There was a five-headed elephant in the room at what was otherwise a strangely flat affair at the Brit Awards. As is tradition with music ceremonies, a row flared up over representation (or rather, a lack of) after the nominations were announced. The gender-neutral Artist of the Year category was entirely made up of male artists: Central Cee, Fred Again, George Ezra, Harry Styles and Stormzy.
The switch from gendered categories was implemented in 2021 after Sam Smith – who came out as non-binary two years earlier – urged awards shows to be “reflective of the society we live in”. At the first non-gendered awards show in 2022, Adele walked away with the Artist of the Year prize, for which Little Simz, Sam Fender, Dave and Ed Sheeran had also been nominated.
Women fared well across the board, with Olivia Rodrigo winning Best International Song, Wolf Alice taking home the British Group prize, Becky Hill for British Dance Act, Dua Lipa for Pop/R&B, and Little Simz scooping a belated but long-deserved Breakthrough Artist trophy.
A year later, though, the picture is very different. Beyoncé fans were still furious with Harry Styles, fresh from beating her to the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The “As It Was” musician went on to scoop top prizes at the Brits, too, including another Album of the Year trophy. Seemingly conscious of the minor backlash over his Grammys speech, in which he claimed a rare win for “people like him” (rich? white? famous?), he acknowledged his privilege before scooting away in time for Wet Leg to take home Best New Artist.
Accepting the award, the indie duo observed the gatekeeping that takes place in rock music, ironically quoting Alex Turner’s notorious 2014 speech. The 1975’s Matty Healy, meanwhile, seemed under instructions to be on his best behaviour while accepting the fan-voted Best Rock/Alternative Act, a day after a US podcast aired an interview in which he and the hosts made a number of derogatory remarks about women, Chinese people, Hawaiians and Japanese prisoners of war.
Smith, themself, made an appearance with Kim Petras for a rendition of “Unholy”, following a hilarious uproar from right-wing pundits in the US over their Grammys performance. It says a lot about this year’s ceremony that a relatively innocuous pop song was among the biggest controversies of the night. That and Wet Leg shouting “f*** the Tories” during their Best Group acceptance speech, but even that felt contrived.
We should know by now not to look to awards ceremonies to assess the wellbeing of the industry, just as Ed Sheeran or Adele dominating the Top 10 singles chart at any one time is not indicative of the sheer diversity of the UK’s thriving music scene. You can’t blame the artists who scarpered off partway through Styles’s final acceptance speech. These days, the Brits are just an excuse for a party.
