Pulp and their manager Jeannette Lee received an extended standing ovation at the finale of last night’s Artist & Manager Awards in celebration of their 30-plus year partnership.
Hosted at London’s Bloomsbury Big Top and organised by the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Music Managers Forum (MMF), the Artist & Manager Awards recognises artists and their entrepreneurial partners who help them build a business.
2025’s ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Remi Burgz.
Following a triumphant year for Pulp, who returned to the top of the UK charts with their Mercury-nominated album More, frontman Jarvis Cocker and Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis paid tribute to Jeannette Lee’s pivotal role behind the scenes, guiding the band since 1992 to enormous commercial successes and through two high-profile comebacks.
Describing his long-time business partner as a “legend”, Geoff Travis said: “She knows how to navigate the millions of decisions that management requires. Every decision is made in the service of the music and the art. She holds art itself to the highest standard and therefore inspires Jarvis, in particular, to deliver nothing but his very best. And to their credit, Jarvis and Pulp themselves do exactly that time and time again.”
Jarvis Cocker said: “There’s not many people who know what is important and what makes a piece of music mean something, but Jeannette is someone who does know this. She knows how pop music works. What makes it exciting or funny, but without taking it too seriously. All the music that’s been made by Pulp [over the past 30 years] has been shaped by Jeannette.”
PPL CEO Peter Leathem joined Travis to present Pulp and Lee with their Artist & Manager Partnership Award.
Earlier in the evening, awardees were revealed in the categories of Artist Of The Year and Manager Of The Year.
The former was collected by Jade, recognising a year that began with a BRIT Award for Best Pop Act and encompassed a first Glastonbury appearance, a headline performance with the Royal Northern Sinfonia as part of the BBC Proms, and her debut album, That’s Showbiz Baby. Entering the charts at No.3, the album enjoyed the biggest opening week for a debut in 2025.
Jade’s award was presented by FAC board director Jess Smyth (aka Biig Piig) and Tixel’s head of commercial, Adam Maestro.
Meanwhile, the award for Manager Of The Year was collected by Wez Banton for his successes with two-time MOBO-winning duo D-Block Europe. Banton was presented his award by MMF chair, Niamh Byrne.
Recognising a 30-plus year career managing the likes of Ash, Wolf Alice and alt-J, East City Management’s Stephen Taverner was awarded the title of Managers’ Manager.
“Anyone who knows me will tell you that I struggle to manage artists in a tried-and-tested way, especially when it comes to finding and building an audience,” he said. “I believe that when it comes to presenting anything creative, either audible or visual, there are no rules. When it comes to music discovery, I believe in letting the music do the heavy lifting. The more limited or hard to find, the better. I have found that to be far more effective and longer-lasting than any traditional marketing campaign.”
LME’s Craig Logan, the 2025 Entrepreneur winner, continues to work with artists including Pink, Dido and Anastasica.
Presented with his award by LME client Beverley Knight, alongside Scott Lawrence from award sponsor Sound Royalties, Logan paid tribute to his wider team.
“I have done this job for 38 years, and the love of it is a drug – even with a forever changing landscape,” he said. “But one thing doesn’t change, it’s still about people. This is a people business, and that’s something we can never forget. My message would be: work hard, have fun, bet on yourself, approach everything with trying to achieve excellence, and let’s keep on doing what we’re doing for the music and artist community.”
Another individual who brought attendees to their feet was Jazzie B, who received the Pioneer Award for Soul II Soul from DJ and music executive Les Spaine and PRS For Music’s Kenny Barber.
Paying tribute to soundsystem culture, Jazzie B also brought attention to the current plight of Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa as well highlighting the new generation – notably DJ AG, who, along with managers Fiona Ramsay and Zeon Richards, collected the Artist Champion award from Craig David.
Fiona Ramsay said: “AG has energy and authenticity. He is consistent, humble, and grounded. He isn’t about fame or image; he is about people. Real people. Multi-generational communities. Conversations that bridge worlds. He reminded me why I fell in love with music in the first place – because music connects us to each other that’s what drew me in.”
On the basis of his genre-breaking mixtape, Black British Music, Jim Legxacy was the popular recipient of the Breakthrough Artist award. September Management’s Hamish Harris collected the award on his behalf from Symphonic’s Thomas Williamson and Ed Poston and FAC board director Brix Smith.
Following a standout year representing Jacob Alon, Bounse Management’s Hamish Fingland, a former participant on the MMF’s Accelerator Programme, received his Breakthrough Manager award from MMF Vice Chair, Jill Hollywood and Amazon Music’s Hazel Berry.
This year’s Secret Weapon, recognising a critical member of a management company who has made invaluable contributions behind the scenes, was picked up by Jackie Joseph from Blue Raincoat Music.
The Writer/Producer Manager Award recognised This Is Music’s Oli Isaacs and Luke Williams for their run of work with producer, artist and creative collaborator James Ford. Their award was presented by sponsor Kim Frankiewicz, EVP of worldwide creative at Concord, and Ric Salmon, chief growth officer at ATC Group.
Finally, the inaugural Earth Action Award was presented by former FAC CEO and board director Imogen Heap to Rosa Walton and EarthPercent’s Cathy Runciman on behalf of Nature the artist in tribute to their groundbreaking and collaborative Sounds Right project.
Attendees were also entertained by live performances from Ellie Dixon and Mellina Tay, both awardees from the 2025 edition of the FAC’s Step Up Fund.
MAIN PHOTO: Peter Leathem OBE, CEO, PPL; Niamh Byrne, Chair, MMF; David Martin, CEO, FAC; Jarvis Cocker; Jeannette Lee; Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive, MMF; Mark Webber; Nick Banks (credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)
The full list of winners at the 2025 Artist & Manager Awards:
Artist & Manager Partnership – sponsored by PPL
Pulp and Jeannette Lee (Rough Trade Management)
Artist of the Year – sponsored by Tixel
Jade
Manager of the Year
Wez Banton
Managers’ Manager
Stephen Taverner, East City Management
Entrepreneur – sponsored by Sound Royalties
Craig Logan, Logan Media Entertainment
Pioneer – sponsored by PRS for Music
Soul II Soul
Breakthrough Artist – sponsored by Symphonic
Jim Legxacy
Breakthrough Manager – sponsored by Amazon Music
Hamish Fingland, Bounse MGMT
Writer / Producer Manager – sponsored by Concord
Oli Isaacs & Luke Williams, This Is Music
Artist Champion
DJ AG, Fiona Ramsay, Zeon Richards
Earth Action
Nature the artist & EarthPercent
Secret Weapon
Jackie Joseph, Blue Raincoat Music