NICKIE OWEN Universal Music
Group UK
After global success stories from UK acts this year, how do you think the UK industry is perceived in other markets? “The UK is once again a global leader in music. Artists such as Elton John, Olivia Dean and Lola Young have made and released music that has touched the world and gained huge commercial success, proving the world’s appetite for UK talent is stronger than ever before.”
Which overseas market did you have your eye on most this year? “We focused on making a strong impact in the US and the recent Grammy nominations show that UK talent is doing just that. Whilst we are really excited for the opportunities in emerging markets, our priority this year was ensuring that UK-signed talent shone on the world’s biggest stage.”
DJ AG DJ
How did your platform impact the industry this year? “It’s always easier for the public to decide, but I think it’s brought people together and made music more accessible. Artists are able to come and showcase their talent and the
public can see some of their favourite acts and discover new ones, all for free. People love seeing legacy acts and acts that are going viral, but they also like to see great performances from emerging talent. The key thing is entertaining the crowd – if you do that, you’ve got a good chance of going viral.”
What was your favourite track and album of 2025?
“Melissa Steel – Over U. It didn’t really get the push it deserved, but it is sick – garage vibes! My album of the year is Central Cee’s Can’t Rush Greatness. Epic and well-crafted.”
What was your track of 2025? “Wolf Alice’s The Sofa. I’ve always been a big fan and this song is lyrically perfect and truly epic.”
And your favourite album? “Wolf Alice – The Clearing. I love how it feels so fresh, yet is still completely the essence of the band. It takes you on a journey and the melodies stick in my head for days. I think it’s a beautifully crafted piece of work.”
NICHAL SETHI
TikTok, SoundOn
PIETER VAN RIJN Downtown Music
How did Downtown move forward in 2025, amidst a time of change and such a busy news cycle?
“There was a lot of interest and discussion around the proposed acquisition of Downtown by Virgin. I cannot be prouder of my Downtown colleagues who continued to focus on adding value to our clients. And I am equally grateful for the trust those clients continue to place in us. In 2025, we continued to outperform market growth, with success in all our business lines, and focused on markets in Latin America and Asia. We launched new services in marketing, audiovisual and end-to-end payments and plan more in 2026. We had some major release success with our clients representing artists such as Neton Vega, Victor Mendivil, Zerb, Cash Cobain, Røry and more. Also, our songwriters, artists and businesses had over 100 nominations at the 2026 Grammys and 20 wins at the 2025 Latin Grammys.”
SAMANTHA MOY BBC Radio 6 Music
The station was back to winning ways at the Music Week Awards – how do you reflect on the victory now? “Thank you, Music Week, it truly is an honour. We always focus on music, its creators and telling their stories, and
we are blessed to have exceptional and passionate people creating brilliant programmes. There was a photo taken backstage (above), where Steve Lamacq is trying to lift Grimmy up; it’s chaotic, full of joy and disbelief, and I’m standing to the side (right) going, ‘Yep, this is 6 Music.’ It makes me ridiculously proud.”
What was your favourite track and album of 2025? “Rosalía’s dramatic single Berghain, and Self Titled by Kae Tempest.”
44 | Music Week
Having been at the company for a while now, what can you say about what makes it so special? “The people. This was a year where our resolve was tested. I am amazed at the vigilance, passion and professionalism of the team. I feel grateful to be surrounded by people who place so much joy in their work.”
What was your track and album of 2025?
“My favourite track is Where Is My Husband! by Raye: such a powerful song and production. And my favourite albums were Lux by Rosalía and Returning To Myself by Brandi Carlile.”
What can be learned from the SoundOn story so far? “It’s hard to say what the industry can learn as we’re uniquely placed as one of the only platforms that works directly with the artist whose music we distribute. With that comes experience and understanding of the platform, which so happens to be number one for artists to promote their music on. With certain tools at our disposal directly on TikTok, we know the best way to promote the artists’ music on there, while making sure it translates to other platforms, developing the artists’ careers far beyond TikTok.”
Who was your No.1 SoundOn success story from this year? “There’s been a lot, including chart successes with the likes of Denon Reed, Ely Oaks, Rizzle Kicks and more, but WizTheMC’s Show Me Love has to top them all. The fact that we were able to help a South African-German artist to chart in
the UK ahead of Ed Sheeran, and also go platinum, shows that we are able to transcend borders and make quality music reach the right audiences globally.”
What was your favourite track and album of 2025?
“Killowen – Pick Your Poison, it’s a great new take on the classic Bell Biv DeVoe track Poison. Nxdia’s I Promise No One’s Watching was my favourite album. Such a talent.”
SHERYL
NWOSU The Black
Music Coalition
What’s your message to the business at the end of 2025? “I’ve been saying the same thing since 2021 or 2022: that equality of access and opportunity, creating diverse and inclusive workspaces should not be difficult to do. The industry is averse to risk and drastic change in many ways, but the first step towards any change really does need to be an almost radical desire to make it. So, keep the conversations going. To the industry leaders I’d say, whatever you are doing, turbo charge it! We are here to assist and advise.”
How do you feel about the new executive talent pipeline this year? “Each year, when we start the [BMC] Excellence Honourees process I get a chance to go through all the nominees and there has not been a year yet where I haven’t been impressed! The names we get are people who most of the time have been working seemingly unnoticed, but when you track what they’ve done it’s so impressive. Whether through necessity or ambition, they aren’t afraid to [put] themselves out as being multi-talented or multi-hyphenates, they’re not restricting themselves to any one lane and are embracing the title ‘creative’, both in craft and commercially.”
What was your favourite track and album of 2025 and why? “Luther by Kendrick Lamar & SZA. Exceptional sampling, the intro, the vibe and having two of my favourites on one track. And, although it was not a new album, SZA’s deluxe update of SOS, Lana, gave me new music and a perfect excuse to revisit the album.”
musicweek.com
PHOTOS: Frederike Van Der Stræten, Calvin Ceile, Carsten Windhorst, Gerard Hynes, BBC
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
