The Americana Music Association announced their 2013 nominees and, as in prior years, A2IM’s label members artists led the way with all but four of the nominations. We congratulate Epitaph/Anti- (Milk Carton Kids), Dualtone Records (The Lumineers, Shovel & Rope), New West Records (Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller, Richard Thompson), Rounder Records (JD McPherson) and Thirty Tigers (John Fulbright, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robinson) for leading the way!
The First Annual A2IM Libera Award Show “The Libbies” was a smashing success! The show, which was held in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge on June 21, 2012, was hosted by John Ross Bowie (Big Bang Theory). A2IM congratulates all of the night’s nominees and winners and extends a big thanks to our sponsors: official.fm, Pandora, eMusic & The Orchard. In July, a video of the Libera Award show will be available to watch on A2IM.org.
Below is a sampling of the press which we received.
A2IM’s official press release can be read HERE.
Our sponsor’s press releases: official.fm’s press release | eMusic’s press release
Wall Street Journal “Rocking It, Indie Style” June 26, 2012 by Raphael Rosen
Pictures on Flickr by John Lambremont (Kill Rock Stars). Thanks John!!
Check Out The Libera Awards 2012 *Sizzle Reel* by josh steinbauer
A2IM-sizzle-reel from josh steinbauer on Vimeo.
Check out the Video of The Full Show recorded from the sound booth at Le Poisson Rouge
Thanks Again To Our Sponsors
Posted in Press Releases by A2IM
A2IM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2012
Merge, Daptone, Bon Iver Notch Inaugural Libera Wins
The remarkable scope of the independent music world was on display tonight (6/21) at
A2IM’s inaugural Libera Awards (”The Libbies”) at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, celebrating
the range of the thriving indie world: diverse genres, labels big and small and from
around the globe. Created by and for the independent label community, the Libera
Awards – named for the Latin word for freedom – capped off A2IM’s 7th Anniversary Indie Week.
Jagjaguwar and Daptone Records led the field with two Libbie wins apiece, while other
winners included Spotify, Arcade Fire (Merge Records), and Glassnote Records. Bon Iver
(Jagjaguwar) grabbed a win for Independent Album of the Year while Daptone took
home Independent Label of Year (6 or more employees).
“Congratulations to all Libera Award nominees and awards winners,” said A2IM Vice
President Jim Mahoney. “A2IM couldn’t be prouder of the great accomplishments of
independent labels and artists in every genre and we’re very pleased that the A2IM
Libbies allow the indie community to celebrate itself.”
Among the 250+ attendees packed into the club was Martin Mills, the Beggars Group
Founder/CEO, who was awarded the inaugural A2IM Libera Awards Lifetime
Achievement Award. Seymour Stein presented the award to Mills with a heartfelt
speech, and the assembled indie music VIPs warmly welcomed Stein back into the
independent community with his relaunched Blue Horizon Records label (with partner
Richard Gottehrer).
During the event, download-and-discovery service eMusic announced the winners for the A2IM Libera Awards Up & Comer Award. As determined by eMusic’s community of
members, the winner was the post-punk, soul group JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound
(Bloodshot Records), while the winner voted by the A2IM membership was The Dø (Six
Degrees Records).
2012 Libera Winners:
21st Century Award – celebrating the service or platform most beneficial to independent
labels & artists:
Spotify
Best Independent Sync Placement – the most creative or most impactful use of
independent music in a film/tv/ad campaign:
Glassnote Records (GIVERS’ song “Saw You First” in Kindle Fire product launch)
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:
Ninja Tune for Amon Tobin (ISAM limited edition “Control Over Nature” CD/Book)
Independent Album of the Year presented by Official.fm:
Bon Iver – ‘Bon Iver’ (Jagjaguwar)
Independent Video of the Year:
Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” (Merge Records)
Independent Label of the Year (5 full time employees or fewer):
Daptone Records
Independent Label of the Year (6 or more employees):
Jagjaguwar
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Martin Mills, Beggars Group Founder/CEO
Light Bulb Award for Most Creative Marketing Campaign/Idea:
Epitaph/Anti- Records (Tom Waits Invite-Only Listening Party)
Music Supervisor – celebrating the music supervisor/licensing person who was especially
supportive of independent music labels and artists:
PJ Bloom (Neophonic)
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:
Charles Bradley (Daptone Records)
Up & Comer Award presented by eMusic – celebrating the next independent label
superstar artist:
The Dø (Six Degrees Records) [A2IM member vote]
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound (Bloodshot Records) [eMusic member vote]
A2IM thanks Official.fm, Pandora, eMusic, and The Orchard for their sponsorship of the
2012 Libera Awards.
http://a2im.org/
http://shorefire.com/clients/A2IM/
About A2IM:
A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the Independent music community as
a unified voice representing a sector that comprises over 30% of the music industry’s
market share in the United States (and almost 40% of SoundScan digital sales). The
organization represents the Independents’ interests in the marketplace, in the media, on
Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. A2IM is headquartered in New
York City.
As of July 4, 2012, the organization’s board of directors will be composed of the
following: Daptone Records General Manager Cathy Bauer; Sub Pop VP of Business
Affairs Eric Brown; Epitaph General Manager Dave Hansen; Yep Roc Records Co-Owner
Tor Hansen; Alligator Records Founder/CEO Bruce Iglauer; The Beggars Group
Founder/CEO Martin Mills; Glassnote Records General Manager Chris Scully; Naxos of
America CEO Jim Selby; Tommy Boy CEO/Founder Tom Silverman; Jagjaguwar/Dead
Oceans/Secretly Canadian Founder/Co-Owner Darius Van Arman; Razor & Tie COO Victor Zaraya.
For more information, or to become a member, please visit www.A2IM.org.
For press information on A2IM, please contact Elizabeth Lutz [elutz@shorefire.com],
David McTiernan [dmctiernan@shorefire.com], or Rebecca Shapiro
[rshapiro@shorefire.com] at Shore Fire Media, 718.522.7171.
A2IM congratulates the indie label community’s artists on 34 GRAMMY wins, led by Bon Iver’s two GRAMMY’s including the Best New Artist award. The indie community’s percentage share of GRAMMY wins increased over the prior year with additional multiple A2IM member label wins by Big Machine’s Taylor Swift, Concord Music Group’s (label winner of seven GRAMMY’s) Chick Corea, and Rounder’s Alison Krauss. A number of A2IM member comments are included here in the A2IM press release and we congratulate them all!
In addition to these wins, Adele who is signed to Beggars/XL but licensed to and marketed by Columbia in the U.S. (and therefore excluded from the indie total), won six GRAMMY awards including Album of the Year. This marks the fourth consecutive year that an artist signed to an indie label has won Album of the Year, following 2011’s winner Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’, 2010’s winner Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’ (Big Machine), and 2009’s winner Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ ‘Raising Sand’ (Rounder).
