The directors of the board include Billy Bragg, Dave Rowntree of Blur, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead, Kate Nash, Hal Ritson of The Young Punx, Howard Jones, Mark Kelly of Marillion, Sandie Shaw, Master Shortie, Lucy Pullin of The Fire Escapes, Ross Millard of The Futureheads, Fran Healy of Travis, Crispin Hunt of Longpigs, Rumer, Paul Pacifico, Roxanne de Bastion and Annie Lennox.
Membership of the FAC is broad and includes featured artists such as Tom Jones, Robbie Williams, Little Boots, Badly Drawn Boy, Sia, Amy Studt, The Boxer Rebellion, Kevin Hewick and many others.
In 1999, Marillion decided to turn down offers of a recording contract with an independent label and contacted their fans by email to ask them if they would be prepared to pay for the band's next album in advance.
Against the backdrop of dramatic falls in record sales in recent years[citation needed] this is seen as a crucial means by which artists can potentially make a living off their own work and create viable policies for the future of the industry.
Equally, FAC has stressed the importance of not criminalising the ordinary fan for digital downloads and instead would rather focus developing alternative forms of revenue.
The inaugural Artist and Manager Awards was held in conjunction with the MMF at the Roundhouse in London's Chalk Farm on 13 September 2011, at which Ed Sheeran and Mumford & Sons performed.