the November 11edition of Music Week, MichaelKiwanuka has been playlisted fivetimes to date by Radio 1.

THE BRITSDIGITAL 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)

Gettingdown tobusiness

Brit of all right: February’s show willbenefit from a dedicated digital group

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