Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Nettwerk Co-Founders Terry McBride and Mark Jowett to Accept Lifetime Honor at 2026 Libera Awards
Nettwerk co-founders Terry McBride and Mark Jowett will be honored at the 2026 Libera Awards on June 8 in New York City.
Terry McBride and Mark Jowett, the co-founders who helped build Nettwerk Music Group into one of independent music’s most durable companies, will be saluted with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Libera Awards on Monday, June 8, at Gotham Hall in New York City.
It is a fitting kind of nod for a company that has spent four decades shaping the independent sector from multiple angles at once. Nettwerk is now in its 40th year, and the award is meant to recognize the label’s long arc of artist development, innovation and leadership across the global indie landscape.
“Terry and Mark have been true mavericks and innovators in the independent music sector the past 40 years,” Ian Harrison, CEO of A2IM, said in a statement. “Their tireless work supporting a diverse array of artists through their label, management, publishing and various non-profits has been an inspiration to generations of independent musicians and industry members. We are honored to recognize their extraordinary work with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.”
For Nettwerk, the honor arrives with the company still very much part of the conversation. McBride, as CEO, has long pushed artist empowerment and digital innovation, while also extending his profile beyond the label through co-founding Lilith Fair, the groundbreaking festival that raised more than $10 million for women’s charities, and through later work in wellness and industry advocacy.
Jowett, a founding partner, has been just as central to the company’s evolution into a global operation spanning recorded music, artist management and publishing. His track record includes support for Sarah McLachlan, Coldplay, Avril Lavigne, Dido and Sum 41, alongside leadership roles at FACTOR, SOCAN and the Canadian Music Publishers Association.
The 15th annual Libera Awards, officially The Libera Awards Presented By Merlin, are put on by the Foundation for Independent Music with support from the American Association of Independent Music. This year’s ceremony will include 38 categories, and for the first time, a prize for independent record store of the year. The top artist nominees are Oklou, Geese, Clipse, Hayley Williams and Wednesday.
Four performers have also been announced for the night, three of them 2026 Libera nominees: Nigerian Tuareg guitar innovator Mdou Moctax, up for best global record for Tears of Injustice; Valerie June, nominated for best American roots record for Owls, Omens, and Oracles; Dawn Richard, a previous Libera winner, nominated for best R&B record for “A Flex”; and synth-pop artist PORCHES.
Delisa Shannon, Billboard’s short form content director, will host again. Tickets start at $369.70 and are available at the A2IM site.
The Libera Awards will once again open Indie Week, which begins the next morning, Tuesday, June 9, and runs through Thursday, June 11, at the InterContinental New York Times Square.
