Table of contents for No. 1396 in Music Week

The more things change… It was the month that sent group chats everywhere into meltdown. Hell, at times in July the music industry was reconfiguring itself with such breathtaking frequency I started to wonder whether any of it would still be recognisable by the time we hit August. In a normal month (remember them?) the election of, say, a new government would have dominated music industry discourse. Not in July. Not with Hipgnosis Song Management founder and chairman Merck Mercuriadis giving notice of his intention to step away as chairman on the second day of the month. And this was just for starters in the 31 days that shook the industry to its core, with news of everything from the tragic passing of beloved SJM promoter Chris York, to Kobalt's…

The past 12 months have been nothing short of a whirlwind for Myles Smith. From his debut release in 2023 to selling out tours across the UK, Europe and North America a year later, the Luton-born singer-songwriter has broken big, and very quickly. But he hasn't forgotten where it all started: in an empty music room at secondary school. “From Year 7 to 11, I don't think I spent a single lunch break outside!” Smith tells Music Week, as he settles into a candid conversation about his musical beginnings. “I was terrible at sports, so I didn't fit in with the football or rugby guys, and me and swimming pools are not friends, so music was my thing.” Smith didn't own an instrument growing up, but a couple of “battered”…

“Art needs to inform the business, whereas at the moment the business is informing the art” HANNAH REID, LONDON GRAMMAR When Music Week meets London Grammar, the chart-topping band are understandably still buzzing. Days earlier, the trio – comprising lead vocalist and songwriter Hannah Reid, multi-instrumentalist and producer Dot Major, and guitarist Dan Rothman – drew a huge crowd for their headline show on The Park Stage at Glastonbury. “I'm still lost for words,” Reid reflects on their statement-making performance. “It was magical, I felt really proud.” “For a band who hadn't played live for two years to walk onto that stage and see the crowd stretching up the hill was an incredible moment,” praises Tony Beard from Tap Music Management, who was watching on from the audience that day. “There…

01 DOUBLE TAKE SABRINA CARPENTER Espresso (Polydor) SALES: 220,358 July's first chart week marked the third frame in a row in which Sabrina Carpenter occupied the top two slots of the weekly chart and the singer went on to replace herself at No.1 on two separate occasions as last month unfolded. Seemingly, the dominance of Espresso and Please Please Please, which duly finish first and second in our monthly chart respectively, knows no bounds at present. By the end of July, Espresso had accumulated 983,251 sales, while Please Please Please had 456,804. The former had been crowned No.1 six times in its career, with the latter reaching the peak five times. In the UK, Carpenter is the youngest female artist in history to occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 spots…

“He was beloved of the acts that he promoted – they cared about him because he cared about them” Tributes have poured in for hugely popular live music promoter Chris York, who has died aged 55 following a long illness. York, a key figure at Manchester-based SJM, was a mainstay of the live scene for more than three decades. Many artists have acknowledged his contribution to their careers – in some cases taking then from club venues to arenas and stadiums. In a statement, SJM said its team were “deeply saddened” by the death of the leading UK promoter and director of the company. York played a major role in the success of SJM, which has won the Music Week Awards Promoter trophy 10 times, holds the record for the…

THE BIG LABELS Universal Music UK has completely reshaped its operations and launched a new Audience & Media Division with Rebecca Allen as president. The shake-up will see the combination of Island and EMI as Island EMI Label Group (headed by president Louis Bloom), alongside Polydor Label Group (headed by president Ben Mortimer), incorporating Capitol and 0207 Def Jam. Jo Charrington will be president of Capitol, while 0207 Def Jam will be led by president Alec Boateng. THE BIG MOVE Alison Donald, Kobalt head of global creative, has left to pursue other endeavours. During her seven-year tenure, Donald has signed key talent such as Sam Fender, Cigarettes After Sex, Koffee, Gabriels, Jungle, Khruangbin, Rage Against The Machine, The Last Dinner Party and Tom Odell. “Working with the team at Kobalt…

THIS MONTH: BIMM TASTEMAKERS FM Host: Emma Williams (and more BIMM students) Contact: tastemakersfm@gmail.com This podcast celebrates the music and talent emerging from across BIMM's campuses - what was the vision behind it? “There's so much music coming out of Ireland and the UK every day and when you go to BIMM, you're exposed to an overwhelming amount of talent: a podcast that lays it all out has been long overdue. Getting to have an input in what people are listening to is so powerful.” Uniquely, each episode is hosted by a different BIMM student – how did you find the experience of being the launch host? “When I first heard about the new podcast, I thought it was such an incredible opportunity to work on something I'm really passionate…

Lauren Coggins Senior label manager, Believe @laurencoggins_ Looking back, what was the biggest challenge you faced breaking into music? “For me, it was about finding the right opportunity – I thought there was a lot less to the music industry than there is, so understanding which part of it I wanted to get into took a long time. I went to university in Bristol to study computer science as it felt like a sensible place to start in order to get onto their audio and music technology course later on. But about halfway through my first year I realised it wasn't what I wanted to do, so I decided to drop out. My plan was to find an apprenticeship, but I started volunteering at Sofar Sounds as an artist liaison,…

AUGUST 23 Cassyette This World F**king Sucks 23 Records Fontaines DC Romance XL Kishi Bashi Kantos Joyful Noise Mark Lanegan Bubblegum XX Beggars Banquet Nile The Underworld Awaits Us All Napalm Sabrina Carpenter Short N' Sweet Polydor Thomas Rhett About A Woman The Valory Music Co AUGUST 30 Awolnation The Phantom Five Two Twenty Five David Kushner The Dichotomy Miserable Galliano Halfway Somewhere Brownswood Jon Hopkins Ritual Domino Laurie Anderson Amelia Nonesuch Los Bitchos Talkie Talkie City Slang Marianas Trench Haven Warner/604 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Wild God Bad Seed/Play It Again Sam Oasis Definitely Maybe – 30th Anniversary Big Brother Paris Paloma Cacophony Nettwerk Wunderhorse Midas Communion Zedd Telos Interscope SEPTEMBER 6 Boston Manor Sundiver SharpTone David Gilmour Luck And Strange Sony KATY PERRY 143 is out…

CURATED BY GIR'S CARLA MARIE WILLIAMS TAPONESWA MAVUNGA DIRECTOR OF AFRICA, SONY MUSIC UK Taponeswa Mavunga began her two-decade long career as a receptionist at Warner Music UK. Working her way up, she landed in publicity, first at East West and then Atlantic Records. Over 12 years, she worked with both international and domestic talent, spearheading awardwinning campaigns for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Missy Elliott and Jay-Z. In 2014, she moved to South Africa as head of talent and music for Viacom Africa and, in 2016, returned to the UK to take on the role of Columbia Records' head of publicity, overseeing a roster of stars including Calvin Harris, Rosalía and Wizkid, to name a few. Mavunga was featured in the BBC Woman's Hour Power List in 2018, the…

01 DEATH STAR EMINEM The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) (Polydor) SALES: 63,294 It was a big month for Eminem, who celebrated his latest UK No.1 with 12th studio LP The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce). The BPI also honoured the US rap star with a BRIT Billion Award in recognition of his seven billion streams in the UK alone. His latest release adds to that huge total with strong consumption in July (including 45,063 units in its opening week), even though the only available physical format was cassette – vinyl and CD releases will be sure to bolster its sales in the months ahead. It has already spent three weeks at the summit. The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) is Eminem's 10th consecutive studio…

5 years ago… TOP STORY ED HONCHO It was, at the time, the biggest tour the world had ever seen – and very much the icing on the cake for an album campaign that we boldly stated had “changed everything”. We were, of course, talking about Ed Sheeran's all-conquering ÷ album and tour. At the time we went to print, it had already taken in 255 shows, 8.5 million tickets and 17m record sales. It was only natural, then, that Music Week caught up with Sheeran's manager, Stuart Camp, at Grumpy Old Management HQ for a comprehensive debrief just ahead of the phenomenon drawing to a close. “I don't think it's going to be repeated,” he said. “Maybe the commercial success one day, it's certainly something to aim for. But…

Your essential primer for the month ahead UK acts are facing a sustained chart squeeze from US stars amid intensifying streaming competition. As Music Week went to press, no UK artist had held No.1 on the singles chart during 2024. With 12 combined weeks at the summit for her singles Espresso and Please Please Please, Sabrina Carpenter is the main reason for the No.1 drought for UK talent. A US invasion has seen chart-topping singles from Noah Kahan, Beyoncé, Benson Boone, Taylor Swift and Eminem. Hozier (who hails from Ireland but is signed to Island UK) is the only non-American to reach No.1 so far in 2024. BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE said that a No.1 “remains an important signal of success”, but noted it was just one metric.…

Tom Kiehl, CEO, UK Music “We've built really strong links between UK Music and the Labour Party” TOM KIEHL, UK MUSIC Is there an opportunity for the industry with the election of the new Labour government? “Very much so, it's a huge moment of political change for the industry. Over the years, we've built really strong links between UK Music and the Labour Party, particularly people like [chancellor] Rachel Reeves. So we've done a lot of groundwork, which has put us in a really good position to maximise this opportunity.” You've been at UK Music since 2012 – what are the new challenges you see for the sector? “One of the big issues is that we do need a long-term strategy for the music industry. That has come out of a…

“If I feel dysregulated in my body about something, I'll naturally write a song about it” Cassyette You released your first single in 2019, what made now feel like the right time to share your debut full-length? “When you're starting out as an artist, you're finding your feet, and doing a debut album is such a special thing because it encompasses you artistically. I have a real sense of closeness to the art I make – it's like a piece of my soul, so I wanted to make this really special. But it wasn't like, 'I'm gonna do an album,' it was more like, 'I have enough stuff that I feel really fucking good about, and it shows every side of me musically'. Obviously I still have a lot to discover,…

“When you look back at the four years that I've been in the job, the station is unrecognisable from what it was before the pandemic” ALED HAYDN JONES, BBC RADIO 1 It's the Monday morning after Glastonbury and Aled Haydn Jones is four hours into a well-earned week off work. The BBC Radio 1 chief has gone back to his hometown of Aberystwyth with his family for some downtime, and the reason he is explaining all of this to Music Week is so that we don't confuse 'Vacation Aled' with 'Work Aled'. “If you get the gist that I'm really laid-back, that's not normally me,” he says cheerily over the phone. “I'm normally way more high-maintenance and energetic than this!” Not that the amicable, chatty Haydn Jones sounds like anything approaching…

“I know who we are, and I'm proud of it… It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of us” GARY LIGHTBODY, SNOW PATROL The best advice given to Gary Lightbody over the course of Snow Patrol's career came when the band were making their breakthrough third album, Final Straw. The frontman was grappling with the huge, indelible choruses that were coming out of him because arty, low-level indie-rock bands, which is what Snow Patrol were at that point, were not supposed to have huge, indelible choruses. Even the idea of choruses felt anathema to the mid-20s Lightbody. That was when producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee pulled him aside. “It's OK, you're not betraying yourself, to not do this would be betraying yourself. This is what you want to do and what you're…

Unwritten is a really good song to sing loud, at the top of your lungs. It's become an anthem, and it means something different to everyone. It's so lovely that the song has shot up the charts this year with TikTok and the film Anyone But You. It feels like a perfect example of the universe making things happen, because I'd been saying, “We need to celebrate the anniversary!” The film really feels like a homage to the song, the director gave me so much love – and the track and movie together have become a hit. Before Unwritten, my brother, Daniel, was famous. But I'd been like, “Music is my thing, too”, so I started songwriting whenever I could and I signed to a new label [Phonogenic Records] that…

UNITED KINGDOM LeoStayTrill & Mr Reload It Pink Lemonade (Chosen Music Flystr8, Str8 Reload) Video Creations: 1,900,000 LeoStayTrill is no stranger to TikTok success, with tracks like Honeybun and his Jack Harlow remix, What's Poppin', helping the South-East Londoner attract over half a million followers and 24 million likes. His latest collaboration has elevated the buzz around his music to the next level, with stars like Dave and Coi Leray using the sound in TikTok videos. The track was promoted by TikTok's SoundOn and is also at the centre of the 'flung my shoulder' trend which sees creators dance along to the lyrics, 'Shit, I should've just flung my shoulder'. Parris OH, artist partnerships manager at TikTok UK, notes the way in which LeoStayTrill has engaged effectively with audiences across…

Dexter Holland, The Offspring Following on from scoring their highest-charting album ever in the UK in 2021, punk legends The Offspring are gearing up to release their 11th record, Supercharged. Here, band leader Dexter Holland looks back on self-immolating fans, hanging with Ed Sheeran and more… Our early gigs were gnarly, but we had no money… “There was one show where a guy set himself on fire, on purpose, thinking it would be funny. Back then, we toured in a pick-up truck – we didn't even have a van. I remember being at a gas station and we were literally trying to find change in the seat cushions to pay for the gas. In fact, I think we settled for offering to sell the guy who worked there some cassette…