catherine marks mpg awards

MPG Awards 2019 shortlist includes record number of women

A record number of women have been shortlisted for the Music Producers Guild (MPG) Awards 2019, with rising stars Cecile Desnos, Dani Bennett Spragg and Rhiannon Mair all in the running.

Anita Awbi
  • By Anita Awbi
  • 12 Nov 2018
  • min read
A record number of women have been shortlisted for the Music Producers Guild (MPG) Awards 2019, with rising stars Cecile Desnos, Dani Bennett Spragg and Rhiannon Mair all in the running.

A third of all nominees are female, up from a quarter in 2018, marking an important milestone for a traditionally male-dominated area of the music industry.

Desnos, Bennett and Mair will go head to head in the Breakthrough Engineer category, while Mair also receives a second nomination in the Breakthrough Producer of the Year category.

Elsewhere, Shura is in the running for the Remixer of the Year title, alongside Matthew Herbert and IYEARA.

The Album of the Year category will be contested by Nadine Shah (Holiday Destination), Arctic Monkeys (Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino) and Everything Everything (A Fever Dream).

Mastering Engineer of the Year shortlisters include Mandy Parnell, John Davis and Tim Young.

Cam Blackwood, Dave Eringa and James Ford are all nominated for UK Producer of the Year.

Catherine Marks (pictured above), the MPG’s 2018 Producer of the Year winner, said: ‘The MPG Awards are such a great event in our year as it gives us an opportunity to recognise the outstanding achievements of our engineering and producer community.

‘It was such an honour to win Producer of the Year in 2018, especially in a year where so many other women were acknowledged and awarded. I am looking forward to the MPG Awards next year and wish everyone who is nominated the best of luck.’

Final judging will take place at Abbey Road Studios in early December and the winners will be announced at a ceremony at Grosvenor House, London, on 28 February.

Now in its 11th year, the MPG Awards feature 16 award categories. Previous award winners include Sir George Martin CBE, FKA Twigs, Roni Size, Sylvia Massy, Brian Eno, Trevor Horn and Dave Stewart.

Full list of nominees

UK Producer Of The Year
Cam Blackwood
Dave Eringa
James Ford

Recording Engineer Of The Year
Guy Massey
Matt Wiggins
Sean Genockey

Mix Engineer Of The Year
Cenzo Townshend
David Wrench
Mark 'Spike' Stent

Re-mixer Of The Year
IYEARA
Matthew Herbert
Shura

Breakthrough Producer Of the Year
Dilip Harris
Mark Rankin
Rhiannon Mair

Self-Producing Artist Of The Year
Four Tet (Kieran Hebden)
Jon Hopkins
Tori Amos

Breakthrough Engineer Of The Year
Cecile Desnos
Dani Bennet Spragg
Rhiannon Mair

International Producer Of The Year
David Byrne
Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) and Ludwig Goransson
Greg Kurstin

Mastering Engineer Of The Year
John Davis
Mandy Parnell
Tim Young

UK Album Of The Year
Arctic Monkeys: Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Everything Everything: A Fever Dream
Nadine Shah: Holiday Destination

UK Single Song Release Of The Year

Anna Calvi: Don't Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy
George Ezra: Shotgun
The 1975: Love It If We Made It

The A&R Award
Briony Turner
Gilles Peterson
Holly Manners

Studio Of The Year
British Grove Studios
Strongroom
Urchin Studios

Picture credit: Mark Sethi