Jamal Edwards to be honoured with Music Industry Trusts Award

The late music mogul will be the first posthumous recipient of the award.

Jamal Edwards, the founder of SB.TV, died on 20 February aged 31. He was a pioneering entrepeneur and helped launch the careers of artists such as Dave, Stormzy and Skepta. Edwards was also an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and was awarded an MBE in 2014.

Edwards is to be honoured with the Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS) this year, recognising his contribution to the music industry. The award will be presented to his family at a gala ceremony at Grosvenor House Hotel on 7 November. The event is to be held in aid of the BRIT Trust, Nordoff Robins and The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust which his family founded in 2022 to honour Edwards’ memory and continue his legacy.

Speaking on the award, Edwards’ mother Brenda Edwards said, “It is very humbling for the family to be accepting this award on behalf of our beloved Jamal and we are delighted to have the MITS highlight the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust alongside The Brit Trust and Nordoff Robbins. We know that Jamal will be looking down on us on 7th November – busting with pride that his absolute love of the music industry and giving back to the less fortunate in society has been recognised in this way. Thank you MITS!”

On Edwards’ contribution to music, co-chair of the MITS Award committee Toby Leighton-Pope said, “Jamal Edwards changed the face of the music industry in his 31 years, his achievements could be on par with someone 60 years into the business. His influence on the music scene as it is today should never be underestimated, just look at some of the UK’s biggest artists, tours and hits today, and Jamal will have played a part in some way. That’s why he is so deserving of this year’s MITS Award.”

Fellow co-chair Dan Chalmers added, “Jamal Edwards was a visionary. He saw a brilliantly creative way to promote new music on a platform and he went for it. When he founded SB.TV over 15 years ago, he was ahead of his time and he forced open the doors into the industry for the talented artists that deserved to be seen. Jamal helped to launch the careers of some of the UK’s best artists and it’s a testament to him that SB.TV’s YouTube channel now has 1.23 million subscribers and still continues to grow.”

Read: Jamal Edwards: 6 Artists on their SB.TV video shoots