Nominations open for The Richard Toeman Scholarship and The Tony Pool Inspiration Award

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Today, 29 September, the MPA are proud to launch the nomination period for The Richard Toeman Scholarship and The Tony Pool Inspiration Award 2025.
The Richard Toeman Scholarship
Daniel Bleckley, 2024 Winner Sean Deacon, 2024 Winner
Since 2006, the Richard Toeman Scholarship (RTS) has been a vital part of the MPA’s educational and outreach initiatives. It complements a current roster of training and professional development events, including the MPA’s ‘The Publishing Effect: A 101 of Music Publishing’ course, Specialist Seminars, Masterclass Series, the MPA Futures Group, and the NXT-Gen Scholarship Programme.
The Scholarship is awarded to two outstanding candidates a year. One scholarship is awarded to a candidate who has been working in music publishing for five years or less, and the other scholarship is presented to a final year student or recent graduate interested in working in music publishing.
The 2025 Scholarship winners will receive:
- Free places on MPA training and professional development courses
- Invitations to MPA socials and quizzes with great networking opportunities
- £500 towards further training and professional development
Plus many more career boosting benefits
The final year student or recent graduate scholarship winner will also receive support from the MPA in securing a relevant work placement during the scholarship, where possible.
Full details are available on the application form, including the nomination and selection process, with entries closing on Monday, 3 November 2025, 17:00
Winners will be formally announced at the MPA Christmas Lunch on Thursday 11 December 2025, at the InterContinental at the O2 North Greenwich, where the successful scholars will be invited to receive their awards amongst industry colleagues.
Please download and complete the nomination form, returning to [email protected]
The Tony Pool Inspiration Award – sponsored by Vistex
Atay Dervish, 2024 Winner
The MPA is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the Tony Pool Inspiration Award 2025, sponsored by Vistex. The Award recognises and celebrates the achievements of those who have shown an outstanding contribution to the administrative areas (including royalties, copyright, business affairs, finance, HR and IT) of the music publishing industry.
The award is in memory of the late Tony Pool, who sadly passed away in 2016. Tony spent most of his working life with Boosey & Hawkes, ultimately becoming Head of Business Affairs. He was a firm advocate of copyright reform and made a significant contribution to political discussions in the UK and Europe. He also paved the way for the creation of British Music Rights.
As Tony was a fierce supporter of the “engine room” teams that keep publishers going, the MPA feels that this award is a fitting way to honour his legacy.
Nominees should display an outstanding work ethic and dedication to the music publishing industry either through their achievements, a particular project or overall business impact. Nominees should be actively working in administration for a music publisher.
MPA Publisher Members are invited to nominate friends or colleagues who they feel have made an outstanding contribution to the music publishing industry.
Previous winners include Atay Dervish (2024), Ross Greening (2023), Barry McKee (posthumously – 2022), Maria Forte (April 2022), Steve Clark (2019) and Andy Godfrey (2018).
The deadline for all nominations is Monday, 3 November 2025, 17:00
Please share with anyone you think might be interested. The winner will be announced and presented with the personalised award at the MPA Christmas Lunch on Thursday 11 December 2025 at the InterContinental O2 North Greenwich.
Please download and complete the nomination form, returning to [email protected]
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