London, UK: A host of music industry VIPs and celebrities filled London’s Cafe de Paris for the 2013 Music Producers Guild Awards – an annual event that recognises the creativity, skill and talents of music recording professionals.
A total of 18 awards were presented (see full list of winners below), with the top award for Producer of the Year – which also earned its winner a BRIT Award for Best Producer – going to Paul Epworth for his work on Florence + The Machine’s Ceremonials.
This year’s Music Producers Guild Awards recipients covered a wide variety of musical genres and also spanned the generations, with young recording professionals such as Charlie Andrews and Charlie Hugall sharing the accolades with world renowned producers such as Sir George Martin CBE and Glyn Johns, who have been inspirational for so many up and coming producers and engineers.
Steve Levine, chairman of the Music Producers Guild, says: “When it comes to talent and creativity, British music production has a long legacy that is internationally recognised and respected. Younger recording professionals are the life blood of our industry and we are delighted that so many of them have been Award recipients this year. Recording professionals play a vitally important part in the success of the UK and international music industry and we are happy to honour their achievements, not just to give them to accolades they deserve but also to motivate the next generation of 100,000 music students in the UK who will be the producers and engineers of the future.”
The Music Producers Guild Awards 2013 also highlighted the close relationship between artists and recording professionals, with many artists attending the ceremony to present their producer, engineer or remixer with an award.
Florence Welch, who backed Paul Epworth’s nomination for Producer of the Year, says: “I knew Paul was the only producer I wanted to work with on Ceremonials. His work on Lungs really stood out for me, especially Cosmic Love, but he really surpassed himself on Ceremonials. He took what we had started on Lungs to stratospheric heights, without fear or compromise, and secured Florence + The Machine a singular sound. His innovation and passion are constantly inspiring, and I am grateful to have worked with him on an album that I am so proud of.”
Other award recipients included Sir George Martin CBE, who won the Outstanding Contribution to UK Music Award and Richard Russell, head of A&R at XL Recordings, who won the new A&R Award, which honours an A&R executive who has been a genuine champion of the creative process across one or more projects in the past year.
The Music Producers Guild Awards are now firmly established as a ‘must attend’ event on the music industry calendar. Hosted by Lauren Laverne, tickets for this year’s Awards were once again in huge demand and the event was full.
“The fact that this event is always so well supported indicates the value the wider music industry puts on the work recording professional do,” Steve Levine adds. “We are delighted that, once again, the Music Producers Guild Awards has been so enthusiastically received by such an illustrious audience.”
The full list of Music Producers Guild 2013 Award winners is as follows:
UK Producer of the Year, sponsored by The BRIT Awards 2013:
Paul Epworth
Recording Engineer of the Year, sponsored by RØDE
Al O’Connell
Mix Engineer of the Year, sponsored by Solid State Logic:
Alan Moulder
Mastering Engineer of the Year, sponsored by Radial:
Matt Colton
Live Production of the Year, sponsored by Shure:
Bon Iver at AIR Studios
UK Album of the Year, sponsored by Sontronics:
Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials
UK Single Song Release of the Year, sponsored by sE Electronics:
The Maccabees – Pelican
Remixer of the Year, sponsored by Akai Professional:
UNKLE
Breakthrough Producer of the Year, in association with Sound on Sound, sponsored by Focusrite:
Charlie Andrew
Breakthrough Engineer of the Year, sponsored by Genelec:
Charlie Hugall
International Producer of the Year, sponsored by British Grove Studios:
Danger Mouse
International Recording Engineer of the Year, sponsored by KMR Audio:
Tchad Blake
Studio of the Year, sponsored by Pro Sound News Europe:
Snap! Studios
The A&R Award, sponsored by Thermionic Culture:
Richard Russell
The Unsung Hero Award, sponsored by Audient:
Rebecca la Porta & Paul Walmsley
The MPG Innovation Award, presented by the Music Producers Guild
Björk
The MPG Inspiration Award, sponsored by Prism Sound:
Glyn Johns
The Outstanding Contribution to UK Music, sponsored by PPL:
Sir George Martin CBE
The Music Producers Guild would like to thank Avid for sponsoring Award tickets for all of the nominees in the producer, engineer and remixer categories.
