U.K. SPECIAL: INDIE
ACTS TO WATCH

The star of Arlo Parks is shining extremely brightly this year, thanks to a Mercury Music Prize win for her #3 charting debut, Collapsed in Sunbeams, which also won an AIM Award for Best Independent Album. On top of that, Parks was crowned Best New Artist at 2021’s BRIT Awards, and took home the Breakthrough Artist & Manager of the year gong at MMF’s Artist and Manager Awards alongside her manager, Ali Raymond of Beatnik Creative.

So how did it all begin? Toby L, who co-founded Parks’ label, Transgressive, tells us that she’d been writing and making music for several years before meeting and connecting with the Beatnik team. Transgressive A&R manager Mike Harounoff watched an early Parks show at a tiny club in London, which piqued his interest. “By the time we heard the first set of songs set to be released on Beatnik, we knew that musically, lyrically and vocally, someone very special was in our orbit,” says Toby.

Parks’ first single through the label, “Eugene,” arrived in May 2020, at which point Transgressive had helped the Beatnik team build industry awareness, particularly at DSPs and radio. A constant flow of singles and videos arrived throughout the year while Parks finished her debut, and, as Toby notes, “In spite of such a challenging era, her trajectory has been remarkable, and deservedly so.”

“Arlo’s unique because of her life experience, honesty and empathy, all of which she translates succinctly into relatable, heart-rending musical refrains,” adds Toby. “She is able to convey how a lot of people feel, without it ever feeling preachy or anything other than compassionate and caring. She also happens to write amazing songs —that always helps!” Expect more new music before too long. Parks sold out a run of North American tour dates in October, followed by a string of dates in Europe; she’ll return to the U.S. early next year.

STATS

• 200m+ worldwide streams
• More than 250k albums sold globally
• 1k plays across BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music

TEAM

• Management: Ali Raymond at Beatnik Creative
• Label: Toby L, Tim Dellow, Lilas Bourboulon and Mike Harounoff at Transgressive
• Publishing: Gerard Philips, Young and Sony Music Publishing
• Live: Steve Nickolls and Christian Bernhardt at UTA

London-born singer/songwriter Grace Carter signed to BMG at the beginning of this year following a stint with Polydor, for which she released her debut EP, Why Her Not Me, in 2018. She came third place in the BBC’s Sound of 2019 poll, has released a string of singles and played support slots with Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Dua Lipa.

BMG A&R scout Tashan Radtke signed Carter to the new deal, and VP A&R Jamie Nelson says it “felt like great fit from the very beginning. We have followed her strong development both internationally and in the U.K. market with great respect. We picked up the conversation with her management company, TaP Music, and eventually met up with Grace.”

A fanbase has been built on Carter’s “extraordinary voice and emotive and spellbinding songwriting,” says Nelson. During the pandemic, when all touring was put on hold, she wrote a new collection of songs that touch on themes including race and social injustice, while also cultivating her online presence. “We immediately loved the way she writes her music and delivers these incredible songs, and we’re very excited to support and develop her further onto the next stage,” Nelson adds.

The focus going forward will be physically reconnecting with Carter’s online community, and she’ll be touring and playing shows as much as possible. The first track from her new EP, “Dark Matter,” dropped in November, and more new music will be released during the coming months.

STATS

• Third place on BBC’s Sound of 2019 poll
• Live support slots with Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Dua Lipa

TEAM

• Management: Justin Adams (N.A.), Maria Lane and Ed Millett (ex-N.A.) at TaP Music
• Label: Tashan Radtke (A&R), Louise Hart and Jess Luton (marketing) at BMG
• Publishing: Sony Music Publishing
• Live: Nick Matthews and Sol Parker at Paradigm