Andy Edwards is a music business executive, artist advisor, and author.

He advises artists at all stages in their career, from grassroots to global superstars, across all genres of music from mainstream to specialist and experimental genres, and from those signed to major or independent labels to those who self-release. Andy has a longstanding relationship with Help Musicians, which supports artists through various grant-funded schemes.

Andy’s advisory work builds on over thirty years in the music business, with over a decade spent in artist management, working for several artist management companies and a leading music law firm, Sound Advice (Legal) LLP as a non-legal consultant. He served as a board director of the Music Managers Forum (MMF) and as an advisor to the CEO and board of the Featured Artists Coalition. Andy also represented both organisations on the UK Music board. He has worked with artists as varied as Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Chase and Status, Pendulum, James Morrison, Dido, Cher Lloyd, Katherine Jenkins, Andreya Triana, Imogen Heap, Dave Rowntree, Nick Mason, and many more.

His career includes corporate and entrepreneurial environments and creative and commercial roles across the global music business; this includes spells at BMG Records and Sony Music (contributing to campaigns as varied as Leftfield, Lauryn Hill, Destiny’s Child, and Manic Street Preachers amongst many others), working in rights acquisition, touring, artist management, and several tech start-ups including one of the first artist direct-to-consumer platforms working with U2, Genesis, New Order, and Feeder.

Andy has negotiated recording, music publishing, merchandise, brand endorsement, live performance, TV production agreements. He has overseen business affairs functions, managing various litigious matters, financial reporting, and investor relations for UK and US corporate entities. He has worked with many music law firms and accountancy/ business management firms on both sides of the Altantic.

Former Warner Music Chairman Rob Dickins, Andy Edwards, R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs. 

Andy Edwards was one of the first people to write about the digital distribution of music in 1993, which was his undergraduate dissertation. His 30,000 these was one of the first of its kind. As a student, Andy helped promote gigs, including a Nirvana show the week Smells Like Teen Spirit was released, interviewed Primal Scream on the Screamadelica tour for a fanzine, and DJ’d in various alternative clubs and on student radio.

At an industry level, Andy Edwards led a transparency code of practice between 2015 and 2017, negotiating across all sectors of the industry to find a consensus on this exceptionally divisive issue. Although the transparency code did not come to fruition, the initiative was widely praised and laid the groundwork for the IPO, with government backing to pick up this work in 2020, finally reaching an outcome in 2024.

Andy Edwards conceived and founded the UK Music Futures Group in 2016, chairing the group from 2016 to 2020. The Futures Group grew out of a desire to create a forum with a forward-thinking ethos. Andy developed the idea as a means for young executives, entrepreneurs, and creatives to industry-level policymaking. The group succeeded in addressing contentious topics such as sexual harassment and encouraging broader industry support for this and other challenging issues. On joining the UK Music executive team in 2020, Andy passed the reigns to Amanda Maxwell, who he recruited and mentored and now chairs the group.

As part of its executive team, Andy Edwards writes and produces UK Music’s annual economic report, This Is Music, and advises the organisation on various industry matters. UK Music represents the collective interests of the music industry to government and the media.

Andy has a long track record in social advocacy. His involvement in this work has accelerated since 2016, and, in the process, he discovered he has two protracted characteristics – autism and ADHD. Andy encourages the music industry and the wider world to embrace those who think differently because this is at the heart of creativity and invention.

Since meeting the late Tony Wilson and Yvette Livesey at the inaugural In The City Music Convention in 1992, Andy has spoken and moderated at conferences around the world, including a long-term relationship with In The City, but also The Great Escape, Liverpool Sound City, and Midem. He has written for Music Week, Music Business Worldwide, Record Of The Day, Berklee College of Music Rethink Music, and MMF’s Dissecting The Digital Dollar.

Outside music, Andy Edwards Diversity In Cycling to encourage greater diversity and inclusion within cycling. This work is supported by governing body British Cycling and has achieved global recognition, featured by the BBC, Eurosport, and Bicycling (USA).