New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Jaybird Communications) Music business association NARM will present soul-pop up-and-comer Emeli Sandé with the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at
Music Biz 2013's Awards Dinner Party on Thursday, May 9, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Already a Platinum-selling superstar in her native U.K. with the biggest debut album of 2012, Sandé has sold more than 320,000 copies of her new single "Next to Me" in the U.S., and with a new version featuring rapper
Kendrick Lamar recently released, the track is set to launch Sandé to new heights on this side of the pond.
"Emeli is certainly one of the industry's brightest new lights, and we're excited to shine a light on her and her accomplishments at
Music Biz 2013," said Jim Donio, President of NARM/digitalmusic.org. "Her debut album, Our Version of Events, was the best-selling album of the U.K. in 2012, and with her new single causing a serious stir here in the U.S., we expect her to reach new levels of fame on our shores. We hope this award will serve as a launching pad for her, just as we have showcased the now-superstars such as
Taylor Swift and
Mariah Carey in the past."
Sandé rocketed into the public eye in 2009, writing and appearing on Chipmunk's debut single "Diamond Rings," which reached No. 6 on the U.K. singles chart. After scoring a second Top 10 hit providing guest vocals for Wiley's "Never Be Your Woman," Sandé signed with Virgin Records in 2010 and released her first solo U.K. No. 1 single, "Read All About It," in October 2011. Her debut album, Our Version of Events, was released in the U.K. in February 2012, debuting at No. 1 and going on to become the country's best-selling album of the year with more than 1 million copies sold. The record hit U.S. shores in June 2012 and quickly made noise thanks to the single "Next to Me," which cracked the Billboard Top 100. Sandé went on to reach a global audience when she performed during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics and won two BRIT Awards in 2013 for Best British Female and Best British Album.
Music business association NARM and digitalmusic.org, the home of NARM's digital initiatives will host
Music Biz 2013 on May 6-7 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Others to be honored at the Awards Dinner include
Buddy Guy, who will receive the Chairman's Award for Sustained Creative Achievement, and Ted Cohen, Founder and Managing Partner at TAG Strategic, receiving the NARM's Presidential Award for Sustained
Industry Achievement, with more to be announced. The Awards dinner closes this annual music industry must-attend event, which begins Monday, May 6 and includes panels, keynotes, and townhalls such as the
Music Business Academy for those just starting out to the first Metadata Summit for those already immersed in the business. For more information or to register for
Music Biz 2013, visit www.narm.com/events/musicbiz2013.
