Liverpool’s Jade Burns has been appointed as a judge at this year’s Youth Music Awards

Burns, who has previously worked at BBC Radio Merseyside, will join a committee of over 50 other judges, including BRIT award winner Myles Smith and singer/songwriter Michael Aldag.

With the award ceremony taking place on 28th October, the venue is still yet to be revealed.

Speaking to The Guide, Jade said:

“They dropped me an email and said we’d love you to be a part of this and we think you’re a key member of the music scene. It was an easy yes.”

Jade’s journey began on community radio when she was just 16, and became part of BBC Introducing as a producer for the next eight years.

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“I think I championed so many local artists (at BBC Introducing), getting to know what it’s like for everyone who is involved, the bars, the promoters, all the event companies, and really getting that hands-on experience with how it actually is for a grassroots artist an da grassroots venue to keep going.”

After leaving BBC, Jade became part of the Liverpool City Region Music Board.

She added:

“It’s to kind of lobby for change to make it better for everybody who’s involved in the music industry, in whatever capacity that may be, whether you’re a DJ, a lighting technician, stagehand, whatever it is.

“Our job at the music boards is just to try and make it better for everyone and to try and get the people above us to take it a bit more seriously because it’s such an important industry, not just to Liverpool, but to the whole of the UK.”

Jade told The Guide which category she is most looking forward to at the awards:

“The songwriter award is one I really enjoyed. That was really lovely to go through, because everyone comes at it with such a difference. Everyone comes at it with an experience.

Everyone has their own unique take on everything. It was lovely to hear so many people, so many different stories. That was probably my favourite one to judge.”

Judges are invited to vote through an online system, in which each judge is sent videos, songs and bios from each candidate and given the choice of an order in which to rank them.

Youth Music Awards is now in its seventh year, with every instalment being held in London in the past; this is the first time the award ceremony will be held outside the capital.

She commented further:

“Where else would it be! If you’re in London and you’re wanting to take this London-centric event outside the capital, it’s kind of a no-brainer. You want to go somewhere else that has got a big musical heartbeat and you want to take it up north, somewhere that’s hip and happening and is just making waves in so many different ways.

You’ve got the rave scene, the rap scene, the jazz scene. There’s loads of different people doing their thing and it’s brimming with talent and it’s a very exciting place to be right now.”