The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) today reveals a boost to our growing community, with 20 new Artist Ambassadors coming onboard to help amplify our collective voice.
Already numbering more than 120, these individuals are drawn from the widest range of genres and backgrounds - from bona fide superstars such as Annie Lennox, Johnny Marr, Robbie Williams and Nick Mason, through to culturally important figures like Carl Cox, Larry Heard, Shaun Ryder, Beth Gibbons, Brix Smith, Cradle of Filth, Mogwai and Pauline Black and rising artists including Big Joanie, Kelly Lee Owens, Billie Marten, Rina Sawayama and Porridge Radio.
All have agreed to stand up to support the key principle of a trade organisation that represents the specific rights of music artists.
David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition said:
“FAC Ambassadors play a vitally important role in reminding the wider world that artists are at the absolute epicentre of what should be a creative-led industry. I’m delighted that we continue to attract such an amazing diversity of talent, from individuals we recognised at last year’s Artist & Manager Awards through to four awardees from Step Up, the development fund we co-founded with Amazon Music. I’m really honoured to have their collective backing, and look forward to having their support to drive forward the FAC’s goal of a more artist-friendly music business.”
To our Ambassadors’ illustrious ranks, we now welcome four acts recognised at our Artist & Manager Awards: Duran Duran, Nia Archives, Becky Hill and Murray Matravers.
Duran Duran need little in the way of introduction. A powerhouse of creativity since the 1980s, the band has sold more than 100m albums worldwide. Always on the cusp of technological and cultural change, they remain a hugely successful live act and headline 2024’s Latitude Festival. Since first emerging in 2020, Nia Archives has already put a stamp on the future of jungle, taking over Glastonbury and the Warehouse Project with her Bad Gyalz project, and remixing artists including Jorja Smith and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Nia’s debut album, Silence Is Loud, entered the UK charts at number 16 last Friday. Becky Hill, meanwhile, is one of the UK’s most streamed artists (10bn and counting!) and one of dance music’s most influential voices, whose forthcoming 3rd album - Believe Me Now? - promises to incorporate drum n bass, techno, house and trance. With his band currently on hiatus after a widely reported legal action from easyGroup, former Easy Life frontman Murray Matravers has used his voice to speak out on a range of issues, including Brexit and the challenging economics of live touring.
Adding their support are two artists who have actually performed at our Awards: Baby Queen and Girli. Breaking the UK Top 5 last November with her debut album, Quarter Life Crisis, the former is one of the UK’s most exciting new voices, with her latest single, Ride Or Die, dropping at the start of April. The latter releases her second album, Matriarchy, in May 2024 and, following a string of shows in North America and Australia continues to build a global fanbase for her future-tinged pop music.
