Get to know the trailblazing winners across the 12 categories at the Youth Music Awards 2023 in association with Hal Leonard Europe.
Owain Elidir Willaims
NextGen Fund, Wales
Owain Elidir Willaims won the Rising Star Award (Industry) sponsored by Songkick.
Owain Elidir Williams is the founder of independent music website Klust, a project supported by the Youth Music NextGen Fund. Owain says, “Music has always been a great passion of mine - especially new, emerging music - and coming from a Welsh language background, fusing both fields together in creating Klust - a bilingual music website that gives a platform to Welsh artists - was something that I'd always wanted to do.
Through Youth Music's NextGen Fund, I was able to produce Klust's first print edition - standing alone as the only bilingual music publication in Wales. Released in December 2022, the zine was an authentic, bilingual collection of reviews, interviews, and short essays championing Welsh artists, put together by an eclectic mix of Welsh writers. Featuring stunning photography and independent journalism, Klust's first magazine shed light on ten different artists from Wales and came with a unique physical print by photographer Rhys Grail. I was therefore delighted to learn that the first edition had sold out - inspiring me to continue to grow and develop Klust in an inclusive, sustainable way".
What does this award mean to you?
It’s come as such a surprise and any recognition of what I do, what I represent, what Klust is doing, it’s massive, so it’s a big big honour receiving this award.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your journey with Youth Music?
I put an application in over a year ago now for the [Youth Music] NextGen Fund. Thankfully for me, it was accepted and I was a part of the NextGen Fund last year. It’s been such a big big help in giving Klust the platform to do what I initially set out to do - which is print, live events, as well as keeping the features up on the website as well, so it’s been massive.
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Youth Music Awards 2023: Highlights
Held at London’s Troxy on Wednesday 18 October, the Youth Music Awards in association with Hal Leonard Europe celebrated the most forward-thinking projects and people making, learning and earning in music.
Nominees and Sponsors
Discover the 45 nominees across the 12 Youth Music Awards categories, and the award sponsors.
Judges
Meet the judges for the Youth Music Awards 2023 music categories.