Music Week

We are the leading trade media brand for the UK music industry with unrivalled access to game-changing artists and executives. Music Week remains essential reading for anyone who needs to understand the business of music.

Music Week

Welcome to Music Week

Brit squad: UK talent bounces back as labels target global opportunities • As market figures for Q1 show positive results for UK acts, label presidents talk long-term development and reveal ambitions for breakthrough stars

Yes we Canvas: Ex-Spotify UK boss shares distro's A&R vision • Founded by CEO Richard Lyne, and with Tom Connaughton onboard, Canvas Music is now aiming to expand its boutique distribution business

FOR THE RECORD • SOME OF THE BIGGEST STORIES FROM THE PAST MONTH IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

SPOTLIGHT SHINING A LIGHT ON MUSIC'S BIGGEST NAMES • A year on from her appointment as IFPI chief exec, last month Victoria Oakley oversaw the trade organisation's Global Music Report, which showed a 10th consecutive year of growth in 2024. Here, she discusses key issues for the sector from AI and the role of labels to public performance rights and the evolution of streaming…

START ME UP • THE NEW COMPANIES DRIVING MUSIC'S FUTURE

THIS MONTH DROWNED IN SOUND • Launched as a music blog in 2000 and a podcast six years later, Drowned In Sound has explored nearly every corner of the music industry. Here, its founder and host Sean Adams reflects on its journey and the key issues facing the business right now…

ASSASSIN'S CREED SHADOWS/TIGGS DA AUTHOR • As fans worldwide welcome the latest instalment in the Assassin's Creed series, we dive into its stand-out soundtrack…

RISING STAR • Meet the industry's brightest new talents…

POSTS OF THE MONTH

SUNDAY (1994) • Suburban California and Slough make for an unlikely pairing, but together they have shaped the distinctive sound of Sunday (1994). Here, partners Paige Turner and Lee Newell trace their journey so far, from crossing paths backstage at a gig in LA to a debut headline tour across the Atlantic…

ESSENTIAL INFO

KEY RELEASES

INCOMING • Seven albums in, The Kooks stand as a shining example of the enduring appeal of noughties indie, but frontman Luke Pritchard is only looking forwards. Music Week meets him to find out why…

THE PLAYLIST

TASTEMAKERS • The industry's favourite new sounds

MAKING WAVES • THIS MONTH'S HOTTEST BRAND NEW ACT

HOTSHOTS SPECIAL • BRIT AWARDS 2025 GALLERY

HOTSHOTS

VOICE OF A GENERATION • In 2025, as she launches her third album, Gen Z sensation Laufey plans to redefine the meaning of mainstream crossover. Already a Grammy winner and TikTok star, the classically trained musician born Laufey Jónsdóttir is now setting about taking over the world. To kickstart a campaign that promises to be one of the most notable of the year, Music Week meets the singer/songwriter, plus Foundations Artist Management and AWAL, to find out how she plans to transcend classical and jazz, and climb to a new pop peak. At the centre of this whirlwind story is Laufey's singular approach to the industry. As she says herself, “How lucky am I that what works for me is doing exactly what my heart tells me to do?”

ROLE CALL MEET TEAM LAUFEY

THE Music Week INTERVIEW JOHN GIDDINGS • “I don't like gardening, I don't like golf, so I'm screwed,” says John Giddings offering up two of the many reasons why, even after five decades in music, retiring couldn't be further from his mind. Ahead of the latest edition of the Isle Of Wight Festival, which he relaunched in 2002, Music Week meets the Solo Agency founder – who has worked with a litany of stars from David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, to Beyoncé and Lady Gaga – for an epic discussion of what it...