The Youth Music Awards will be held in Liverpool for the first time on October 28 at St George's Hall, marking the ceremony's first venture outside London. Programme director Carol Reid told the ECHO why the city was chosen for the event, which has previously supported artists such as English Teacher, Sam Fender and Ezra Collective.
Why Liverpool was chosen
Reid, 44, said: "It was about time that we took it out of London so we knew we had to go somewhere else. The North West is the second biggest region we invest in after London so we went to a few places. But we got an amazing reception when we came to Liverpool and it seemed like the obvious choice because it is a music city. I suppose the other thing is that we know that everyone in Liverpool likes to throw a good party so everyone will have a good time."
The event has been running since 2019, and Reid is confident the "infectious Scouse energy" will bring its own personality to this year's ceremony. She said: "We'll have lots of people from Liverpool at the actual event and I think it will just have a completely different feel to the London one. They've always got quite a cool vibe anyway because there's a mix of some people in suits. But then there's a lot of young people there so it's actually quite a mixed crowd and it's usually pretty good. I feel like this one's gonna be the biggest party that we've had so far."
Liverpool talent recognised
This year's nominees include a number of Liverpool-based acts such as KOJ, Astles, Bethane, DAYZY, Livvy K and Roukaya B. Reid said the sounds championed by the awards reflect Liverpool's diversity, saying: "Last night I was making a playlist of who is actually from Liverpool. And I was thinking it's a super diverse, eclectic mix that's really exciting. From the outside looking in, it feels to me that's a bit to do with the Liverpool spirit and open mindedness. There has been so many diverse artists come out of Liverpool so I just think people are really open minded when it comes to music. They just like good music, right? It doesn't really matter what what genre it is."
The winners will be selected by a panel of more than 60 judges from across music, media and technology. Artist judges include BRIT Award winner Myles Smith, BICEP, Sister Bliss of Faithless, BBC Radio 1Xtra and BBC Introducing presenters Snoochie Shy and Jess Izsatt, as well as Youth Music alumni ALT BLK ERA, Emily Makis and LockdownT.
Funding and future plans
Reid, who has worked for Youth Music since 2009, said the charity receives about £11m a year and funds about 350 organisations and about 150 young creators at any one time. She added: "We can only fund about 17% of all of the applications that we receive, and it's trying to be as fair as possible, about how we give the money out."
Reid, originally from Durham, said the move helps break down the North/South divide. She said: "It's helping to break down that North/South divide that still exists. People don't imagine themselves in the music industry, because they all think the music industry is in London, so the more national organisations like Youth Music can do to come up north and be visible. It helps break down some of those barriers and change people's aspirations as well. We're going to be having an event in January or February as well, because we don't just want to come in for one night and then just fly out again. We want to build connections with people and have more of an ongoing presence."
This year's edition is sponsored by WINGSTOP and takes place at St George's Hall on October 28. The full list of nominees includes categories such as Rising Star, Lyricist, Music Video, Music Producer, Original Track, Outstanding Project, Social Action, Young Leader and Inspirational Music Leader.
