Fresh off the back of a 6^th successful – and largest ever – Scottish Alternative Music Awards, we managed to catch-up with the founder, Richy Muirhead to ask him about brand building, overcoming challenges and his inspirations.

Why did you start the Awards? What were you hoping to achieve?

Well, the SAMAs actually began after being inspired during a trip to the MTV European Music Awards in 2009.

At the time I was nineteen and just blown away by the scale of a live music award production, the live broadcast to millions of people around the globe, a star-studded bill, and the buzz of the host city from the airport to all tourist hot spots!

At the time I was used to visiting venues in Glasgow like Nice N Sleazys, and The Arches, so stepping into The 02 World in Berlin was definitely an eye opener.

Once I arrived home, part of my module for University was to create a unique music project, and so this led to the start of Scottish Alternative Music Awards. The basic idea was to form a music awards for drawing attention to the underground scene in Scotland, bringing people together to discover new music.

Have they met your initial expectations?

Yeah, absolutely – the first few years of the awards were mega DIY, but you have to start somewhere and give yourself a chance.

Some of the artists who played and won awards in the early years have gone on to sign record deals, tour the UK and Europe extensively, and release a heap of material.

I like to think being part of the SAMAs can help an artist by giving them that extra momentum, and the push to break into UK festivals, national press, and touring opportunities.

How different are they today compared to your first Awards in 2010 years ago? 

In 2010, the awards were in a 150 capacity venue, we had 4 awards, and 4 performances.

Last week’s ceremony was 700 attendees, 4 live performances, 1 host, 7 guest presenters/awards, live streamed on BBC The Social, and we had a decked-out VIP balcony.

I feel the growth is very natural given the seven years of work put into it.

The SAMAs have also grown as a brand (if you can call it that), and we now host stages at Scottish music conferences such as XPO North, and festivals such as Paisley 2021’s Paisley Music Week.

How important have sponsors and other supporters / partners been in their success?

The sponsors play a key role in a number of ways.

First of all the sponsors give me the confidence to carry out our objectives, they believe and trust in me as a project manager.

Sponsorship also allows the project to have a budget, a small investment of money can go long way on our side. Sometimes the sponsorship deals involve in-kind support – this can be in the form of an office space, printing costs, support with lanyards.

A great example of in-kind sponsorship this year was from 1000fans – they gave us private office space which allowed me to bring in my team for an entire day once a week in the 10 week lead up to the awards.

Having that space allowed us to conduct research as a team, share ideas, and work as a unit – the office made a huge difference. I’m very fortunate to have such caring partners involved in the awards.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?

I think the biggest challenge was the transition from ‘university project’ to this becoming a full time job for half of the year.

One of the challenges I face is people’s expectations, where they maybe expect a much larger event, with champagne, suits and ties – it’s not about that, its actually a bit of a gig night, and shining a light on the talent within Scotland.

What other lessons have you learned along the way?

I think taking qualitative feedback from your audience is really important.

This year we changed our judging and nominations process after some suggestions and questions from event attendees. We invited some previous attendees (Bands, Industry, Fans) along, provided some food and drinks; the event provided a much clearer understanding of people’s perception of the awards, and tackled a few issues on things we could test, or improve.

How do you promote ticket sales? Have your tactics changed much over the years?

To promote ticket sales I’m actually a big fan boy for Eventbrite’s digital tools such as embedding ticket buy buttons onto our webpage, and inviting existing attendees via Mailchimp!

With these tools it is possible to monitor the direct sales, so you can see it working it motion.

I’d say ticket sales for our main event are always boosted by having a balance of strong national press, traditional marketing, social media presence, alongside a really unique event with some the best live acts Scotland has to offer.

We also decided to introduce student tickets from understanding 35% of our audience at the time were students, and that figure is now slightly higher at just under 50%.

After visiting large scale events such as MOBO, BAFTA – I also decided we should up our VIP experience a little more, by introducing balcony booths for groups of 6 including drinks, lanyards, speedy bar service, queue skip etc. – all little touches on their own, but taken together they can really enhance the awards experience.

The Garage Glasgow, load in – Photography by Neelam Khan Vela

Has being the founder of the Awards had a positive impact on your career and professional profile? How?

Yes, it has been very positive around my career.

I think the awards have matured over the last few years, from gaining a much greater understanding of how they operate, the value of them to artists in Scotland, and my personal development within Events and Marketing.

Currently I’m freelance for a few clients including BBC Scotland, and within the education sector – I’d imagine this comes as a direct result from running SAMAs.

Perhaps in the future I will give myself a new test…I’ve always fancied artist management.

Any other advice you’d share with those putting on an Awards show?

I think you need to have a clear idea in your head, and on paper about what it is you want to achieve with your event, and how you intend to do that.

The last few years I’ve asked a few people for help in terms of ‘how’ to do certain things, I’d suggest to other event managers not to be scared to ask friends or people in a similar role/industry for a bit of feedback or advice if you are ever feeling a bit lost.

The most important part of putting on an Awards show, or any type of event, is to enjoy it, for too long I sat on my iPhone at my own events updating our social media channels and panicking about minor details – make sure you delegate those tasks, and enjoy what you’re doing.