WARNER AND SONY BATTLE OUT BRITS CRITICS' CHOICE
The three contenders for the BRITs 2017 Critics’ Choice award are Warner acts Anne-Marie and Dua Lipa and Sony-signed Rag'n'Bone Man. Universal has ruled the category since it launched in 2008, winning seven out of nine times. Who’ll be named victor of the tenth edition on 12/8?
Previous winners include Jack Garratt (Island), James Bay (Virgin EMI), Sam Smith (Capitol)—all UMG. Sony broke up the story in 2013 with Tom Odell (Columbia) after Emeli Sande (Virgin EMI), Jessie J (Island), Ellie Goulding (Polydor), Florence and the Machine (Island), and the only ever indie entry, Adele (XL), in the awards’ inaugural year.
Rag'N'Bone Man, A&R’d by Julian Palmer at Columbia U.K., is this week heading for his highest position on the Official Singles Charts after "Human" rises 68 places to #9. The reason behind the sudden boost is down to a performance of the song by X Factor contestant Emily Middlemas at the weekend (a show we mustn’t forget still attracts around 6m pairs of eyes). It’s been streamed over 38m times on Spotify, where Rag'N'Bone Man has 5.4m monthly listeners.
Anne-Marie, meanwhile, has widespread radio support, and has been #1 on the Official Singles Chart for the last three weeks thanks to “Rockabye” by Clean Bandit—also performed on The X Factor at the weekend. Solo single wise, “Alarm” has been streamed over 149m times to date on Spotify, where she has an impressive 9.8m monthly listeners. Her A&R team is led by Ed Howard with Rudimental, who signed her to their Atlantic JV, Major Toms.
Dua Lipa, who is A&Rd by Joe Kentish at Warner Bros Records U.K., has enjoyed a sync on a Vauxhall ad with "Be the One, which, alongside “Hotter Than Hell,” has over 60m streams on Spotify. Latest track “Blow Your Mind (Mwah)” is tipping 38m, and her total Spotify monthly listener count stands at 5.3m.
