International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year
The International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year award is a British Council and London Calling award programme for young (aged 25 to 35) entrepreneurs in the music industry from the developing and transitional economies, launched in 2006.
The programme participants come from all sectors of the music industry - label managers, artist managers, DJs/VJs, festival directors, music retailers, and others. Chosen by an international jury and following a visit to London, Manchester and the Glastonbury festival, the winner receives a financial award of £7,500 to be spent on a collaborative project with the British Council.
IYMEY 2006
The first winner of the IYMEY award was Mohamed 'Momo' Merhari from Morocco, who co-founded the Boulevard des Jeunes Musiciens, the largest contemporary music festival in North Africa and the first event dedicated to urban, contemporary and underground music. Momo was joined by specially commended finalists from India and Indonesia as well as finalists from Argentina, Estonia, Kenya, Lebanon, Poland and Venezuela.
IYMEY 2007
Finalists for the 2007 edition of the IYMEY award came from Egypt, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland and Tanzania, and Audu Maikori who runs Chocolate City, a label, studio and event consultancy in Nigeria was chosen as the winner.