- Mariah Carey awarded PRS for Music Special International Award, grime star Wiley honoured with The Ivors Inspiration Award and Dido’s songwriting excellence celebrated with Outstanding Song Collection
- Chart-toppers The 1975 win twice for Best Contemporary Song and Songwriters of the Year, while Ben Howard takes award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically
- Composers of scores for Requiem and Phantom Thread won for Television and Film categories, with Best Original Video Game Score going to Sea of Thieves composer
- Richard Ashcroft, Idles and Deep Purple also take home awards
- 83% of winners are receiving an Ivor Novello Award for the first time
23rd May 2019: The Ivors Academy announce the winners and recipients of Ivor Novello Awards presented at The Ivors 2019, during a star-studded ceremony at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.
The Ivors, now in their 64th year, celebrate, honour and reward excellence in British and Irish songwriting and composing across categories for songs, album, film, TV and video game scores released in the UK in 2018. The ceremony also saw the presentation of Ivor Novello Awards which recognise music creators for their wider contribution to UK music.
The Ivors Academy presented Ivor Novello Awards to 29 individual songwriters and composers across fourteen award categories, 83% of which are first time winners.
The Ivors Academy Chair, Crispin Hunt, said “From heavyweights of rock, to gods of grime, jazz maestros to chart royalty; today’s celebrated music creators have been rightly recognised for their artistic merit and inspiring influence on their fellow creators. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners from The Ivors Academy.”
Mariah Carey was presented with the PRS for Music Special International Award, acknowledging her as an extraordinary global talent, an impactful songwriter and one of the biggest selling artists of all time. During her career she has penned 18 US number one singles, from Vision of Love to Hero, Fantasy and We Belong Together.
The Ivors Inspiration Award, which is awarded to a songwriter or composer for inspiring their peers, honoured the ‘Godfather of Grime’, Wiley, for his role in shaping a hugely innovative and uniquely British genre and his relentless energy as motivator and producer.
The Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song was awarded to The 1975’s George Daniel, Adam Hann, Matthew Healy and Ross MacDonald for Love It If We Made It. The Ivors judges described the song as a bold, inspirational and original statement, bringing together an awareness of contemporary issues without resorting to cliché. The band achieved a double win, as they were also presented the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriters of the Year. Of this award, The Academy said “All at once daring, vulnerable and recklessly honest, The 1975’s songwriting on ‘A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships’ stands out as a vivid picture of modernity. These songs are a quintessential snapshot of the emotional complexities of life in the here and now, but with all the hallmarks of a body of work that will stand the test of time.”
It was third time lucky for Ben Howard who won his first Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for Nica Libres at Dusk, the first single from his third album, Noonday Dream. Praised for its authenticity and originality, The Ivors judges described the song as striking a genuine emotional chord with the listener.
The Academy celebrated the songwriting excellence of Dido by presenting her with the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection. Twenty years since her record-breaking debut No Angel, Dido continues to write enduring songs that articulate universal emotions with a confident honesty and beguiling grace.
Songwriters Julian Bunetta, Dan Caplen, Macklemore, John Ryan and Jamie Scott won PRS for Music Most Performed Work for These Days, performed by Rudimental ft Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen. This was a first time win for all five writers.
The Academy honoured Django Bates with The Ivors Jazz Award. A musical polymath and prodigiously gifted composer, Bates has been at the heart of Britain’s jazz scene for the last 40 years. The award acknowledged his unique and exceptional talent and his relentless drive to collaborate and seek out new possibilities to explore where jazz can go.
Hailed as “so visceral it is impossible to ignore”, the Ivor Novello Award for Best Album was won by Idles for their second release, Joy As An Act of Resistance. The Ivors judges praised the band for pushing boundaries within their genre, describing their songwriting as brave and upfront.
Acknowledging an exceptional legacy that has inspired and shaped generations of hard rock musicians all over the world, the Academy bestowed the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement to the iconic Deep Purple Mark II line-up – Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord (posthumous) and Ian Paice.
PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music was presented to Richard Ashcroft in recognition of a 30 year career that has resulted in a highly distinguished body of work and cemented his place as one of the great British songwriters of all time.
Composer Robin Beanland won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Video Game Score for Sea of Thieves, a shared world adventure game and pirate fantasy developed by UK games company Rare and published by Microsoft Studios. The Ivors judges praised the score’s tight integration with the game, skilled usage of diegetic and non-diegetic music as well as Beanland’s highly accomplished composition and orchestration. “The music oozes character and charm, and whilst it demonstrates serious quality, it also retains a sense of humour. Superb.”
Requiem, composed by Natasha Khan and Dominik Scherrer, won Best Television Soundtrack. A six-part drama co-produced by New Pictures for the BBC and Netflix, Requiem encompasses elements of both the supernatural and thriller genres. The Ivors judges said, “with immediate, absorbing and haunting Celtic vocals the score empowered drama with innovative instrumentation”. This was Natasha Khan’s second Ivor Novello Award, having previously picked up Best Contemporary Song in 2010 for Bat for Lashes’ Daniel; it was also Dominik Scherrer’s second win for Best Television Soundtrack.
Jonny Greenwood won his sixth Ivor Novello Award: Best Original Film Score for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. Described by the judges as “romantic, expressive, imaginative and beautifully put together” they praised the way the music weaves through the film.
The Ivors are sponsored by PRS for Music.
For more information visit www.ivorsacademy.com or follow us @IvorsAcademy
The 2019 Ivor Novello Award winners are:
PRS FOR MUSIC MOST PERFORMED WORK
These Days
Written by Julian Bunetta, Dan Caplen, Macklemore, John Ryan and Jamie Scott
Performed by Rudimental ft Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplen
Published in the UK by Big Deal Music – Peermusic UK, BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing
BEST ORIGINAL VIDEO GAME SCORE
Sea of Thieves
Composed by Robin Beanland
BEST CONTEMPORARY SONG
Love It If We Made It
Written by George Daniel, Adam Hann, Matthew Healy and Ross MacDonald
Performed by The 1975
Published in the UK by Good Soldier Songs
THE IVORS JAZZ AWARD
Django Bates
BEST ALBUM
Joy As An Act of Resistance
Written by Jonathan Beavis, Mark Bowen, Adam Devonshire, Lee Kiernan and Joseph Talbot
Performed by Idles
Published in the UK by Kobalt Music Publishing
BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE
Phantom Thread
Composed by Jonny Greenwood
Published in the UK by Warner/Chappell North America Limited
PRS FOR MUSIC SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Mariah Carey
BEST TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK
Requiem
Composed by Natasha Khan and Dominik Scherrer
Published in the UK by BMG Rights Management, Du Vinage Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing
BEST SONG MUSICALLY AND LYRICALLY
Nica Libres at Dusk
Written by Ben Howard
Published in the UK by Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Limited
THE IVORS INSPIRATION AWARD
Wiley
SONGWRITERS OF THE YEAR
George Daniel, Adam Hann, Matthew Healy and Ross MacDonald (The 1975)
OUTSTANDING SONG COLLECTION
Dido
INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord (posthumous) and Ian Paice (Deep Purple – mark II line-up)
PRS FOR MUSIC OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO BRITISH MUSIC
Richard Ashcroft
– ENDS –
For further information contact: Alice Trost, Taylor Herring PR
E: alice.trost@taylorherring.com
T: 0208 206 5151 / 07771 362215
Notes to editors:
About The Ivors Academy
The Ivors Academy exists to support, protect and celebrate music creators in the UK. We are the independent professional association representing songwriters and composers in all genres, whether they create song, symphony or sync. We can trace our history back over 70 years. And we are entirely self-funded, relying on the continued support of our members and partners to carry on our work.
Music is the most profound, enduring and popular of art forms. It crosses all borders, conveys all emotions, and touches all people. None of the music that the world loves exists until brilliant songwriters and composers create it. We represent, support, protect and celebrate the creators of music.
Ivor Novello Awards are the ultimate accolade for songwriting and composing in the industry. The Ivors celebrate the talents of songwriters and screen composers, whilst The Ivors Composer Awards celebrate music creators in the classical, jazz and sonic art fields. The Ivors Academy Gold Badge recognises those who have supported and inspired our community. Each of these celebrations has at its heart the power and brilliance of music creators.
We campaign together nationally and internationally to ensure that the rights of our members are protected, especially as our industry continues to rapidly change. And we cultivate talent, creating a community across the country in which our members share their valuable knowledge, creators cross-pollinate and collaborate, and all voices are heard. We guide new talent entering the industry and continue to encourage our members as they progress to greater successes.
We are the champions of music creators.
We are The Ivors Academy.
About PRS for Music
PRS for Music represents the rights of songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK and around the world. As a membership organisation it works to ensure that creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. With over 100 representation agreements in place globally, PRS for Music’s network represents over two million music creators worldwide. In 2017, 6.6 trillion performances of music were reported to PRS for Music with £717m collected on behalf of its members, making it one of the world’s leading music collective management organisations.
PRS for Music’s public performance licensing is now carried out on PRS for Music’s behalf by PPL PRS Ltd, the new joint venture between PPL and PRS for Music.
