New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) A2IM today announces the nominees for the inaugural Libera Awards (The "Libbies"), taking place June 21 at NYC's Le Poisson
Rouge and capping off A2IM's annual Indie Week. The Libera Awards recognize the growing support and market share for independent artists by celebrating the accomplishments of independent musicians and the independent labels and services that support them.
Eligible releases (January 1, 2011 - February 29, 2012) were narrowed down to six nominees per category (or seven in the case of a tie) by expert panels, including the most knowledgeable tastemakers, programmers, and professional supporters of independent music. The inaugural nominees indicate the diversity of the independent label community in terms of label sizes, geographic locations, and genres of music they release, as well as the critical and commercial success of independent labels investing in the creation of music by the artists they love.
2012 Libera Award Nominees:
21st Century Award - celebrating the service or platform most beneficial to independent labels & artists
• eMusic
• Next Big Sound
• Pandora
• Rdio
• Spotify
• SynchTank
Best Independent Sync Placement - the most creative or most impactful use of independent music in a film/tv/ad campaign
•
Ana Tijoux for Breaking Bad (AMC) - Nacional Records
• Dave Alvin for "Harlan County Line" in Justified (FX) - Yep Roc
• GIVERS for Kindle Fire product launch - Glassnote Records
• Mohammed Rafi for Heineken, "The Date" - Saregama
•
Motley Crue for Kia Commercial - Motley Records/Eleven
Seven Music
• The Real Tuesday Weld for
National Chevrolet Traverse Advertisement - Six Degrees Records
Creative Packaging Award - celebrating the best or most creative packaging - including bundled packages, premium offerings or artwork/design packaging - from an independent label or artist
•
Amon Tobin - ISAM limited edition 'Control Over Nature' CD/Book (Ninja Tune)
• AWOLNATION - 'Megalithic Symphony' (Red Bull Records)
• Battles - 'Dross Glop' (Warp Records)
• Jonathan Coulton - 'Level 4
Access Kit' (Jonathon Coulton)
•
Lacuna Coil - 'Dark Adrenaline Medical Box Set' (Century Media Records)
• Okkervil River - 'I Am Very Far'
Deluxe Edition (Jagjaguwar)
• The Dear Hunter - 'The
Color Spectrum - complete collection' (Triple Crown Records)
Independent Album of the Year presented by Official.FM
•
Bon Iver - 'Bon Iver' (Jagjaguwar)
• M83 - 'Hurry Up We're Dreaming' (Mute)
•
Mac Miller - 'Blue Slide Park' (Rostrum Records)
•
Paul Simon - 'So Beautiful or So What' (Hear Music)
• PJ
Harvey - 'Let England Shake' (Vagrant)
• The
Civil Wars - 'Barton Hollow' (sensibility music)
Independent Video of the Year
•
Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" (Merge Records)
• Battles - "My Machines" (Warp Records)
•
Bon Iver - "Holocene" (Jagjaguwar)
•
Grimes - "
Oblivion" (4AD)
• Kina Grannis - "
In Your Arms" (One
Haven Music)
• Red Fang - "
Wires" (Relapse Records)
Independent Label of the Year (5 full time employees or fewer)
• Acony Records
• Daptone Records
• Frenchkiss Records
• Ghostly International
• Rostrum Records
• Surfdog Records
Independent Label of the Year (6 or more employees)
• Century Media Records
• Concord
Music Group
• Epitaph/Anti- Records
• Glassnote Records
• Jagjaguwar
• Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
• Sub Pop Records
Light Bulb Award for Most Creative Marketing Campaign/Idea
•
Amon Tobin - 'Control Over Nature' art installation with
Tessa Farmer (Ninja Tune)
• Delta
Spirit - Pub Crawl & Album premiere event in Brooklyn (Rounder Records)
• Emperor X - Western Teleport geo-caching campaign (Bar/None Records)
• Girls - The first-ever "nationwide" instore (Matador/True Panther)
•
Tom Waits - Invite-only online listening party (Anti-)
• We The
Kings -
Interactive video (S-Curve Records)
Music Supervisor - celebrating the music supervisor/licensing person who was especially supportive of independent music labels and artists
• Andrea von Foerster (Firestarter Music)
• Brian McNelis (Lakeshore Entertainment)
• Gary Calamar (GO Music)
• PJ Bloom (Neophonic)
• Randall Poster (Search Party Music)
•
Thomas Golubic (SuperMusicVision)
Road
Warrior of the Year - celebrating the independent label band/artist that was the most fan-engaged/worked hardest at their job in the last 12 months
•
All That Remains (Razor & Tie/Prosthetic)
• AWOLNATION (Red Bull Records)
• Battles (Warp Records)
• Charles Bradley (Daptone Records)
•
Dawes (ATO Records)
• Hot Tuna (Red House Records)
•
Taylor Swift (Big Machine Records)
Up & Comer Award presented by eMusic - celebrating the next independent label superstar artist
• Dead Sara (Pocket Kid Records)
• Emika (Ninja Tune)
• JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound (Bloodshot Records)
• Otherwise (Century Media Records)
• The Dø (Six Degrees Records)
•
Twin Atlantic (Red Bull Records)
Said eMusic CEO and President Adam Klein, "We're delighted to be a nominee for the Libbies' 21st Century Award. eMusic has been dedicated to the independent music community since inception. Over the past year, we've reaffirmed our relevance in today's music ecosystem and created a more valuable experience for the 'culturally independent' music buyer that our label partners need to reach. We're contributing significant market share for making emerging indie artists."
"So many different people came together across the country to bring Emperor X's musical scavenger hunt to life," said Bar/None's Mark Lipsitz. "It is a testament to a progressive independent industry to be recognized by A2IM and the Libera Awards."
Pandora Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren noted, "At Pandora, we believe there's music out there for every fan and there's an audience for every band. More than 70 percent of the artists in Pandora's catalog are independent and 95 percent of our catalog spins every month. We are honored to be nominated for a Libbie because we celebrate the passion of these hard-working musicians."
"We're honored to be a presenting sponsor for the inaugural Libera Awards," says Amaechi Uzoigwe, Head of Content & Business Affairs for Official.fm. "A2IM's mission is invaluable to the independent music community and helping to recognize and celebrate the amazing record labels and artists who represent this community is truly special for us. We congratulate all the nominees and wish them the best of luck."
See more reactions from Libera nominees here: https://a2im.org/2012/05/08/additional-quotes-and-reaction-by-a2im-members-on-their-libbie-nominations/
In addition to the above eleven categories, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced shortly; voting on all awards will be open to A2IM members from Wednesday, May 9 through Tuesday, May 22.
Additionally, the A2IM Libera Award for "Up & Comer Artist presented by eMusic" will be determined by an eMusic member vote, giving music fans the opportunity to choose the next breakthrough independent artist.
A2IM thanks Pandora, Official.fm, and eMusic for their sponsorship of the 2012 Libera Awards.
