BRIT AWARDS NEED A NEW BOSS

After helming a revamped BRIT Awards ceremony that has been widely praised for some show-stopping artist performances, UMG U.K. CEO David Joseph has said he won’t be returning to the role next year.

In an an interview with Music Week, Joseph said, “It will be nice to hand it over to somebody when it’s in a healthy state. And a healthy state really means discovery, culture and new audiences discovering the music of the artists who perform. End of story.”

Traditionally, Joseph would have sat in the seat of BRITs Chairman for another two years, as per a three-year rotation cycle between major label heads. However, he has said this year will be his last (for now) so he can focus on his day job. “We’ve got some things going on at the company and a lot of excitement that I really need to throw myself into,” he said. “You’re supposed to never say never—but at the moment I’m saying never!”

Joseph put forward the idea of a pitching system that would open the role up to those who have ideas for the ceremony. “All I know is, the sense of rotation [between major labels] doesn’t necessarily [work],” he said. “The person or people who are next to do it should be chosen on the criteria of what they want to do for the show and the artists, not just because it’s a historically rotated tenure. That’s very important. The BPI need to run it as a democratic process so the people with the biggest ideas to keep this thing vibrant are the people in charge.”

Joseph made a few major changes to this year’s ceremony, including reducing the number of awards to nine and artists being given greater control over their performances. For Tuesday’s ceremony, that resulted in standout moments from Male Solo Artist Stormzy and Album of the Year winner Dave, who both delivered praised performances that showcased the strength of black British talent. Other star performances came from award winners Mabel, Billie Eilish, Lewis Capaldi and Celeste, as well as Lizzo and Rod Stewart.