Breadcrumb Home News Youth Music Awards: NextGen Creatives... Youth Music Awards: NextGen Creatives Progression Stories Posted: 25/08/2023 Copy URL http://youthmusic-staging.preflight.site/news/youth-music-awards-nextgen-creatives-progression-stories Youth Music Awards: NextGen Creatives Progression Stories Posted: 25/08/2023 Copy URL http://youthmusic-staging.preflight.site/news/youth-music-awards-nextgen-creatives-progression-stories Young people are front and centre at the Youth Music Awards in association with Hal Leonard Europe - both on stage and behind it. Each year, we hire 18 - 25 year old creatives to help execute the event, involving them in every aspect possible, from hosting and presenting to PR, video editing, production support, photography and social media.The initiative is part of our Youth Music NextGen community, for young creatives who aspire to build and work in the music industries of the future by making them more accessible, more diverse and more creative. We offer paid opportunities, funding, industry connections and more for those who face barriers to earning in music.Now in its fourth year, the Youth Music Awards has provided approximately 90 ambitious creatives with crucial paid experience to help progress their careers.This year, LCCM, the London College of Contemporary Music, is kindly sponsoring the paid NextGen roles and training with industry professionals. LCCM Principal Anthony Hamer-Hodges says: "It’s LCCM vision to help transform young people’s lives – inspiring, empowering, and providing real world opportunities to follow their passion into a sustainable career in music. In turn we believe we can help transform the industry by harnessing the energy, ideas and communities of the next generation to create a better version of what has gone before. We hope the Youth Music Awards are a first step on a sustainable career for many of the young people we are supporting to work behind the scenes. We are all about the NextGen!" With less than two months to go until the big night, we look at the impressive progression of past NextGen Youth Music Awards creatives. Benny Greenstein Digital creator Benny hosted the Youth Music Awards in 2022 and has collaborated with numerous brands on content since. Benny has presented social media videos at events for the likes of Ministry of Sound, Universal Music, Notion Magazine, 10 Magazine, LADBible, Samsung and more. He can be spotted out and out on the streets of the UK or abroad, interviewing passers by about everything from fashion to growing up and first date stories to more than 80,000 followers on his TikTok. Maya Egbo Maya was a Backstage Presenter at the Youth Music Awards 2023. A presenter and journalist for entertainment and sports, she has presented for Sky, the V&A Museum and media platform That Grape Juice, amongst many others. Maya presented the red carpet interviews at The Sporting Equals Awards 2024 and has recently been announced as a BRITs POV host for 2025. Eva Davies Since working as a NextGen Freelance Advisor for Youth Music, Eva Davies went on to work with long-time funded partner, Come Play With Me, in Leeds. She progressed rapidly within the organisation from Label Assistant to Artist Manager. Eva has also received awards for her events that aim to combat gender inequality in the industry, including Youth Music’s Young Entrepreneur Award in 2021 for her work in creating safe spaces and her work with Come Play With Me CIC.Eva is now a Director at Yorkshire Sound Women Network and an Artist Manager & Consultant at Fortified. Jameel Shariff Jameel Shariff presented the Youth Music Awards in 2022 and was a Host in 2023. Jameel has since gone on to work with the BBC in numerous roles, such as an Assistant Producer on BBC Sounds, then as a Music and Entertainment Presenter on BBC Radio West Midlands, and most recently, as a social media journalist for BBC News.Jameel also presented the BBC Young Reporter Festival in 2023, and was recognised last year for his on-screen work by winning the Future Presenter Award at Edinburgh TV Festival New Voices. Jade Barnett Youth Music Awards 2022 Backstage Presenter and 2023 Awards Host, Jade Barnett, has carved a successful career as a youth advocate and workshop facilitator. A skilled public speaker passionate about highlighting the importance of investing in young people through sustainable resources, youth opportunities and youth provisions, Jade has appeared on Lead The Way Youth Summit panel and is a Youth Ambassador for Connected Futures. Jade is a public speaker, Youth Development Lead at The Prince's Trust, a member of The Diana Award's Young Advisors and a SEEN Ambassador with Banardo's. In summer 2024, Jade launched Power2Prevail, an organisation empowering disadvantaged young people. Charlie Kelly Charlie Kelly has worked with Youth Music as a social media content creator for both the Youth Music Awards 2022 and Give a Gig Week 2023. After the Youth Music Awards 2022, Charlie met with Social Action Award winner Pembe Tokluhan and was hired as a facilitator to deliver a social media workshop titled 'An Introduction to Social Media Management' for Pembe's brands (Clod Ensemble and Petok Productions). Charlie is now working as a digital marketing specialist, and is a radio presenter and producer on Subtle Radio. Ricardo Burt Ricardo Burt is a presenter whose first role with Youth Music was as a Host at the Youth Music Awards 2021. Since then, he has completed an internship at Foundation.fm producing and curating weekend broadcasts. Ricardo has worked with BBC Introducing, interviewing artists at Boardmasters Festival, and is currently a producer at Foundation.fm.A fashion lover, Ricardo is a a menswear fashion designer for his label Marcus Burt. He won the Fred Perry Design Award in 2023.
