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Chase & Status, Sophie Kennard Awarded ‘Artist & Manager Team of the Year’
The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), and the Music Managers Forum (MMF) revealed that Will Kennard, and Saul Milton aka Chase & Status, and their manager, Frame Artists’ co-founder Sophie Kennard, will be recognized at the Artist & Manager Awards 2024, Nov. 21, in London, England.
They will receive the ‘Artist & Manager Team of the Year’ award in recognition of their extraordinary run of successes over the past 12 months.
Since first releasing music almost 20 years ago, Chase & Status have taken underground Drum & Bass to a mass global audience, providing inspiration to successive generations of British artists and DJs. Over the course of their career, Will Kennard and Saul Milton have released four top 5 albums, and seven UK Top 10 singles, consistently expanding and regenerating their sound. Chase & Status have always collaborated with and elevated the best of British talent, working with the likes of Kano, Plan B, Dizzee Rascal, Tom Grennan, Jacob Banks, Emelie Sande, Shy FX, Bugzy Malone, Unknown T, and Becky Hill.
The most recent Chase & Status album, the 2023 mixtape 2 Ruff, Vol 1, encapsulated this approach – providing a platform for artists including Stefflon Don, ArrDee, Clementine Douglas, Bou, and Kwengface, and resulting in three simultaneous Top 40 hits with Liquor & Cigarettes, Baddadan and Disconnect.
In March, they picked up a BRIT Award for Producer of the Year, as well as The Brit Billion Award for an incredible one billion UK streams.
Topping this off, is “Backbone,” Chase & Status’s collaboration with Stormzy, and their first-ever UK number one.
The track added another gem to their live set, which, following a string of shows across North America, Australia and Europe, saw the duo headline stages at Creamfields, Boardmasters, TRNSMT, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and their biggest ever headline show to date at the 45,000-capacity Milton Keynes National Bowl this year.
Some highlights from the boxoffice reports submitted to Pollstar include two sold out shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, England, March 1-3, selling a total of 6,834 tickets at a $340,895 gross; 5,829 tickets sold at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, April 24, grossing $382,962; and a sold-out Roseland Theater in Portland, OR, Aug. 3, (1,390 tickets, $54,575 grossed).
Their Boiler Room appearance from London, which dropped in October 2023, has been viewed more than 10 million times, and Chase & Status will play multiple sold-out UK arena dates through 2025, with their O2 London show being the venue’s fastest ever selling show from an electronic artist in the history of the venue.
The work and support of Frame Artists’ Sophie Kennard has been elemental to these successes. She’s guided Chase & Status to multiple new record and publishing deals, connecting their uncompromising sound to specialist and mainstream audiences both in the UK and across the globe.
Having previously run Chase & Status’ label, MTA Records, and then managed the duo via her own company (SK Artists), Kennard had a long-term affiliation with the duo, before co-founding Frame Artists with Becci Abbott Black in April 2020.
Together, they have since built an enviable roster of artists, DJ’s and producers, including Eats Everything, Patrick Topping, Arielle Free, DJ Boring, Effy, Ewan McVicar, Melé, Mozey, and Storm Mollison.
Kennard continues to be a passionate and vocal advocate for greater female representation in dance music.
Annabella Coldrick, chief executive, Music Managers Forum, and David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition released the following joint statement: “Chase & Status and Sophie Kennard have had a remarkable year. After almost two decades at the forefront of Drum & Bass, and with Sophie’s support and expertise, Will and Saul continue to stray from their lane, break fresh ground and champion a new generation of artists. Incredibly, Backbone, 2024’s all-conquering collaboration with Stormzy, has pushed them to even greater heights and the MMF and FAC are delighted to recognise Chase & Status and Sophie as our Artist & Manager Team of the Year.”
The MMF and FAC also unveiled our shortlist for Breakthrough Manager 2024, nominated by MMF members, with the winner to be revealed at the Artist & Manager Awards 2024 ceremony on Nov. 21.
The 2024 nominees for Breakthrough Manager are:
Alex Putman (TAAHLIAH, Jerskin Fendrix)
Dan Jenkins, Raw Power Management (Jordan Adetunji)
Jade Busola (Thisizlondon))
Jasmine Watts, Circuit Management (Sammy Virji)
Lauren Roth de Wolf, Wolves Music Management (Moonchild Sanelly, Africa Express, The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians)
Memz (ZieZie, hazey, prinz, Liilz, fangio, Jomokays)
Oran Barton, Attention Management (Barry Can’t Swim)
Thor Sutherland, Way Out Music (Songer, Yxng Dave, Blueboy & dash)
Scoop (Darkoo, Taves, BNXN (fka Buju), Tiwa Savage, Rose May Alaba)
Victoria de Juniac, VictoriaBDJ Management (Cian Ducrot, Tommy Lefroy)
As previously announced, the 2024 Artist & Manager Awards will also recognize the long-term partnership between Pet Shop Boys and their manager Angela Becker (award sponsored by PPL), as well as the work of Yungblud and Special Projects Music to authentically build and engage fan communities. The ceremony will be hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Remi Burgz.