Sony Music Publishing U.K. has bolstered its creative team with a new hire and two promotions.

ZaZa Kazadi joins from Never Dies Management as Senior A&R Manager. Previously, Kazadi managed artists and producers including ZieZie and Sonzi. He also spent two years as A&R Manager at BMG Music Publishing, working with K-Trap, TSB and others. All three are based within SMP’s London office.

Adrienne Bookbinder, an electronic music specialist who has signed Dom Dolla, Jazzy, ANOTR, Gorgon City, Eli Brown and more across her time at the pubco, has been elevated to Senior A&R Manager, U.K. and Europe.

Nasra Artan, who has spent the last year delivering new creative opportunities for SMP’s European and international roster and securing key signings including Fumes Beats, has been named Senior European A&R Manager.

“Nasra, Adrienne and ZaZa embrace what A&R is in 2024 and we are all looking forward to seeing their achievements in their respective roles," said David Ventura, president and co-MD, U.K. and SVP International at SMP, to whom the trio report.

The U.K. has created a Code of Good Practice on Transparency in Music Streaming to improve transparency around licensing and royalties that will take effect 7/31.

The Government’s Intellectual Property Office has oversight of the code, which has been developed and agreed by 12 music industry bodies.

It sets out agreed standards of good practice, forming part of a shared ambition across the music industry to build greater trust in music-maker contracts, streaming licensing deals, royalty payments, usage data, audit rights, and communication to music creators.

The code aims to help improve creators’ understanding of how their music is licensed, administered and used, helping build confidence and clarity that they are being paid correctly when their music is played via streaming services. It’s described as “a pledge from the music industry to a race to the top on transparency” and is said to be the first such commitment of its kind in the world.

Bodies who have signed up include label trade body BPI, the Association of Independent Music, retailers org ERA, the Music Managers Forum, PRO PRS for Music and the Musicians’ Union.

The agreement of the code is part of the commitment made by the Government in response to the recommendations of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Inquiry into Music Streaming, which called for a “complete reset” of the recorded music industry.

After enacted, signatory organizations will meet every six months to consider how it’s working, with a formal review set for 2026.

The agreement “articulates what good practice looks like in terms of transparency and communication throughout the digital music supply chain,” said BPI Chief Exec Jo Twist. “This success builds meaningfully on the recent progress around metadata and other significant measures addressing creator concerns around music streaming.”

The Council of Music Makers—an umbrella body that reps various music creator orgs—welcomed the code, while calling the commitments “modest.” “It provides a framework that can be used to start tackling the ‘systemic lack of transparency’ in music streaming that was identified by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in 2021.

“Since then, the lack of transparency in streaming has increased, with individual streaming services announcing new business models, such as payment thresholds and spatial audio uplifts, developed without consultation with music-makers or their representatives, making it even harder to understand how they are paying through.

“We now need everyone working in the industry to fully embrace the code, and to go above and beyond in providing music-makers with the information they need to properly manage, understand and audit the digital side of their individual music-maker businesses.”

Seven-time BRIT Award nominee RAYE is the second artist set to perform at the ceremony on 3/2. She joins Dua Lipa on the bill.

RAYE broke records as the most nominated artist in any one year. She’s up for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Pop Act, R&B Act and Song of the Year.

Her performance at the BRITs will be preceded by her biggest headline show to date, also at The O2 Arena, on 3/15. There, she’ll perform her debut, My 21st Century Blues (Human Re Sources), with The Heritage Orchestra and The Flames Collective. RAYE did a similar set at The Royal Albert Hall in September last year. What her performance will look like at the BRITs remains to be seen.

More performers will be announced in due course. Other artists up for multiple noms include Lipa, Central Cee, J Hus, Blur, Little Simz and Young Fathers.

Misogyny in the U.K. music industry is endemic, according to a Government report that details the ways in which women are discriminated against and marginalized in the business.

The report, pulled together by the Women and Equalities Committee following oral evidence sessions with people from across the industry, paints a damning picture of the state of gender equality.

Despite work to increase diversity in recent years, women working in the British music industry face limitations in opportunity, a lack of support, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment and assault, according to the report summary.

There’s also the "persistent" issue of unequal pay in a sector dominated by self-employment and gendered power imbalances. These issues are said to be intensified for women faced with intersectional barriers, particularly racial discrimination.

NDA agreements on victims of discrimination, harassment and abuse are raised as particularly problematic. "Victims with little agency in the process are threatened into silence by organizations seeking to protect their reputation and the perpetrators of abuse who work for them," reads the report.

Non-reporting of incidents of sexual harassment and abuse is reportedly high, with victims who report behavior struggling to be believed. When they are, more often that not, it is their career not the perpetrators’ that ends, said interviewees.

“The music industry has always prided itself on being a vehicle for social change; when it comes to discrimination, and the harassment and sexual abuse of women, it has a lot of work to do,” the report concludes.

The report details a number of recommendations to improve the status quo. These include a potential amendment to the Equality Act to better protect those facing intersectional inequality; increasing investment in diverse talent; mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training; better support for working parents; better protections for freelancers and the licensing of recording studios, which includes a sexual harassment risk assessment and clear reporting pathways.

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The Smile and The Reytons are battling it out for this week’s Official Albums #1. Over on singles, Teddy Swims could be set for his first Top 3 hit.

Radiohead offshoot group The Smile—comprised of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner—are #1 midweek with their second record, Wall of Eyes (XL).

Indie-rock band The Reytons are also within touching distance of #1 with their self-released Ballad of a Bystander. Should they charge ahead by Friday, they’ll claim their second chart-topper in a year.

James Arthur could have his fifth U.K. Top 10 with Sweet Love (Columbia) at #3, while Tom Odell aims for a sixth with Black Friday (UROK) at #4.

Future Islands’ People Who Aren’t There Anymore (4AD) rounds out a prospective all-new Top 5.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” (Republic) is tracking for a fifth week at #1. Swims’ “Lose Control” (Atlantic) is expected to rise three to #3.

“Popular” (Republic) by The Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carter is aiming for a re-peak at #11. “Beautiful Things” (Warner Records) by Benson Boone is set to rise five to #13. Finally, “Alibi” (Asylum) by Ella Henderson f/Rudimental is up 10 to #16.

Green Day has its fifth U.K. Official Albums #1 with Saviors (Reprise). Over on singles, Noah Kahan has two entries in the Top 5.

Saviors also tops this week’s Official Vinyl Albums Chart, with one third of its total sales made up of vinyl purchases.

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (Mercury/Republic) is up two to #2.

Neck Deep (Hopeless) from Welsh pop-punk outfit Neck Deep debuts at #11, their fourth Top 20 album. Heavy metal band Saxon secure their 11th Top 40 with Hell Fire and Damnation (Militia Guard Music) at #19.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, Kahan’s “Stick Season” remains at #1 with 8.7m streams across the last seven days. His “Homesick” with Sam Fender is the week’s highest new entry at #5.

“Murder on the Dancefloor” (Polydor) by Sophie Ellis-Bextor again rises to its previous peak of #2 thanks to its feature in Saltburn.

Another track enjoying a nostalgia wave is “Unwritten” (Sony) by Natasha Bedingfield, which rises five to #13 after being featured in the rom-com Anyone But You.

Further down, Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” (RCA) hits a new peak of #17, while TikTok star Benson Boone has his first Top 20 with “Beautiful Things” (Night Street/Warner) at #18.

RAYE breaks the record for the most BRIT Award nominations in a year with seven while Dua Lipa, Central Cee and J Hus are among the artists up for multiple awards.

RAYE is up for Artist of the Year, Mastercard Album of the Year for her debut, My 21st Century Blues (Human Re Sources), Best New Artist, Pop Act, R&B Act and two nods for Song of the Year. The previous record of six noms was held by Gorillaz (2002), Craig David (2001) and Robbie Williams (1999).

More than half (55%) of all 2024 BRIT nominations feature women, either as a solo artist or as part of an all-woman group. The figure rises to 57% when including women in mixed gender groups.

Dua Lipa has three nods: Artist of the Year, Pop Act and Song of the Year. She’s the first artist confirmed to perform at the main show in London on 3/2.

Central Cee and J Hus both have four nods, while Blur, Little Simz and Young Fathers have three. Also up for three awards are Calvin Harris, Dave and Olivia Dean.

2024 also sees the first BRIT nomination for The Rolling Stones in over a decade, in the Alternative/Rock Act category.

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Music Venue Trust’s annual report paints a dismal picture of the state of the grassroots venue sector in the U.K., with 38% of businesses reporting a financial loss over the last 12 months. Sixteen percent of venues have closed.

Despite an increased demand for tickets last year, and more than £500m in revenue generation, 835 MVT members made just £2.5m or 0.5% profit for the period. The report details how, without a combination of grants and donations totaling £3.1m, the sector would have operated at a loss.

GMV’s staged more than 187k events in 2023, with 1.7m individual artist performances attracting an audience of 23.5m. The total amount that venues are subsidizing live music rose to £115m in 2023from £79m in 2022, an increase of 45% year-on-year, according to MVT.

Beverley Whitrick, COO of Music Venue Trust, said: “Without external support our entire sector would be bankrupt. We have been warning of these consequences for the last six years yet still the top end of the live music sector posts record profits while, with a few notable exceptions, turning a blind eye to those who discover, nurture and develop the artists that generate that revenue for them.”

With energy costs remaining high and rent increases averaging 37%, 164 member venues accessed the MVT Emergency Response Service. For the first time since the organization’s launch a decade ago, the primary cause of venue closure was a lack of financial viability.

“Enough is enough, this report speaks for itself and we will not allow this to continue,” MVT CEO Mark Davyd said. “We must either find a way to act collectively to get these venues and the artists who rely on them the financial support they need to survive or we will seek legislation to compel it.

“The idea that we, as an industry, cannot voluntarily create a levy to support our grassroots sector, unilaterally and without government intervention is absurd but we cannot escape the fact that we are simply not acting fast enough.”

Davyd is asking all of the main political parties for manifesto commitments ahead of the forthcoming general election that state that there must be a contribution from the most successful parts of the industry into the grassroots research and development carried out on their behalf.

“It’s time to stop the excuses—we can no longer accept complacency from those in a position to help prevent the annihilation of our sector.”