On 21st February 2018, the BPI’s annual music awards, known as the ‘Brit’s’, took place in London’s O2 arena. The 38th edition of the awards was hosted by British comedian Jack Whitehall, and had British sculptor Anish Kapoor design the statuette.
Over the last 40 years, the Brit awards has seen many unforgettable moments, such as in 2012 when host James Corden cut short Adele’s speech, or in 2015 when Madonna took an epic fall. This year’s Brit awards will be remembered for not only allowing politics to take centre stage, but also for redefining the musical landscape as we once knew it.
Here are three things we learned from the 2018 Brit awards…
1. The Time’s Up movement is still just as prevalent, even across the pond.
The Time’s Up movement began at the start of 2018, after allegations were made against film producer Harvey Weinstein, which also promoted the #metoo movement. At the 2018 Grammy awards, stars wore white roses to demonstrate their support for the movement, which stands against sexual harassment. At the 2018 Brit awards, stars also donned white roses to show their support.
2. The musical landscape is expanding and becoming more accepting.
In recent years, the emergence of grime as a genre in UK music has developed, and this is being recognised through the Brit awards. For example, self-made grime artist Stormzy won both “best British male” and “best British album” this year.
3. Statistics are not everything at the Brit awards
The voting panel is made up of “over 1000 music enthusiasts”, allowing a diverse range of opinions when making decisions. It is not as simple as the best-selling nominee winning that award. This year’s awards provided an example, as Ed Sheeran’s album ‘Divide’ was the top-selling album, although Stormzy took the title, demonstrating a progression in musical opinions.
Ruby Rowland - Coopers School
