Applauding the purchase of The Snug are, from left, Claire Mera-Nelson, director of Music for Arts Council England; The Snug’s owner/operator Rachael Flaszczak; John Whittingdale, minister for Creative Industries; and Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust.

The U.K.’s Music Venue Trust has acquired its first venue, the 100 capacity The Snug in Manchester, as part of its #ownourvenues scheme.

The venue is now owned by Music Venue Properties, the independent charitable society MVT created to revolutionize cultural ownership in the U.K.

MVP has secured the freehold of the building occupied by The Snug and placed it into permanent protected status. The venue’s operators have signed a “cultural lease” which guarantees that, as long as the venue operates as a space for grassroots live music for the local community, they can enjoy the use of the building.

MVP has committed to offer a rent reduction and contribution toward building repairs and insurance. Mark Dayvd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, said the purchase is “the culmination of a long-held ambition.”

“It shows a way forward not just for music, but for community ownership right across the U.K.,” he continued. “We hope we have created a template that can be replicated wherever a community highly values a cultural asset.”

MVP has identified another eight venues across England, Scotland and Wales for a pilot project that will allow the scheme to establish proof of concept. The project was made possible by over 1.2k individual investors, including a £500k investment from Arts Council England and Arts & Culture Finance.

It was established in response to the crisis facing independent grassroots venues in the U.K., 16% of which have closed in the last 12 months. Ninety-three per cent of GMVs are tenants with the typical operator only having 18 months left on their tenancy. This issue of ownership, says MVT, underpins almost every other challenge that the venues have faced during the last 20 years including gentrification, noise complaints, under-investment and an inability to plan for the future.

Pictured [L-R] sipping champers are co-manager Thomas Van Melkebeek, Warner Chappell’s Ed Condon, RAYE’s sisters and fellow artists Abby Keen and Lauren Keen, her mum, Sarah Keen, RAYE, WCM U.K. SVP Amber Davis and RAYE's grandma, Agatha Dawson-Amoah.

British star RAYE is celebrating the renewal of her publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music after a phenomenal year that saw her hit #2 with her independent debut.

The deal extension covers RAYE’s catalog, which includes recent #1 single, “Escapism” f/070 Shake, and future recordings.

“RAYE is a true original,” Warner Chappell Music Co-Chair and CEO Guy Moot said. “She writes from the heart and pours herself into every performance. We’re delighted that she’s placed her faith in us again and look forward to supporting her creative genius in the years ahead.”

“I genuinely believe we’re still only at the beginning of her story and she’s going to continue to go from strength to strength,” said WCM U.K. SVP Amber Davis, who called the artist “an unparalleled global songwriter and performer.”

Ed Sheeran is heading for his seventh U.K. Official Albums #1 with Autumn Variations (Gingerbread Man). Over on singles, there’s fierce competition for the top spot.

Autumn Variations—Sheeran's first album to be released via his own imprint—is currently outselling its closest competitor by more than 2:1. That competitor is Porcupine Tree member Steven Wilson with his solo record, The Harmony Codex (SW Records), at #2.

There are two further new entries in today’s midweek update: R&B artist Jorja Smith is #3 with her second set, Falling or Flying (FAMM), and Black Stone Cherry’s Screamin’ at the Sky (Mascot) starts at #5.

Synthwave trio Gunship could land their first U.K. Top 10 on Friday with Unicorn (Rough Trade) at #7. Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence (Polydor) is back at #8 thanks to a new 10-year anniversary vinyl release.

Beverly Knight is tracking for #10 with The Fifth Chapter (BMG).

On the U.K.’s Official Singles midweeks, “Paint the Town Red” (Ministry of Sound) by Doja Cat is still #1. However, less than 2k sales separate her and three other contenders.

Kenya Grace’s “Strangers” (Ministry of Sound) is strong competition at #2, as is “3D” (Big Hit) by Jung Kook and Jack Harlow at #3 (this week’s highest new entry). “Prada” (Ministry of Sound) by cassö, RAYE and D-Block Europe is also in the running, at #4.

Sonny Fodera, MK and Clementine Douglas’s slow-burning dance hit, “Asking” (Solotoko), is expected to enter the Top 10 for the first time at #10.

Rising South African artist Tyla’s breakthrough track, “Water” (Epic), could also rush to a new peak at #12, as could Burna Boy’s “City Boys” (Atlantic) at #14 and Billy Gillies & Hannah Boleyn’s “DNA (Loving You)” (Big Beat Records) at #17.

Kylie Minogue’s Tension (BMG) is her ninth U.K. Official Albums #1. Over on singles, Doja Cat makes it a month at the top.

Tension earned 53k sales this week, outselling the rest of the Top 5 combined. Minogue is now level with Bob Dylan and Coldplay on the list of acts with the most #1 albums, each with nine to their name. The only female solo artists with more are Taylor Swift and Madonna with 10 and 12 respectively.

STRENGTH TO STRENGTH (One Thousand8) by Headie One and K-Trap debuts at #3. Doja Cat has her second U.K. Top 5 album with Scarlet (Ministry of Sound) landing at #5. Bakar’s Halo (Black Butter) is new at #15, while Teenage Fanclub’s Nothing Lasts Forever (PEMA) lands at #30.

On the U.K.’s Official Singles chart, Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” is still #1. The track tallied 6m streams over the last seven days.

“Strangers” (FFRR) by Kenya Grace continues to rise, moving up one to #2. cassö, RAYE and D-Block Europe’s “Prada” (Ministry of Sound) is up one to #3, and “greedy” (RCA) by Tate McRae rises three to #5.

The highest new entry today is Nines’ “Daily Duppy” (Zino Records) for GRM Daily, which debuts at #20.

Central Cee manager Bello will be awarded Manager of the Year at the upcoming Artist & Manager Awards in London.

The honor comes after a huge year for Central Cee, who became the first British rapper to achieve 1b Spotify streams in a year. He smashed U.K. chart records with “Sprinter” (Neighbourhood/Live Yours), his #1 collaboration with Dave, alongside festival appearances at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds.

Bello has been working with him since 2019, when the duo started laying down the foundations of Central Cee’s career with a succession of track releases and mixtapes, including 2022’s U.K. #1, 23. The duo built an independent team before signing a joint venture agreement this year with Columbia, in partnership with Sony Music U.K.

Other winners include Debbie ‘Cookie’ Pryce and Susan Banfield of rap duo The Cookie Crew. They will be honored with the Pioneer Award for their influence on U.K. hip-hop in the ‘80s.

Samuel Ademosu and Ruth Gyaniao of The Flight Club management will receive the gong for Producer/Songwriter Manager. Their clients have contributed to tracks for Burna Boy, Dave, Jorja Smith, Stormzy, Doja Cat, Gorillaz and Headie One.

The ceremony will take place in London on 11/23. Previously announced winners include Duran Duran and their longtime manager, Wendy Laister, for the Artist-Manager Partnership award.

Sony Music U.K.’s Nicola Tuer, COO since 2014, will be leaving the company at the end of September. Her departure ends a 28-year tenure at Sony.

"Nicola is a ground-breaking leader and has been a huge part of the Sony Music U.K. family for nearly 30 years and, as our COO since 2014, she is one of the most senior women in the U.K. industry,” Jason Iley, CEO and chairman of Sony Music U.K. & Ireland, said. "Nicola lives and breathes Sony Music and she has, time and again, gone above and beyond to ensure not only that Sony succeeds, but more importantly, that our artists succeed. Nicola’s can-do attitude, commercial savvy and commitment always marked her out as someone special—she has been a wonderful colleague and friend to so many people in the industry and we will miss her greatly.”

Tuer joined the label’s sales department in 1995 and worked her way up, being promoted to SVP of sales after the merger of Sony and BMG in 2005.

Later, as EVP of the whole company, her remit expanded to cover catalog, sync, licensing and Sony Music Ireland. She was named chief operating officer for the U.K. label after the departure of Nick Gatfield in 2014.

In her most recent role, Tuer has been overseeing Sony’s Commercial Group as well as the label’s strategic partnerships with digital service providers, sales and its operations in Ireland.

She said of her departure: “I’ve been incredibly proud to have been part of Sony for nearly 30 years. Throughout this time I’ve had the privilege of working alongside so many talented people and artists and I will miss the challenges and excitement of playing my part at such a brilliant company.”

During her career, Tuer has been involved in the success of artists such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, George Ezra, Calvin Harris and others.

Avelino, RAYE, Shygirl and Björk were the big winners at Tuesday night’s AIM Awards, which celebrate the best of the independent sector in the U.K.

Rapper Avelino took home Best Independent Album for his widely praised debut, God Save the Streets (More Music/OddChild Music). The set hit #12 on the U.K. albums chart on its release in April.

RAYE’s global hit “Escapism” f/070 Shake (Human Re Sources) was crowned Best Independent Track. Rapper and DJ Shygirl, who is signed to Because Music, was named U.K. Independent Breakthrough following the arrival of her debut, Nymph, last year. Björk was crowned Best Live Performer.

Other honorees included Domino’s Wet Leg (Most Played) and Lebanese/British rapper Laughta was named One To Watch. On the business side, Hospital Records got Best Independent Label and Rough Bones Best Boutique Label.

Music Entrepreneur of the Year went to Young founder Caius Pawson. You’ll find the full list of winners here.

The BRIT Awards 2024 will take place on 3/2, keeping its Saturday night slot for the second year in a row.

Atlantic U.K. MD and President of Promotion Damian Christian will continue to oversee the ceremony as BRIT Committee chair.

“The move to a Saturday night for the first time proved to be a huge success, so I’m delighted we’ll be back in a primetime slot again in March,” he said.

“A Saturday night show helped us lock in our most engaged audience ever, and we’ll be looking to build on that base as we connect with even more fans in 2024.” Christian promised next year’s show to be “our most ambitious yet.”

The event, sponsored by Mastercard, will take place at The O2 Arena. It will retain its primetime TV broadcast slot on ITV1 and ITX. Sally Wood will stay on as executive producer of the show for BRITs TV and Misty Buckley will return to design the set for the awards. Maggie Crowe—BPI director of Events & Charities—will oversee the overall running of the event.

This year’s ceremony saw viewing figures for the ITV1 broadcast peaking at just under 4m on the night—the highest figure in three years—with a 54% share of 16- to 34-year-olds, the highest in a decade. The individual audience share, at 25.7%, was the highest in more than five years.