Dear SMIA Members,
As 2025 draws to a close, on behalf of the SMIA team and Company Board, I’d like to wish you all a restful festive break and all the best for the year ahead.
We recognise that this can be a challenging time for many across our community. If you’re struggling, overwhelmed or simply need someone to talk to, Music Minds Matter is available 24/7 to anyone working in music. Please reach out if you need support.
This December marks two years since my permanent appointment as CEO and Creative Director, following my interim role beginning in August 2023. It’s been a privilege to lead the organisation during one of the most significant periods of change our sector has seen in over a decade. As someone who walked into the SMIA office as an intern 11 years ago – into a single room with one desk – I’ve seen first-hand how much Scotland’s music industry has achieved with limited resources. We often say Scottish music “punches above its weight”; the truth is that this has come at a cost. For too long, too many of us have had to focus on survival rather than development. A sustainable future requires structural change, long-term investment and a shared national strategy. That work is now underway.
In January, following a £34m uplift in culture funding for 2025–26 from the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland’s Multi-Year Funding (MYF) decisions brought long-awaited clarity and optimism to Scotland’s music sector after a prolonged period of uncertainty. For the SMIA, securing this support has allowed us to enhance our ability to deliver sector development work that strengthens, empowers and unites Scotland’s music industry while increasing its economic, social and cultural value. More broadly, 46 music-specialist organisations were supported (up from 19 in the previous RFO network), with over 60% receiving multi-year funding for the first time. It’s been a major step forward for Scotland’s cultural infrastructure, but the bruises of recent years remain felt. It’s become increasingly clear that we need to shift how we work, and that both ambition and resilience can’t be lost to exhaustion. Recent years have taught us that we need better ways of supporting each other; aligning our efforts to maximise the impact of increased investment and building the sustainability our sector so desperately needs.
That experience shaped our work across the year: from launching our MYF Impact Survey to supporting responses to the Scottish Government’s Culture Sector Support Needs Survey, strengthening our evidence base for targeted reform and advocacy.
Throughout 2025, we scaled our development services, deepened our partnerships and put new infrastructure in place to meet the evolving needs of Scotland’s music ecosystem. We introduced SMIA 1:1 sessions for members, expanded our opportunities and resources provision and embedded equitable pathways across our programmes. Our role in strengthening Scotland’s talent pipeline also grew. We established a three-year academic partnership with the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), continued work with University of the Highlands and Islands (Perth) and delivered teaching, workshops and industry insight sessions across the HE/FE sector. We supported the continued professional development of music managers through our long-term partnership on the MMF Accelerator Programme, and we championed youth-facing opportunities through the Sound of Young Scotland Award and by formalising links with key sector stakeholders.
This summer, we launched the Music Organisation Development Network, establishing a new national forum for music organisations to share learning, align advocacy and shape policy collectively. We also established the National Music Prize Network with Wales and Northern Ireland, bringing together The SAY Award, the Welsh Music Prize and the NI Music Prize, and creating a collaborative platform for cross-nation cultural exchange and joint initiatives.
A highlight of the year was hosting our first in-person SMIA Summit at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket. Over two days, 200+ artists, industry practitioners and policymakers gathered to address Scotland’s most pressing strategic challenges – from EDIA and fair work to skills development, sustainability and export. The Summit, alongside our digital edition, forms the foundation of the Scottish Music Industry Roadmap (2026–30), which we will publish next spring. This will be a shared strategic plan for the years ahead, rooted in evidence, collaboration and a unified sector vision. It will be published ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May, and we look forward to hearing how each party will commit to supporting the development of Scotland’s music industry in the years to come.
2025 also marked a new chapter for the Scottish Album of the Year Award, with Dundee’s Caird Hall becoming its home for the next three years. Dundee is a city we’d long aspired to bring SAY to, and we couldn’t have been more delighted to see it make its debut there in November. We celebrated an outstanding Shortlist, and we were thrilled to see Kai Reesu win the 2025 Scottish Album of the Year with ‘KOMPROMAT vol. i’. We recognised KT Tunstall’s ‘Eye to the Telescope’ as our Modern Scottish Classic and announced Alice Faye as 2025’s Sound of Young Scotland Award winner; set to make her debut album with the support provided via the prize. Since its establishment in 2012, The SAY Award has now distributed over £425,000 in prize money to Scottish artists and recognised 280 Longlisted albums. I’m incredibly proud of the continued commitment that we as a nation place on the value of music, and on the value of the album as an artform. Thanks to our partners, and to everyone who makes it possible.
Our advocacy work remained a core focus throughout the year. From the UK Government’s AI and copyright consultation to the proposed planning reforms threatening Scotland’s grassroots music venues, we worked to mobilise responses and ensure the views of our sector were represented. Last month, we issued an open letter to BBC Radio Scotland calling for the protection of culturally significant late-night music programming. And earlier this month, I was pleased to see the publication of the Scottish Government’s Culture Fair Work Taskforce report (of which I’m a member), which sets out 16 recommendations for improving working conditions across Scotland’s creative and cultural industries.
Underpinning all of this work is a shared understanding that Scotland’s music industry is one of our nation’s most powerful cultural and economic assets – but its full potential can only be realised through meaningful investment, structural reform and long-term strategic coordination. This is the work we will continue to prioritise.
As we look ahead to 2026, we will strengthen strategic partnerships, deepen member engagement and focus on macro-level interventions that deliver economic, cultural and social impact. We will soon be publishing a Scottish Music EDIA Manifesto and Action Framework – developed with our EDIA Advisory Group – which sets out a shared vision for a fairer and more inclusive sector, along with practical approaches that the sector can use to develop or deepen EDIA practice. We will also launch the Scottish Music Industry Roadmap (2026–30), expand our support services and continue to champion Scottish music at every level – locally, nationally and internationally.
Finally, I want to personally thank the SMIA staff team: Aja (General Manager), Vahishtai (Equalities and Industry Development Officer) and Daria (Marketing and Communications Executive). Your talent, dedication and values-driven approach are at the heart of everything we’ve achieved this year. I feel really lucky to work with you, and I’m proud of what we’re building together.
Thanks to everyone who has engaged with our work throughout 2025 – by participating in the SMIA Summit, attending The SAY Award, using our resources, joining our networks, contributing to surveys, supporting our advocacy or simply by being part of our community. Your insight, ambition and creativity continue to drive both the SMIA and Scotland’s music industry forward.
For now, once again, have a great festive break, and wishing you all the best for 2026. If you’re looking for some music to soundtrack the final weeks of the year, you can revisit the 20 outstanding Scottish albums that made up 2025’s SAY Award Longlist via sayaward.com
All the best,
Robert
Robert Kilpatrick
CEO and Creative Director
Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA)