‘We had to go somewhere else and this is why we chose Liverpool’

Carol Reid spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview about why the Youth Music Awards has moved to Liverpool St George’s Hall

The programme director of the Youth Music Awards has shared her excitement at bringing the ceremony to Liverpool for the first time. The ceremony is one of the biggest nights in grassroots music, with previous alumni such as English Teacher, Sam Fender and Ezra Collective, going on to achieve incredible mainstream success after receiving support from the charity.

This year’s event marks the first time it will take place outside of London when it comes to St George’s Hall on October 28. Carol Reid has been an instrumental figure in bringing the event to Liverpool and she told the ECHO why Liverpool is the perfect setting for the awards’ first venture outside of the Capital.

The 44-year-old said: “It was about time that we took it out of London so we knew we had to go somewhere else. The North West is the second biggest region we invest in after London so we went to a few places.

“But we got an amazing reception when we came to Liverpool and it seemed like the obvious choice because it is a music city. I suppose the other thing is that we know that everyone in Liverpool likes to throw a good party so everyone will have a good time.”

The event has been running since 2019 and Carol is confident the infectious Scouse energy will bring its own personality to this year’s ceremony. She said: “We’ll have lots of people from Liverpool at the actual event and I think it will just have a completely different feel to the London one.

“They’ve always got quite a cool vibe anyway because there’s a mix of some people in suits. But then there’s a lot of young people there so it’s actually quite a mixed crowd and it’s usually pretty good. I feel like this one’s gonna be the biggest party that we’ve had so far.”

This year’s nominees sees an abundance of Liverpool based talent recognised such as KOJ, Astles, Bethane, DAYZY, Livvy K and Roukaya B. The sounds being championed by the Youth Music Awards are emblematic of Liverpool being a melting pot where the sound crafted here is much more diverse than Merseybeat and Beatles tribute acts.

Carol is proud to champion the next generation of Scouse voices that have been shaped by the city’s unique cultural identity. She said: “Last night I was making a playlist of who is actually from Liverpool. And I was thinking it’s a super diverse, eclectic mix that’s really exciting. From the outside looking in, it feels to me that’s a bit to do with the Liverpool spirit and open mindedness.”

“There has been so many diverse artists come out of Liverpool so I just think people are really open minded when it comes to music. They just like good music, right? It doesn’t really matter what what genre it is.”

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The winners will be selected by a panel of more than 60 judges from across music, media and technology. Artist judges include BRIT Award winner Myles Smith, BICEP, Sister Bliss of Faithless, BBC Radio 1Xtra and BBC Introducing presenters Snoochie Shy and Jess Izsatt, as well as Youth Music alumni ALT BLK ERA, Emily Makis and LockdownT.

Carol said the awards gives the next generation invaluable practical experience that prepares them for the next stage of their career. She said: “If you don’t know anything about the Youth Music Awards, you might think of them as a precursor to the BRITs, but for the next generation of talent.”

Carol has worked for the Youth Music charity since 2009 and is honoured to be able to help distribute the funds that support the next generation of talent. She said: “We get money from the National Lottery, and with Arts Council, and then also from the People’s Postcode Lottery.

She added: “We’re given about £11m a year and we fund about 350 organisations, about 150 young creators at any one time. Plus we have wider programmes as well, but that’s the core of what I do, and what we’re trying to do, because we are this national organisation, and the demand is absolutely huge. We can only fund about 17% of all of the applications that we receive, and it’s trying to be as fair as possible, about how we give the money out.”

Carol is originally from Durham and said it is special to be able to diversify opportunities as the ceremony looks forward to its first event outside the Capital. She added: “It’s helping to break down that North/South divide that still exists.

“People don’t imagine themselves in the music industry, because they all think the music industry is in London, so the more national organisations like Youth Music can do to come up north and be visible.

“It helps break down some of those barriers and change people’s aspirations as well. We’re going to be having an event in January or February as well, because we don’t just want to come in for one night and then just fly out again. We want to build connections with people and have more of an ongoing presence.”

This year’s edition of the Youth Music Awards is sponsored by WINGSTOP and is coming to St George’s Hall on October 28. You can find the full list of nominees below

Rising Star Award (Industry) Sponsored By Kickers

• Honey Keenan (NextGen Fund – Scotland)
• Jed Wright – (NextGen Fund – South East)
• Rianne Lewis (NextGen Fund – London)

Rising Star Award (Artist) Sponsored By Empire

• HULTON (NextGen Fund – South East)
• Livvy K (NextGen Fund – North West)
• Marz Fay (NextGen Fund – London)
• Righteous Reck (NextGen Fund – London)
• Roukaya B (NextGen Fund – North West)

Lyricist Award

• Astles (LIMF Academy – North West)
• KOJ (LIMF Academy Launchpad – North West)
• M. Yesekaon (NextGen Fund – Wales)
• Simon A (NextGen Fund – London)
• Sunkissed Child (NextGen Fund – London)

Music Video Award Supported By Notion

• Dayzy (Noise – Merseyside Youth Association – North West)
• Hillarynx (NextGen Fund – London)
• IMVN (NextGen Fund – London)
• Simon a. (NextGen Fund – London)

Music Producer Award Supported by Elephant Music

• Cherry Seraph (NextGen Fund – Yorkshire & The Humber)
• IMVN (NextGen Fund – London)
• Jelia (London)
• Melba (NextGen Fund – North East)

Original Track Award (Group)

• C4Truth & RHIA (London)
• Ronn & Zuko Rosemeid (NextGen Fund – London)
• TRACKS COLLECTIVE (Yorkshire & The Humber)

Original Track Award (Solo)

• BEASTIE (NextGen Fund – London)
• Bethane (Merseyside Youth Association – North West)
• Hana (NextGen Fund – London)
• Shiloh (Youth Music incubator, Phlexx & Mimm Collective – East Midlands)
• ONYINYÉ (NextGen Fund – West Midlands/Ireland)
• YV Shells (NextGen Fund – London)

Outstanding Project Supported by Arts Council England

• Blue Cabin, This is the Place (North East)
• Carousel, The Rock House (South East)
• Conscious Youth CIC, Elevation Music (Yorkshire and The Humber)
• Jack Drum Arts, Growing Green Music (North East)
• Jubacana, Music Futures (North West)

Social Action Award Sponsored by Muse Group

• Compass Collective (London)
• Ros Hawley, Songbirds Music UK CIC (North West)
• Thrive Project (North East)
• TiPP (North East)

Young Leader Award Sponsored By AQA

• Finn Simpson Murphy (Young Producers – North East)
• Josh Dickinson (NextGen Fund – North West)
• Ria Leah (The Spit Game UK – London

Inspirational Music Leader Sponsored By the MU

• Abi Johnson (The Music Works – South West)
• Holly Prest (Jubacana Music Futures – South East)
• Souria Boudina (New Sounds Of Crawley – South East)