Today we are delighted to announce that entries are now officially open for the Music Week Women In Music Awards 2026.
The awards, organised in association with AIM and UK Music, was conceived to celebrate the achievements of incredible women and female-identifying professionals in the music business. This takes in pioneering executives, extraordinary artists, campaigners, and many more.
This year’s awards ceremony, held on October 9 at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, again comprises two distinct aspects: the categories focusing on specific areas of the industry, and the Music Week Women In Music Roll Of Honour.
Established in 2014, the Roll Of Honour aims to highlight the breadth, depth and variety of individuals who are ‘game changers’ in the music industry, with one common theme; they are either women or female-identifying, or their activities consistently benefit women, or focus on female empowerment/gender disparity.
Elsewhere, two new awards have been introduced for the 2026 ceremony: the Partnership Award and Artist Impact.
The Partnership Award celebrates the power of teamwork and is open to a collective of two to three women working in the music industry who have excelled as a team in their chosen field. This could be through entrepreneurial, business or charity endeavours, and could take in business partners, co-MDs/presidents, co-founders, and artist/manager partners.
The Artist Impact award has been conceived to complement our pre-existing artist categories: Rising Star and Inspirational Artist. The award will celebrate an artist who has blazed a unique trail in the judging year and cut through the noise to make a profound impact on the music industry – be it through commercial success, campaign work, artistic excellence or a combination of all of the above.
As with our other two artist categories, the winner will be a recognisable public face through both their music and their commitment to equality and female empowerment in music.
We’re proud to continue expanding how we recognise the incredible women with the new Artist Impact and Partnership awards
Alison Wenham & Lara Baker, Women In Music Awards co-founders
Last year’s sold-out ceremony marked another triumph as we celebrated 11 years of the event, with a host of top names from across the global music business in attendance.
Winners included FKA Twigs being presented with the Inspirational Artist award by Skunk Anansie’s Skin (also a previous winner), Mofe Soy, Satellite414 senior entertainment publicist, being presented with the Rising Star award by PinkPantheress, and Isabel Garvey, Warner Music’s outgoing COO at the time, presented with the Outstanding Contribution award by her friend and former EMI exec Baroness Hazarika. You can revisit all of the action here.
But now our attention turns back to the 2026 awards...
Speaking about this year’s event, Alison Wenham and Lara Baker, who co-founded Women In Music in 2014, said: “As the Awards return for their 12th year, we’re proud to continue expanding how we recognise the incredible women shaping our industry with the introduction of the new Artist Impact and Partnership awards.
“From honouring an artist who has profoundly impacted the music industry this year to celebrating the power of teamwork, these new categories will sit alongside our existing awards and Roll of Honour to spotlight even more inspiring women driving music forward.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2026 Music Week Women In Music awards:
ENTRIES
You can now enter here, where you can also read the criteria for each category (see the full list below). Entries are also open for this year’s Roll Of Honour, which recognises game-changing executives. The official Music Week Women In Music site is here.
It is free to submit an entry, and forms can be submitted by the individual in question, or by someone entering on their behalf. Music Week actively encourages the music industry to put forward the women they have witnessed make an incredible difference to the music industry and the lives of everyone in it.
The deadline for all awards and Roll Of Honour entries is 6pm, June 5.
THE EVENT
This year’s edition of the awards will take place in the daytime of Friday, October 9, 2026 at JW Marriott Grosvenor House London.
A polite warning: as with the Music Week Awards, this event sells out well in advance with a large waiting list building afterwards so please book tables early to avoid any disappointment. Table bookings for the ceremony are now open here.
In addition to the Roll Of Honour, the full list of categories for this year's event is below.
MUSIC WEEK WOMEN IN MUSIC AWARDS 2026 CATEGORIES
Rising Star
Music Champion
Music Creative – Spirit Of The Studio
Campaigner
Live Music Inspiration
DE&I Initiative Of The Year (sponsored by BPI)
Businesswoman Of The Year
International Woman Of The Year
Special Recognition: Unsung Hero
Partnership Award (new for 2026)
Artist Impact (new for 2026) (no nominations taken)
Inspirational Artist (no nominations taken)
New Artist Award (no nominations taken) (sponsored by PRS for Music and PRS Foundation)
Outstanding Contribution (no nominations taken)
Since its launch, the daytime ceremony has grown to become a key event in the music industry calendar with a guest list including top executives and artists from the UK and internationally. You can click here to see all the main award winners and honourees from previous WIM events.
Music Week looks forward to celebrating with you all very soon!
Sponsors for 2026 include: PRS for Music and PRS Foundation, the BPI and Virgin Music Group
For enquiries about table or seat bookings, please contact Kate Smith, customer relations manager: kate.smith@futurenet.com
For more information on Music Week Event sponsorship opportunities please contact Lawrence Cook at lawrence.cooke@futurenet.com
