MPG Awards 2018 Shortlist Announced

The 2018 MPG Awards is defying the presumption that music production is a male dominated business by revealing a Shortlist in which nearly a quarter of those named are female.

Catherine Marks, Manon Grandjean, Lorde, Marta Salogni, Steph Marziano, Mandy Parnell, Adele White and Jane Third have all been shortlisted for these prestigious Awards for their various production, engineering, mastering and A&R talents. The artists they have worked with are among the music industry’s most successful and critically acclaimed names and include Stormzy, The Amazons, London Grammar, The xx, Goldfrapp, Frank Ocean, Kasabian, Feist and Slaves.

“Winning or being nominated for the MPG Awards shortlist is a huge honour – it’s a big acknowledgement and achievement to even be considered,” says artist and producer Youth, who received the PPL-sponsored MPG Award for Outstanding Contribution to UK Music in 2016. “What’s great about the MPG Awards is that they recognise the diversity of the music industry – something that is very important today. It’s refreshing to see that the 2018 shortlist includes men and women from lots of different backgrounds and genres.”

Now in its 10th year, the MPG Awards feature 15 award categories that celebrate the best and brightest talent in music production, along with the industry’s rising stars. Previous award winners have included Sir George Martin CBE, FKA Twigs, Brian Eno, Trevor Horn and Dave Stewart.

The 2018 Shortlist, which was announced today, was fiercely contested with a record number of MPG Full Members casting votes. Final judging will take place at RAK Studios on December 4th 2017 and the winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony on March 1st 2018 at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, where broadcaster and breakfast show presenter Shaun Keaveny will be the host.

“Producers rarely get recognition for all the work they do, as they are behind the scenes,” adds Youth. “What makes the MPG Awards so great is that they celebrate all the talent and work producers do across all genres. Winning and MPG Award changed my life because you win from the votes of your peers – other music obsessed, kick ass producers like yourself. That’s what makes winning so very special.”

The shortlists for each of the MPG 2018 Awards categories (in no particular order) are as follows:

UK Producer Of The Year, sponsored by Kii Audio

Catherine Marks

Charlie Andrew

Tom Dalgety

Recording Engineer Of The Year, sponsored by AMS Neve

Avril Mackintosh (who replaces Neil Comber – details here)

Manon Grandjean

Matt Wiggins

Mix Engineer Of The Year, sponsored by Solid State Logic

Cenzo Townshend

David Wrench

Mark ‘Spike’ Stent

Re-mixer Of The Year, sponsored by Novation

Ewan Pearson

Matthew Herbert

UNKLE

Breakthrough Producer Of the Year, sponsored by Focusrite

Ben Baptie

Guy Massey

Jolyon Thomas

Self-Producing Artist Of The Year, sponsored by Spitfire Audio

Brian Eno

Glass Animals (Dave Bayley)

Sleaford Mods (Jason Williamson & Andrew Fearn)

Breakthrough Engineer Of The Year, sponsored by Genelec

Jake Gordon

Marta Salogni

Steph Marziano

International Producer Of The Year, sponsored by British Grove Studios

Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee

Lorde

T Bone Burnett

Mastering Engineer Of The Year, sponsored by Miloco Studios

Barry Grint

Mandy Parnell

Matt Colton

UK Album Of The Year, sponsored by Universal Audio

alt-J: ‘RELAXER’

Glass Animals: ‘How To Be A Human Being’

Royal Blood: ‘How Did We Get So Dark?’

UK Single Song Release Of The Year, sponsored by Shure

Arcade Fire: ‘Everything Now’

Harry Styles: ‘Sign Of The Times’

Royal Blood: ‘Lights Out’

The A&R Award, sponsored by The Association Of Independent Music

Adele White

Ben Durling

Jane Third

Studio Of The Year, sponsored by RME

Abbey Road Studios

RAK Studios

Strongroom Studios

The MPG 2018 Awards categories in the gift of the MPG are:

The MPG Inspiration Award, sponsored by Audio Note

The Award for Outstanding Contribution to UK Music,sponsored by PPL, will be presented to producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley

The MPG would also like to thank Avid for sponsoring the Nominee Seats and MQA for sponsoring the Judges Table.

Tickets for the 2018 MPG Awards are now on sale. For price information and bookings, please follow this link: http://www.mpg.org.uk/mpg-awards/2018-tickets/

Sponsorship opportunities to suit all budgets are also available for this exciting event. Companies that would like to discuss this should contact MPG Awards Event Organiser Joe Edwards.

Telephone: +44 (0) 7701 030 513.

Email: joe@offbeatldn.com