Ashley Page wins Music Manager of the Year award

Ashley Page manages top New Zealand musicians including Joel Little who he paired with Lorde. Photo / Jason Dorday

Ashley Page, the manager of Broods, Joel Little, Jarryd James and Alex Hope, has taken out the award for manager of the year, at the 2016 NZ Music Managers Awards, held last night at the Tuning Fork in Auckland.

Other key awards went to Marlon Williams' manager Alastair Burns, who received Breakthrough Manager of the Year, and the International Achievement Award, while Tami Neilson took away the award for Self-Managed Artist of the Year, Mel Parsons was awarded Best independent Tour, and Teresa Patterson was given the Industry Champion Award.

The Studio was voted Best Large Venue for the first time, while The Tuning Fork was awarded Best Small Venue.

It's the second year in a row Page has received the award, and we asked him a few quick questions about his ongoing success.

How does it feel to take the top spot for the second year running?

I'm clearly very humbled. I've been working in management for nearly a decade, and had many years watching other great managers like Campbell Smith, Paul McKessar, Teresa Patterson and Scott MacLachlan win. I'll quote Louis CK's sketch on 'being forty' when he said "You're not young enough for anyone to be proud or impressed, they just say 'Do your job asshole, nobody cares, that's what you're supposed to do"'.

What are three secrets to being a successful manager?

Learn from your mistakes, we all make plenty of them, the key is how you react for the next time. Be prepared to say no and walk away. And only run as fast as your artist is prepared to run - you're giving up your life for you're artist, so if they're not as invested as you are you'll be wasting your time.

What are your proudest achievements of the last 12 months?

On a personal level, becoming a godfather to my nephew Harvey in Ireland and raising money for the cancer society of NZ by running the London Marathon. On a work front, every artist has had success.