2018 Gold Badge Award recipients announced

Awards celebrate 11 outstanding contributions to the creator community

The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) has announced details of the 45th Gold Badge Awards, which take place at The Savoy in London on Friday 19th October. The 2018 award ceremony will be hosted by broadcaster (and previous Gold Badge Award recipient) Janice Long.

Presented by the songwriting and composing community, the Gold Badge Awards celebrate exceptional talent in the UK music industry; individuals who inspire or support creativity and the professional lives of BASCA members. Acknowledging contributions to the worlds of jazz and classical, film, television and theatre music, and songwriting, 2018 Gold Badge Awards will be presented to: 

• Annette Barrett, highly respected music publisher and Managing Director of Reservoir/Reverb Music.
• Martyn Brabbins, acclaimed conductor and Music Director of the English National Opera.
• Jackie Davidson, multi-faceted, award-winning music entrepreneur and manager. This award is presented in association with PRS for Music.
• Chris Difford, Grammy nominated and double Ivor Novello Award winning lyricist, Squeeze co-founder and solo artist.
• Guy Fletcher OBE, Ivor Novello Award winning songwriter and former Chairman of BASCA and PRS.
• Guy Garvey, lead singer and lyricist of elbow, renowned DJ for 6 Music and solo artist. This award is presented in association with PPL.
• Claire Martin OBE, critically acclaimed jazz singer and broadcaster.
• Sarah Rodgers, composer who has dedicated herself to championing music creators.
• Matthew Scott, composer, arranger, producer and former Head of Music at the National Theatre.
• Scott Stroman, inspirational conductor, composer, trombonist and singer in a uniquely broad range of musical styles.
• Nick Wollage, respected and sought after engineer working across a diverse collection of projects from major Hollywood film scores to individual artists.

"The Gold Badge Awards always provide a fantastic opportunity and platform to recognise those who have achieved excellence in their chosen fields whilst contributing to the betterment of the wider musical community. This year’s list of recipients is full of inspiring individuals who we are honoured to celebrate.”

The 45th Gold Badge Awards are presented by BASCA and sponsored by PPL and PRS for Music. They take place at The Savoy in London from 11.30am to 4.30pm on Friday 19th October. The award ceremony follows a three course lunch and tickets are currently on sale. For more information contact Cindy Truong at BASCA (cindy@basca.org.uk). 

Biographies on all this year’s recipients are available at www.goldbadgeawards.com.

About the Gold Badge Awards

BASCA created the Gold Badge Awards in 1974 to acknowledge those within in the UK music industry who have supported, protected or inspired songwriters and composers. For 44 years BASCA has presented more than 500 awards to acknowledge the diversity of contribution, dedication and talent that exists within the music industry. The Gold Badge Awards USP is that professional members of the organisation nominate awardees, choosing recipients who have made a demonstrable contribution to the professional lives of working songwriters and composers.

About BASCA

The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) exists to celebrate, support and protect the professional interests of all writers of music. We are the voice for music writers; the independent professional association representing music writers in all genres, from songwriting, through to media, contemporary classical and jazz and can trace our history back over 70 years.

Whilst we are well known for putting on the British Composer Awards, the Gold Badge Awards and The Ivors every year, there is far more to us than these events. BASCA campaigns in the UK, Europe and throughout the world in order to protect the professional interests of our members. We count on the best songwriting and composing talent in order to do this important work and are entirely self-funding, relying on the continuing support of our members, who include Sir Paul McCartney, The 1975, Calvin Harris, Coldplay, Dizzee Rascal, Annie Lennox, Gary Barlow, David Arnold, Sir Elton John, Imogen Heap, Howard Goodall, John Powell, Harrison Birtwistle, Kate Bush and many more. www.basca.org.uk

About PRS for Music

PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com

About PPL

Founded in 1934, PPL is the UK music industry’s collective management organisation (CMO) for over 110,000 performers and record companies. We license recorded music in the UK when it is played in public (shops, bars, nightclubs, offices etc.) or broadcast (BBC, commercial radio, commercial TV etc.) and ensure that revenue flows back to our members. These include both independent and major record companies, together with performers ranging from emerging grassroots artists through to established session musicians and influential festival headliners. PPL’s public performance licensing is carried out on PPL’s behalf by PPL PRS, the joint venture between PPL and PRS for Music.

We also collect performance rights internationally when music is played in public and used on TV, radio and some online streaming services, as well as for private copying. This is achieved through our network of 92 agreements with CMOs around the world. International revenues are an increasingly important revenue stream for performers and recording rightsholders – since 2006 we have collected £429.1 million. In 2018 we collected £246.8 million while also distributing money to 105,192 performers and recording rightsholders.