If Damian Christian could hand out an honorary BRIT Award to mark his time in charge of the biggest night in British music, there would be only one winner – his beloved dog, Tinker. Christian credits the four-year-old cocker spaniel’s soothing presence during his frenetic three-year stint at the BRITs helm, whether at home, in the office or on their early morning walks where many of his brainwaves originate.

“She's actually very helpful for me when it's all going quite crazy,” reasons Christian. “She's quite calming as well, so I'd give an award to my dog, 100%.”

Tinker has well and truly earned her moment in the spotlight, then, as she joins the Atlantic Records MD and president of promotions for his Music Week photo shoot at Warner HQ commemorating his final year as chair of the BRIT Committee. Christian will pass the baton following this Saturday’s (March 1) BRIT Awards 2025 at The O2 in London, broadcast exclusively in primetime on ITV1 and ITVX. 

As the end of his tenure nears, Music Week finds the straight-shooting exec in a reflective mood.

“It only feels like yesterday when [Warner Music UK chief] Tony Harlow said to me, ‘Do you want to do it?’ And I'm thinking, ‘Do I? I'm not sure. Is it going to be the thing for me?’” he says. “And then all of a sudden it's the last one and it's gone so quickly. I'm excited about it, but I'll miss it and what it does for my adrenaline and my energy.”

At the moment, he’s not quite figured out what will fill the void come 2026.

“I'm not sure what I'll be like next January and February, because everyone else is like, ‘January is so fucking boring,’ and I'm normally buzzing my nuts off because of the madness going on,” he says. “So although I prefer the summer months, I think December and January will feel quite empty next year, if I'm honest.”

Though Christian says it is “fairly impossible” to put the last three years into words, he gives it his best shot regardless.

“I've always called it an enjoyable slog,” he smiles. “It's really enjoyable, but it's also a real slog. But oddly – because I can be odd at times – I kind of like it when things have gone a little bit wrong or not straight down the line.” 

“This has been the toughest year I would say,” he continues. “It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster trying to piece it all together, but we’re super-happy with what we’ve got. Somebody asked me how many hours I put into the thing and I couldn’t really quantify a number, apart from that it’s a lot.” 

Upon Music Week’s request for more specificity, he warms to the task.

“It takes up a lot of your time,” he says. “Sally [Wood], the producer, is fantastic and I can’t imagine how many times I've spoken to her over the last three years, way more than I’ve spoken to my wife – on the phone anyway! But you're just trying to get the right show and the right blend, so I don't mind the long hours. As I’ve said before, I’m an early bird, walking my dog Tinker, so I get up early and work late anyway and it goes side-by-side with my day job.”

Yet Christian has learned there is not necessarily a correlation between what you put into the process and what you get out. 

“I honestly think if you worked 18 hours a day on it, or half an hour a week, you'd probably still end up getting the same acts,” he muses. “I think the cards are going to fall on your table no matter how much work you put into it. So if they can do it, they're going to do it. If they can't do it, they can't.”

Happily, the announced performers for this year – Sabrina Carpenter, Jade, Teddy Swims, The Last Dinner Party, Sam Fender, Lola Young and Myles Smith – were all bang up for it, he reports, as was presenter Jack Whitehall, who returns for a fifth time, having previously hosted from 2018-21. 

Charli XCX leads the awards contenders with five nominations, followed by Dua Lipa, Ezra Collective, The Last Dinner Party and Myles Smith on four each (including Smith’s win in the previously announced Rising Star category). 

After the fallout from the all-male artist of the year category in 2023 and the clamour for a standalone R&B category, this year’s process has been relatively controversy-free up to this point. In terms of representation, Artist Of The Year has a 50/50 gender split in terms of nominees, while the international category is 60% female.

“As chair, you are responsible for big parts of it and, like I said last time we spoke, the changes that we made with the categories have made a difference and we will keep reviewing and looking at how we maintain representation across the show,” says Christian. “This year feels fairly balanced across the nominations, and also the performance line-up. Everyone works really hard behind the scenes on the show and it's amazing people are still talking about BRITs so much and it gets so much coverage.”

Overall, Christian states, “we want to make sure we are doing all we can, and to keep listening and reviewing everything, to ensure BRITs is relevant and reflects the last year in terms of which artists made the most impact.”

This year’s trophy has been designed by Gabriel Moses, a British-Nigerian multi-disciplinary artist whose collaborators include Skepta and Little Simz. Also new for 2025 has been the launch of the BRITs WhatsApp channel as part of the continuing partnership between The BRITs and Meta.

Organisers trumpeted last year’s digital figures after more than 50 million views of event day content were achieved across BRITs channels, with over half driven by Instagram, doubling the figures from 2023. The Red Carpet livestream also hit a million views within 48 hours of broadcast, more than double the previous year. 

“The Meta partnership last year was very successful and the numbers we hit across the BRITs channels speak for themselves, we were all really pleased with the results,” says Christian. “Introducing a new WhatsApp channel into the mix this year and to support the genre awards public vote is a great way to continue the partnership, everyone's on WhatsApp and it makes it really easy for fans to get involved.”

Christian describes himself as a big fan of the platform.

“I was on WhatsApp really early and everyone commented, ‘God, you're a bit ahead of the game,’ because it’s normally like I’m living in 1985!” he smiles.

On a similar note, while TV ratings for the BRITs fell to an average of 2.5 million in 2024, Christian believes the traditional metrics should be viewed through a modern lens. 

“The hardest thing is that people aren't watching television like they used to,” points out Christian. “I'm friendly with Ant & Dec, but I was speaking to their team recently and people don't even watch them as much as they used to – and they are the kings of TV! I just think it's a new world we live in. So your numbers aren't going to be amazing on terrestrial TV, but they should be decent on other things. Last year, all the digital stuff was record-breaking numbers.”

To preview this weekend’s ceremony, Christian (and Tinker) sit down to discuss Brat Summer, whether the UK has turned the corner on breaking acts, and his message for his successor…

Let’s revisit last year’s BRITs to start with, what was your verdict on the event?

“We changed it around a bit. We introduced the R&B award to stand alone and rightly so, and went from five to 10 on the Artist and International Artist Of The Year shortlists. At the end of every year, there is a proper [debrief] and we listen to people that have gripes or moans. There are always a few, of course – some people think it was the best of all time and other people think, ‘Why didn't we get on?’ You try and explain how it works and it’s quite simplistic really. It was great to see a woman steal the show. I was delighted about Raye getting six awards. It was lovely to be part of that and her journey from the BRIT School. Seeing her headmaster, Stuart [Worden, BRIT School principal], go up there and give her one of the awards felt like a real circle of life moment. Seeing her come back against all odds and have an amazing night was a really special moment.”

Were there any changes to the voting academy this year?

“No, 1,338 people registered this year, which is a lot, so you're not always going to get the obvious winners. With the genre awards, when it's a bun fight, some of the artists rev their fans up, and others don't at all – they think if their fans want to vote, they will vote naturally. I always find that quite interesting because if I was an artist, I'd be desperate to win as that’s my nature. But I also understand that if you're a cool cat, it can look a bit desperado. So everyone's got a different take.”

We spoke about the idea of a jazz category this time last year, did that come any closer to happening?

“I don't think so. I wasn't party to those [conversations] but I think they look at what records have come out, how many artists can be in that category and probably felt there weren’t enough to properly represent it.”

Sabrina Carpenter is to receive the Global Success award – the first time an international act has won it. Why did you decide to open it up?

“The simple answer is, why not? We just thought she thoroughly deserved it. She was the most played female artist last year across UK radio and we thought that was quite a big statement. She's gone from being a star to a superstar.”

As well as Sabrina, Teddy Swims will be there, how hard is it to get these US stars to come over for the BRITs? 

“Teddy Swims grew up watching the BRITs and loved it, so getting him and Sabrina was fairly easy if I'm honest. You enquire about X amount of stars, and some are straight up for it, some can't do it, some are on tour, some have just finished a tour. Year-on-year, it's a mixture. But I think having Teddy and Sabrina this year is a good look.”

Is there a sense that the show needs its biggest stars from overseas?

“It depends how you look at this one, because if you're on a Saturday night on ITV – and they have been the most incredible partners – they want big names. Do you need them? Some would say they bring some sort of American stardom to it all. I mean, that first year, we put Lizzo on and she went down particularly well. But I think you've got to try and reflect [British acts] as much as possible and if it was not on a Saturday night, there might be a year you have eight British acts on. I'm not one for going around to fish for compliments, I like to hear what's really going on, but I've got to say I've had really good feedback about the line-up this year from people I know and trust.”

Are you worried about international talent dominating the charts here?

“Well, that's kind of out of my hands. That's really almost a whole other conversation. I'm sure it will revert back or even itself out. But last year was a particularly big year for Sabrina, for Taylor, for Teddy, for Benson Boone. They had some big songs and stayed in the charts for a long, long time. But I'm sure it will flip back again – it wasn't that long ago it was dominated by UK artists, so I think it's just one of those years.”

Charli XCX is a huge story, with five nominations. Can you sum up the importance of her story in terms of what it tells us about the UK industry?

“Incredible story. We've had Charli [at Atlantic] since she was 14 or 15 so I've been plugging her to radio and television for over 15 years. And I could be wrong here, but I can't remember anybody on their seventh album then completely crossing over. It just doesn't happen that way – you're either dropped by then or there's been a fallout. For this to happen on her seventh album is incredible and it's all down to her. We're the record label and we've done our thing, but the whole concept of Brat was Charli's. She's always been a quirky, cool artist, there's no doubt about it, and it was, from start to finish, one of the most rewarding projects I've ever been involved in. I've been plugging since the '80s and have been lucky enough to be involved in some massive campaigns, but she's put a shift in and it must be such an inspiring story to other artists that don't get overnight success. Let's be fair, Charli's had some hit records; she had a No.1 album before and everyone in the music industry knows who Charli XCX is. But for artists, [the lesson is] that sometimes it's not going to happen overnight, but you've got to stay in it and be true to yourself – and Charli's very true to herself. These are her ideas, thoughts and feelings that have gone into this record and it's a credit to her. I couldn't be happier because she's a brilliant artist and such a great person.”

Why isn’t she performing at the ceremony? 

“She's had an amazing year, a super-busy year, and the word that came back to us was, ‘Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to go and enjoy the night with my friends and family.’ There’s something really endearing about that and we respected it straight away. I think in years gone by, record labels would be forcing people to do things but it's just not like that anymore. If people get pushed into doing something, it doesn't feel right. Hopefully she wins some awards now.”

Do you think she’ll sweep the board?

“I'm not sure. I'd like to think she's going to have a good night. She deserves it.”

Do you think what Charli did with Brat will be adopted as a model by other artists/labels?

“I think they'd like to. I think what they might learn from it is that when you believe in an artist, you stick with them. Atlantic has always been very good at that. In general, everyone gets a fully fair crack of the whip. Would they all try and do a Brat with their artist? Of course they would, but how do you do it? It has to come from the artist. If everyone could have a Brat Summer going forward that'd be great wouldn't it?”

Was 2024 a better year for breakthrough talent?

“Well, Myles Smith is a breakthrough. The Last Dinner Party had already broken through a little bit, but they broke through more. It feels like Lola's going to break. Globally, that song [Messy] is the biggest song on the planet at the moment. But it's very hard breaking artists: Charli XCX is only breaking properly now and that's taken all those years. You can have hit singles, but breaking artists and artist development definitely takes longer and there's a lot of patience involved. And credit to those labels that are doing that. Everyone wants more, but we've named three [Myles Smith, Lola Young and The Last Dinner Party] and three is still great. I think everyone's coming to terms that if you break one a year, you're doing a really good job these days. It might just take a little bit longer.”

At the opposite end of the artist spectrum, The Beatles have received their first nod since the first ever BRITs – how important is it to have them represented?

“I think that's just incredible. It's hard to put into words. The Beatles being up for an award at this stage is absolutely amazing. I’m sure they've had a billion trillion nominations for all sorts of amazing awards, but we're delighted they’ve been nominated. It's a great look.”

Dua Lipa is also up for a lot of awards, what are your reflections on her year?

“Dua is an absolute superstar. She was fantastic last year, she opened the show for us and I thought she was particularly brilliant. I loved the vibe she brought as well – her whole family were up dancing on the table next to us, and other acts were coming up to their table having a proper old party. I just thought what a great family they looked like. She's got lots of noms, she's had another good year and she’s in that high-end, top-tier bracket. Dua Lipa is a fantastic artist and a superstar.”

What do the lists say about representation and female talent in the industry? 

“The nominations lists definitely feel balanced overall, fairly 50/50. To have two British female artists [and a group] out in front – Charli with five, Dua with four, The Last Dinner Party with four – and also Ezra Collective, feels a fair reflection of the success stories of the last year, and the trends and impact in the charts. There's also some new names such as Rachel Chinouriri, Nia Archives, and Jade now as a solo artist for British talent, as well as Chappell Roan, Sabrina, Adrianne Lenker for international – and some interesting mixed groups such as Amyl & The Sniffers, Confidence Man too. So overall it feels like a healthy and diverse representation, and this year's nominations also reflect a year in music where women spent more weeks at No. 1 than ever. When it comes to the show bookings, our job is to give British artists a global platform – Myles Smith, The Last Dinner Party, Sam Fender, Lola Young are a great mixture to go off around the world – new, young, pop stars, singer-songwriters, bands, representing all genres, [all genders], and that feels fairly fair. The BRITs will continue to review and look at this every year to support representation and remain relevant.”

How important is it that the BRITs support homegrown stars?

“It is really what it's about. I was lucky enough to go to the BRIT School last year for the first time and I absolutely loved it. And like I said earlier, seeing some of those guys then performing at the BRITs and winning awards is a massive part of it. It's still the biggest night of the year in the music industry and you show the world what you've got, so it's super-important. Myles, Jade, Lola, The Last Dinner Party, Sam Fender, that's a really strong British line-up with a couple of Americans in there to add a little bit of sparkle as well. I think anyone would be super-happy with that.”

You mentioned Sam Fender is playing – how was the process of booking him given his postponing of shows at the end of last year? 

“It was important to reflect a guitar sound and Sam is super-popular. ITV likes Sam Fender as well – he's been on the show before – and it felt really obvious. When we offered it to him, he was like, ‘Yeah, I really want to do the BRITs,’ so that felt like a real coup and it’s a world exclusive, the song he’s doing.”

How well does the business look after artists in 2025?

“I know at Warner, they really look after artists. There are helplines and all sorts of people on tap to tap into, no pun intended. So they take it very seriously and I imagine the other labels do, too. Hence, as I said earlier, are we going to try and force someone to do something? No, we're not, you respect their opinion and don't force people to do things they don't want to do for whatever reason. It's their reason. I'd like to think people are looked after far more now. For a while, vulnerable people probably weren't getting the help that they needed, but I've seen so much change over the years. The music industry has changed enormously. Way back when, people just didn't care, they were just chasing down the hits, whereas it's been a much more artist-friendly environment for some time now and I think it gets even better every year.”

And why is Jack Whitehall returning as host this year?

“When I came in, I went on the record to say I would like a different host every year, I didn't want to have the same person or people. In the first year, Mo Gilligan did a great job. I inherited Mo, it was his second year and in my mind it was always going to be that one year. Then obviously last year we tried three DJs [Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp] and I thought they did a really good job. Three of them doing it was a bit of a challenge, but the research was that they all did very well and much better than 100 people on Twitter would give them credit for. I think one of the headlines was that they'd been sacked or dropped. Well, that's just not true – they were doing it for one year only.

“This year, we were obviously going to change again so we looked around and thought, ‘Shall we go for a comedian?’ I always thought Jack Whitehall was particularly brilliant at the BRITs: great on television, great in the room, funny, a little bit outrageous and not scared to take the mick out of people in a nice way. And lo and behold, again, the research showed he was the most popular host for a long time and we had no problem going back to him. 

“I didn't even realise this but I read the last time he hosted it was the year of the pandemic and he felt he'd left without leaving properly, so he was delighted to come back and was up for it straight away. We’ve had really good feedback about Jack doing it, across the board.”

Looking back over your three years, what one thing do you feel you brought to the BRITs above all else?

“You've got to say Saturday night, because we managed to do that. So in our three-year tenure, we've held a Saturday night for the BRITs. That will never change. And like I say, it might revert back now, who knows? People might want to move it back for whatever reason, and if they do, good luck to them. But I think moving to a Saturday night made it feel like a really big occasion.”

Do you have any sense of how the rest of the watching industry perceives you and your BRITs tenure?

“I don't really know. Look, everyone's been pretty nice to my face – I'll beat them up otherwise! [laughs] But they know it's a hard job. And although I do have a smile on my face, and I genuinely do, it's pretty hard keeping everybody happy. I think it's gone down fairly well, I've tried to be as fair as we can be. It's not all my decision, it's obviously a panel and one thing I've had to prove is that it's not all chat and no action. I haven't overly pushed Warner's acts, I’ve played it with a complete straight bat and said, ‘This is how it's going to be.’ This year, Universal has got quite a few acts on because the acts are right for the show. I'm not going to then try and get one of my acts on just to even the numbers out. So even if they haven’t liked me personally, I think they have to say I've done it very fairly.” 

What part of your effect on the BRITs do you feel most proud of?

“I suppose it goes back to the last question a little bit. I'm proud that I've done it with honesty and integrity and tried to be really fair.”

Has the experience changed how you operate as an exec?

“Not really, no. I'm the same bloke. I like to try and enjoy things. I try to do things with a sense of humour. There's a lot of responsibility being chairman of the BRITs. I don't take myself seriously, but I took the job seriously. I just wanted to do the best that I could and I feel I have done. There are no regrets; I've worked hard at it with the amazing team around us and we've given it our best shot. Like I say, we got the Saturday night slot, we changed presenters every year, we got an R&B category in there, we've extended the [Artist Of The Year shortlists] to make sure everyone was covered. Hopefully we've made it a bit better. When you start working for the BRITs, you just want to keep it relevant and keep it moving. And without being overconfident, it feels like we've done that over the three years. You have to change things around a bit, otherwise you will get left behind.”

Last year, the advice you gave for your successor was: “Go into it open-eyed and enjoy it. Don't read every single bit of press and listen to people you respect and love. Be your own person and be confident with it as well – stand in front of it.” Does that still ring true? And who would you like to see run the show? 

“Well the three years with Warner Music UK have now ended, and traditionally the baton now goes to Sony to oversee for the next three years, but who knows, everything in the creative industries is changing. Whoever is next, my advice would be to do it your way. And make sure you book my acts!”