Industry galas tend to save their brightest spotlights for whoever shifted the most units or sold out the biggest arena run. The Ivors Academy Honours takes a noticeably different tack, gathering creators and executives to point attention toward the people doing the structural, often thankless groundwork behind the scenes. On Thursday, October 1, the organisation met at the Intercontinental London on Park Lane to present honours to artists, broadcasters, and administrators working to secure fairer ground across the trade.
James Blake was among the central honourees of the evening. Presented jointly by Ivors Academy Chair Tom Gray and CEO Lord Neri, his recognition took in both his studio catalog and his persistence in speaking out on how musicians actually get paid. Blake picked up a Grammy earlier in his career and spent years building a formidable run of outside production credits, contributing to Frank Ocean's Blonde, Beyonce's Lemonade, Jay-Z's 4:44, and Rosalia's Motomami. He also made the choice to walk away from Republic Records to release his material independently. Following 2023's Playing Robots Into Heaven, Blake issued his seventh studio album, Trying Times, in March. Throughout this period, Gray and Neri noted, he kept structural compensation issues and fair payment for songwriters firmly in the public conversation rather than quietly moving on after establishing his own career.
The ceremony leaned into community building with an honour for Stormzy. While his stature as a London rapper was acknowledged, the focus settled heavily on the apparatus he has built over the past decade through his Merky banner. What began ten years ago has turned into a practical network of initiatives aimed at clearing professional routes for young Black British people. In 2022, he set up the Merky Football Careers initiative to address racial equity and build employment avenues within the sport. That sporting focus tied into the MerkyFC HQ, a London facility offering spaces dedicated to music, football, and gaming. His publishing imprint, Merky Books, grew to encompass a two-day literature festival. Alongside those ventures sits the Cambridge University scholarship scheme, run with HSBC, which currently aids thirty students, providing ten scholars with twenty thousand pounds every year to offset tuition fees and daily maintenance costs.
Broadcasting and live music received their own share of the room's attention. Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis received her honour from Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, with the academy highlighting her cultural footprint and her habit of carving out room for new acts across the festival's stages. Broadcaster, author, and DJ Annie Macmanus followed, picking up her award from Nick Grimshaw after years of placing new artists before national audiences across her work.
MNEK was recognised for a career spent as a songwriter, producer, and performer, receiving his trophy from Becky Hill. Hill commended his consistent advocacy for LGBTQIA+ music makers, noting his public backing for Trans rights inside the business. The honour landed during an active stretch for the musician, who shared earlier this year that he has begun working toward his first solo studio album in eight years.
The evening also singled out administrative persistence in publishing and collective rights management. Sentric Music CEO Chris Meehan picked up an honour after roughly twenty years spent making publishing administration clearer and more accessible for creators. Victor Finn, who has run the Irish collecting society IMRO for nearly two decades, was honoured ahead of his planned retirement at the close of the year, bringing a long period of advocacy for Irish lyricists and composers to an end.
Closing out the proceedings, Lord Neri praised the cohort, remarking that the academy remains proud to recognise those taking personal responsibility for what the songwriting trade will look like down the road.
