Founder and Chairman of the Beggars Group, Martin Mills, will be honoured with the inaugural CMW Global Impact Award at Canadian Music Week, Thursday May 8, 2014, in Toronto. The award, created to celebrate top business individuals within the International Music Scene who have had a major impact in Canada, will be presented to Mills during an exclusive keynote interview with Damian Abraham – lead singer of Fucked Up and host of MuchMusic’s “The Wedge”.
Martin Mills has stood at the forefront of the global independent music scene for nearly four decades, serving as a source of inspiration for many who have followed. As Founder and Chairman of the Beggars Group, he has introduced the world to some of the greatest artists of modern times, from electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, Bauhaus, The Cult and the Pixies, to the White Stripes, M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, and several more. His greatest accolade, Adele, earned the company the biggest selling album worldwide in 2011 with 21 and marked one of the ten most successful albums ever released. 2013 continues to find the company at its prime, achieving two Number One albums in the US with Vampire Weekend topping the charts and Queens of the Stone Age making a triumphant return after a seven-year hiatus.
Originating as Beggars Banquet – once a mobile disco turned chain of record stores – the company has since grown into one of the biggest independent music groups in the UK, and worldwide the largest owner-run group of labels in the alternative sphere. Today, the group comprises four primary active labels, XL Recordings (in partnership with Richard Russell), 4AD, Rough Trade and Matador with headquarters in the USA, offices in nine countries, and joint venture companies in Spain and Australia.
Credited for refining the formula of what an indie label is today, Mills is committed to promoting the collective interests of the independent music sector. He has been instrumental in establishing such organizations as the Association of Independent Music, IMPALA, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the Worldwide Independent Network, and Merlin – each charged with protecting and advancing the rights of indie companies. Through his participation in the government’s Music Industry Forum, the Music Business Forum, at the board of UK Music, and as a director of PPL and VPL – the industry’s rights licensing bodies – he plays an active role in music industry issues and voicing the concerns of the independent sector.