New York, NY (PLUG Awards) – Today the PLUG Independent
Music Awards announced the nominees for its 2006 show. Voting will now be opened to fans everywhere at www.plugawards.com and will continue online daily until January 20, 2006. PLUG is different from all of the institutional accolades for the music industry – the American
Music Awards, Billboard
Music Awards,
Radio Music Awards, GRAMMY Awards, Teen Choice Awards, MTV
Music Awards, etc. etc. Those are all devoted to recognizing the mainstream hits. Very rarely do these honors reach, let alone embrace, independent music or the community of artists and fans who now represent 25% of all global music sales. This is a community that thinks for itself, without taking cues from mainstream media and marketing – likewise many of the artists it cultivates and celebrates have flourished outside those margins.
Every year there are incredible records released by independent labels and artists. We fans pledge our devotion by making mix tapes, squeezing into cramped venues, sharing MP3s, writing blogs, sporting our favorite concert T's...even getting into the biz. For all of us, these records are vital, relevant, even revolutionary. PLUG seems to have struck a chord with fans from all corners of the world, and the groundswell of support it's received has been incredible.
'Indie music is enjoying a growth period unseen in decades, and the PLUG Independent Music Awards are fast becoming the most respected call-to-action for this part of the music industry and the indie community as a whole,' said Amaechi Uzoigwe, co-owner of Definitive Jux. 'The aim of PLUG is to not only recognize artists, but to throw this entire segment of the industry into the spotlight, and give fans everywhere a unique opportunity to get connected, get involved and be heard.'
This year's categories include:
Album Of The Year
Artist Of The Year
New Artist Of The Year
Song Of The Year
Female Artist Of The Year
Male Artist Of The Year
Hip-Hop Album Of The Year
Punk Album Of The Year
Metal Album Of The Year
Electronic/Dance Album Of The Year
Americana Album Of The Year
Indie Rock Album Of The Year
DJ Album Of The Year
Avant Album Of The Year
Record Label Of The Year
Live Act Of The Year
Music Festival Of The Year
Record Producer of the Year
Music Video Of The Year
Album Art/Packaging of the Year
Music Website Of The Year
Magazine Of The Year
Zine Of The Year
College/Non-Comm Radio Station Of The Year
Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)
Internet Radio Station of the Year
Record Store of the Year
Best Music DVD of the Year
This year's nominees include (partial listing):
Arcade Fire
Devendra Banhart
The National
Animal Collective
Antony and the Johnsons
Bloc Party
Cage
Sleater-Kinney
Spoon
Wolf Parade
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Danger Doom
Sufjan Stevens
Laura Cantrell
Pelican
M83
Four Tet
The Books
Bright Eyes
Decemberists
How It Works
Nominees are selected each year by the PLUG Cartel (Advisory Board) whose members are particularly vocal and active in the independent community. These are people who fight tirelessly to raise the voice of independent artists and music releases in every medium. While the Cartel includes musically minded celebs like David Cross and Jason Lee and well recognized writers like Dave Eggers, Jon Caramanica, it is held down by 200 of the most devoted and important indie retailers/buyers, commercial specialty and college radio programmers, celebrities, artists, writers, filmmakers, music supervisors, managers, agents, label A&R, bloggers, webmasters and, most importantly, fans (complete 2006 PLUG Advisory Board can be seen at www.plugawards.com/cartel.php ).
Awards Show
Last year's PLUG Awards saw performances from nominees and award winners like RJD2, Saul Williams, Ted Leo + The Pharmacists, Sufjan Stevens, Dillinger Escape Plan and Aesop Rock play to a packed house that included many winners like TV On The Radio and Jean Grae.
This year the 3rd Annual PLUG Independent Music Awards will return to NYC's historic Webster Hall on February 2, 2006, one week before the Grammys. PLUG is proud to announce that Beggars' Group artist The National, who are nominated for a record six PLUG Awards this year, will be one of the night's headliners. More performances from nominees will be announced in the coming weeks.
We can do more. Be heard. Vote PLUG.
