Youth Music Awards Judges Spotlight: Kelly Betts

The Youth Music Awards in association with Hal Leonard Europe is returning for its fourth year this October, complete with an impressive panel of judges. Prolific tastemakers, artists, and experts from across the music industries have come together to vote on which trailblazing nominees will make the final cut.

In this LinkedIn series, we are spotlighting some of this year’s #YMAs23 judges, to hear all about their inspirational careers and judging experience, as well as some words of wisdom for emerging creatives.

Whitney Wei, Chloé Abrahams-Duperry and Elliot Jaillet have so far shared the mic. Now, we hand it over to BBC Music Introducing Editor, Kelly Betts .

Leading the charge at the BBC’s unique new music discovery initiative, through BBC Introducing, Kelly plugs into the key local radio shows and music scenes around the country. The platform is responsible for feeding the best new music through to BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6Music, Asian Network and Radio 3, and BBC Introducing host stages at Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, Latitude and The Great Escape.

Kelly helped launch the local BBC Introducing show in Beds, Herts & Bucks in 2007 and has loved working for the brand ever since.

We spoke with Kelly about her career highlights, learnings, and why new music platforms are integral springboards for emerging creatives, as well as essential changemakers in the music industry.

What excites you most about being a Youth Music Awards 2023 judge? I attended Youth Music Awards in 2022, it was a brilliant event with really exciting nominees & winners performing to an engaged audience. I was honoured to be asked to judge this year, the talent is so strong, it was really tough – in the best way.?

With your background in radio and live music, what aspects were you most considering most when judging the awards? I was looking at the creativity of the artist, the vocals, the performance, the production, I nosed on social media too. There wasn’t one thing I was focused on, I wanted to see the whole picture of the artist.

As a key tastemaker within the UK music industry, how important do you think it is to platform the next generation of talent and grassroots projects through public recognition events such as the Youth Music Awards? IT IS EVERYTHING. Platforms like Youth Music and BBC Introducing discover and champion new music for radio to play, the industry to sign and for venues to book. New music platforms change the shape of the industry and are important springboards for rappers, DJs, bands, and producers to be heard.

This year, the Youth Music Awards is calling on the music industries to Take Note of a more diverse, more inclusive, and more creative future of music. From your perspective, what steps should be taken for us to achieve that goal? That is wonderful to hear.?Here are some of the steps BBC Introducing have been taking…

• All of BBC Music Introducing's headliners across the key festivals (Great Escape, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading & Leeds) are women, non-binary, Black, Asian and under represented artists.?
• Every BBC Introducing radio show across the UK plays a 50/50 gender split on air.
• Our newest shows include BBC Introducing on Asian Network and BBC Introducing on 1Xtra.?
• This year, Introducing also launched the first Asian Network showcase at The Great Escape.
• Everyone is welcome in to Introducing. We’re working hard to push underrepresented acts to the front and we are always open to hear how we can do it more.?

What have been some of the biggest highlights of your career, and what have you learned along the way? There’s been a few. Co-founding the Unsigned music radio show on BBC Three Counties Radio. That show eventually became BBC Introducing in Beds, Herts & Bucks when Introducing launched in 2007.?Massive highlight for me on a career front but also as a music fan and radio lover.

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The next big moment was becoming the Editor of BBC Introducing and getting to help run the brand that I love so much (along with an incredible team). I feel like I’ve done the journey through Introducing just like the artists have, starting at local radio to working nationally. This is my Glastonbury.

Learnings… to always keep going.? What advice would you give to young creatives looking aspiring to follow a similar career path to yours? Find something you love and don’t stop until it’s yours.? Lastly, what are you most looking forward to on the night of the awards? Watching the performances, hearing the stories and telling all the artists to upload Introducing if they haven’t already???

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Find out more about the Youth Music Awards, and stay up to date with the latest news and announcements: www.youthmusic.org.uk/awards