Hosted by Edith Bowman, the awards ceremony included incendiary live performances from Maverick Sabre’s YOURS collective, JNR Williams and Aziya, while recognising the winners and finalists from this year’s MPAs.

The energy in the room was electrifying, from artists, nominees, soon to be winners and the creative community. There was one thread that bound the evening together: the creative community coming together to celebrate each other.

Seeing ICON winner Jill Furmanovsky’s lifetime of work alongside nominees and winners told the story of what the MPAs is about: emerging, established and undiscovered photographers all coming together to celebrate the art of music photography.

To have been selected from 22,000 photographs to the final 30, they are all winners in our eyes.

. the launch of the MPA photographer’s directory, acting as an essential resource and aim to build the community, showcase talent and boost exposure, as well as to create a space to generate opportunities for paid work. This year's winners and nominees have been added, which will soon include alumni from the past two years.

. a month-long exhibition (8 October - 12 November) at the Royal Albert Hall showcasing this year’s open category nominees, as part of a new partnership between Abbey Road and the iconic concert hall.

. an MPA showcase at The Other Art Fair’s milestone 100th edition. This year’s ICON recipient Jill Furmanovsky presented some of her most iconic imagery alongside a hand-picked selection of photos from this year’s open category finalists, spotlighting the images that resonate most with her.

. trophies designed by Scottish designer and Creative Director of international fashion powerhouse LOVERBOY, Charles Jeffrey.

• our second year at Outernet, London, to showcase the open category nominees across a 7-day exhibition. To see the beauty of each image in this wonderful space invited visitors to view the photographs like art.

• a month-long activation with Birmingham’s B:Music (13 May - 14 June) centred around an exhibition from the winning and shortlisted images from 2023’s awards, alongside a series of masterclasses, live music, panel discussions and more.

. our new, quarterly networking nights, MPA Lates, where we offer undiscovered and emerging music photographers free portfolio reviews and panel talks with established photographers.

At the heart of the MPAs lies our desire to create new opportunities for photographers to be seen and heard. This is at the front and centre of what we do.

“I would just like to say how privileged I am to have my photo on the wall of one of the most iconic music venues in the world. To amongst this talent is amazing for me, not to mention being in the same hallway as The Beatles, Adele, James Bond, etc. I can't thank you all your what you've done for me. This is one of my biggest achievements.” - Francis Mancini, Live Music Winner

"We really needed such an event for music photographers. This is such an important event. I support it 200%." - Adrien H. Tillmann, Jazz The Rebirth of Cool winner

"It’s not even about who takes an award home, it’s being able to inspire people and be inspired by others." - Tom Pallant, Music Moment of the Year winner

Representing the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards at the Love Supreme Festival will forever be one of my favourite memories in years to come. On this long journey of photography, it can sometimes have its struggles, but it’s moments like this that give you the motivation to keep going and know that your work isn’t going unnoticed. Love Supreme was such an uplifting moment at a time when it was needed.

"I met so many great people and learnt some valuable things about photography just by observing them. I learnt what it is to work as part of the media at a festival and the different valuable roles everyone has to play in capturing such amazing artists. After each day had finished, I was up till 1 am editing pictures because I knew I had taken some great shots. It helped being around such wonderful people; the vibe of the attendees was so wholesome I felt right at home. So, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone at the MPAs for such an amazing opportunity and for being a part of my photography journey." - Paul Bogle, 2023 alumni

And finally, Abbey Road’s MD Sally Davies adds: "I’m continually amazed by the incredible standard of photography that we see, and this year’s selection truly stands out as our best yet! The remarkable growth of the MPAs in just three short years highlights the awards' prestige, and the heartfelt enthusiasm from the artistic community reflects the richness of music photography as an art form. At Abbey Road, we are passionate about recognising, nurturing, and celebrating talent in this vital area, and we can’t wait to see what next year will bring!”