PRESS RELEASE
October 10th 2008

London, UK: The Music Producers Guild (UK) and the UK’s recorded music industry trade association, The BPI, are coordinating their respective Awards events to recognise the enormous contribution that recording professionals make to the success of the UK’s music industry.

As a result of this unique collaboration, the winner of the Music Producers Guild’s Producer of the Year Award will also receive the BRIT Award for Best Producer. Both awards will be presented at the Music Producers Guild’s Awards ceremony, which will take place at the Cafe de Paris in London on February 12th – one week before The BRIT Awards 2009, which takes place on Wednesday February 18th at London’s Earls Court Arena and broadcast Live on ITV1.

MPG chairman Mike Howlett says: “We are delighted that the BPI is joining us in championing the role of the record producer by presenting our Producer of the Year with a BRIT. Recording professionals do sterling work for the UK music industry and are often the driving force behind the hit records that we all enjoy. It is only right that they should get the recognition they deserve, not just to mark their vital role in the creative process but also to inspire the next generation of 100,000 music students in the UK who will be the producers and engineers of the future.”

Geoff Taylor, BPI’s Chief Executive noted: “The record producer is an integral part of the creative process, and the BPI is proud to support the Music Producers Guild in its inaugural event by honouring its main award recipient with a BRIT.”

Robin Millar, MPG founder and one of the UK’s most successful record producers, with 44 No. 1 hits and 150 platinum, gold and silver records to his credit, has lobbied hard to ensure that producers are included in major music Award ceremonies.
Commenting on this collaboration, he says: “I am absolutely thrilled that the BPI has made this generous offer and I hope that their recognition of the role of the producer will send out a clear signal, particularly to A&R staff, that production values mean something. Recording professionals work tirelessly behind the scenes to support artists, especially at the early stages of their careers, and it is often their expertise and guidance that helps bring a project to fruition. The contribution they make to the success of our industry cannot and should not be underestimated. It is interesting to note that of the 100 all-time best-selling albums, only four were recorded without a producer.”

The inaugural 2009 Music Producers Guild Awards aim to highlight and reward the creative talent and technical ability of the UK’s music producers, engineers, mixers, re-mixers and programmers.  There are 13 categories in total, including Producer of the Year, Recording Engineer of the Year, Best Mixer, Best Mastering Engineer and the Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production.

Nominations for the Music Producers Guild Awards will be open on October 22nd until november 28th, and can be accessed online via the Music Producers Guild website – www.mpg.org.uk Anyone, including non-Music Producers Guild members, can nominate individuals (including themselves) for a particular award. The Music Producers Guild’s voting members will draw up short lists from the nominations in each category and these will be judged by an official judging panel consisting of record industry experts including producers, engineers, artists, artist managers, A&R representatives, music journalists and radio presenters.