Brit Beat: Next Week’s BRIT Awards Aim for ‘New and Young Audiences’; New AEG Boss Steve Homer’s Hopes for Live Music’s Recovery
Mark Sutherland The Grammys may have been postponed until April, but the U.K. equivalent – the BRIT Awards – will take place next week as planned at the O2 Arena in London.However, the event will not quite be fully restored to its traditional set-up, with no industry tables on the arena floor (execs will instead be in hospitality boxes, like last year’s COVID-restricted event, while fans and artists will be seated on the floor) and no aftershow party.The event also has a new look, with a fresh host (comedian Mo Gilligan), set designer (Glastonbury favorites Block9), and several new categories (including the Artist of the Year gong, four new genre awards and the inaugural Songwriter of the Year prize), all brought in by the BRITs committee’s new chair, Polydor Records co-president Tom March.