Sony Music UK executives are celebrating winning the International Marketing category at the Music Week Awards for the second time in the last three years – and the team say they will take some stopping come 2026.
We spoke to Brooke Salisbury, SVP, international marketing & digital partnerships, and Carina Grace, VP, international marketing, about the huge waves the major made last year, through blockbuster campaigns for the likes of Myles Smith and Central Cee.
The pair also discussed the importance of maintaining a global outlook for UK artists and labels, making the point that sowing a seed in other territories can lead to significant rewards, domestically and beyond.
“We are so excited for our artists and labels, it’s been a huge year of hard work to get to this result,” Salisbury beamed, and no wonder.
“I want to start by recognising what an incredible year it’s been for British artists on a global stage," said Salisbury upon picking up the award. "I don’t think the headlines in the news always represent this. Our brilliant labels, our artists and everyone in the Sony Music global community – we couldn’t do it without you.”
The team will have further UK successes to work on globally – Music Week just revealed the growing impact of Sony Music UK's domestic signings, including Skye Newman, who has two hits in the Top 20. Calvin Harris also has another Top 10 UK hit in the form of Blessings with Clementine Douglas, while Sony has also seen streaming success with UK signings including Rudimental, Denon Reed, Shallipopi and Jade.
Here, we quiz Salisbury and Grace on the secrets behind their success with Sony acts internationally...
This category is in its third year at the Music Week Awards, do you feel international gets the respect it deserves from the rest of the business?
Brooke Salisbury: “I really do. I think in the past few years it's become a huge focus for campaigns to be global and repertoire owners realise the opportunity of activating the full picture around the world.”
Carina Grace: “It’s about the influence that can have, starting something internationally can make a big difference even from a UK perspective, so it feels like a much more joined up approach to what we had before, I think.”
Why do you think you won?
CG: “It's been a great year with some big campaigns, like Myles Smith, Central Cee and a lot of really exciting development acts coming through. There has been a lot of hard work, but it's been great and it’s good to be recognised for it.”
In the past few years it's become a huge focus for campaigns to be global
Brooke Salisbury
What's it like to be responsible for exporting breakout acts like Myles Smith and Central Cee around the world? Is there a lot of pressure?
BS: “It's a huge pleasure to work with all of our artists. It's a very collaborative process that really centres around representing the artist in an authentic way, one that's going to allow them to have a long and real career. That's really, really important to us. And it's exciting, it moves fast, things happen very quickly. We really thrive in that environment and I think that you need to if you want to be working in a global environment.”
Things did go super fast for both Myles Smith in particular…
BS: “For the UK music industry, Myles has been just the biggest breakthrough story of the past year. Stargazing has been a huge hit for Sony globally, but it hasn't just been about that song. It's been about bringing through the full artist proposition and following it up, not just with further hits, but a broad ranging catalogue that really shows who this artist is, and we're really incredibly proud of the results that we've achieved over the past year and a half of working with Myles.”
CG: “Central Cee also had the biggest UK rap album globally, ever. The results were a superb, it was a No.1 album in so many markets, so that was really exciting.”
How do you plan to defend your crown next year?
CG: “We've got lots more coming, it's not a problem. We'll be back. We'll be in the race for sure.”
Sony Music also won at the Music Week Awards for Music & Brand Partnership, while the major's partners The Orchard won in the Label & Artist Services category.
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