A2IM: American Association of Independent Music

Posted in News by A2IM

Alabama Shakes, M83, The Lumineers Top Artist Nominees for 2nd Annual A2IM LIBBY Awards
ATO Records & Dualtone Music Group Earn Most Label Nominations

A2IM today announces the nominees for the 2nd Annual Libera Awards (The “LIBBYs”), to be held Thursday, June 20 at NYC’s Highline Ballroom, closing out A2IM’s 8th annual Indie Week. The LIBBYs, co-presented by Caroline, celebrate the continually expanding successes of Independent labels and artists – and the services that support them – and are voted on solely by members of the Independent community.

Eligible releases (March 1, 2012 – February 28, 2013) were narrowed down to six nominees per category (or more in the case of a tie) by expert panels including the most knowledgeable tastemakers, programmers, and professional supporters of Independent music. As in the inaugural LIBBYs, which counted Arcade Fire, Glassnote Records, and Daptone among its winners, this year’s nominees exemplify both 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.

2013 Libera Award Nominees:

Independent Album of the Year (sponsored by Spotify)
• ‘Boys & Girls’ – Alabama Shakes (ATO Records)
• ‘Allah-Las’ – Allah-Las (Innovative Leisure)
• ‘Bloom’ – Beach House (Sub Pop)
• ‘Shields’ – Grizzly Bear (Warp Records)
• ‘Celebration Rock’ – Japandroids (Polyvinyl Records)
• ‘The Heist’ – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Macklemore)
• ‘Babel’ – Mumford & Sons (Glassnote Records)
• ‘RED (Deluxe Edition)’ – Taylor Swift (Big Machine Records)
• ‘The Lumineers’ – The Lumineers (Dualtone Music Group)
• ‘Coexist’ – The xx (XL Recordings/Young Turks)

Listen to the Spotify Album of the Year Playlist

Independent Label of the Year Award – 5 employees or less worldwide (sponsored by The Orchard)
• Bar/None Records
• Daptone Records
• Dualtone Music Group
• Frenchkiss Records
• Ghostly International
• Kill Rock Stars
• Third Man Records

Independent Label of the Year Award – 6 employees or more worldwide (sponsored by ADA)
• Anti Records
• ATO Records
• Big Machine Records
• Concord Music Group
• Glassnote Records
• Hopeless Records
• Sub Pop
• XL Recordings

Up and Comer Award (sponsored by eMusic) – celebrating the next Independent label superstar artist; to qualify artist must have total career sales not exceeding 5000 full length albums or 25,000 tracks (combined) as of Feb. 17, 2013
• Air Dubai (Hopeless Records)
• BOY (Nettwerk)
• LEOGUN (Yamaha Entertainment Group)
• Mikal Cronin (Merge Records)
• MNDR (Ultra Music)
• The Virginmarys (Wind-up Records)

Video of the Year
• “Hold On” – Alabama Shakes (ATO Records)
• “For Baltimore” – All Time Low (Hopeless Records)
• “Dirty Money” – Antibalas (Daptone Records)
• “Kill Your Heroes” – AWOLNATION (Red Bull Records)
• “My Love Is Real” – Divine Fits (Merge Records)
• “Wait” – M83 (Mute)
• “Thrift Shop” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Macklemore)

Best Sync Usage (sponsored by Getty Images Music) – for the most creative or most impactful use of Independent music in a film/TV/ad campaign
• “Ebb Away” – …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (Century Media/Superball) in Fox Surf by Tim Scanlin
• “Always Alright” – Alabama Shakes (ATO Records) in Silver Linings Playbook by Susan Jacobs
• “Sail” – AWOLNATION (Red Bull Records) in BMW – Feeling Remains campaign (Olympics premiere) by Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners
• “Can’t Win ‘Em All” – Hanni El Khatib (Innovative Leisure) in Audi (Super Bowl Commercial) by Agoraphone
• “Outro” – M83 (Mute/Caroline) in Red Bull “Gives You Wings” commercial by Tonya Puerto/EMI & Red Bull
• “Speaking Japanese” – Shiny Toy Guns (Five Seven Music) in Virgin America ‘Game Changer’ ad campaign
• “Ho Hey” – The Lumineers (Dualtone Music Group) in Bing by Susan Schwartz

Music Supervisor of the Year (sponsored by Silva Screen Music Group) – for the music supervisor/licensing person who was especially supportive of Independent music labels
• Alexandra Patsavas (Chop Shop Music)
• Frankie Pine (Whirly Girl Music)
• Nora Felder (Picture Tunes)
• Randall Poster (Search Party Music/Posterboy Inc.)
• Susan Schwartz (Platinum Rye)
• Thomas Golubic (SuperMusicVision)

Light Bulb Award – celebrating the most innovative/creative marketing campaign by an Independent label or artist
• Alabama Shakes – album release campaign (ATO Records)
• Bear in Heaven – slowed-down album stream (Dead Oceans/Hometapes)
• Mumford & Sons – ‘Stopover’ tour (Glassnote Records)
• M83 – sustained album campaign (Mute)
• Brian Eno – ‘LUX’ listening events (Warp Records)
• Yep Roc – Yep Roc 15 Festival (Yep Roc Records)

Hardest Working Artist of the Year (sponsored by Believe Digital) – celebrating the Independent label band/artist that worked hardest at their job or was the most instrumental in promoting their music
• Allen Stone (ATO Records)
• Bob Mould (Merge Records)
• Brother Ali (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
• Grimes (4AD)
• Jukebox the Ghost (Yep Roc Records)
• Taylor Swift (Big Machine Records)
• The Lumineers (Dualtone Music Group)

Best Live Act of the Year – celebrating the Independent label band/artist that had the best live act
• Alabama Shakes (ATO Records)
• AWOLNATION (Red Bull Records)
• Bloc Party (Frenchkiss Records)
• Delta Spirit (Rounder)
• Hatebreed (Razor & Tie)
• M83 (Mute)
• Matt and Kim (FADER Label)
• Ra Ra Riot (Barsuk)

Creative Packaging Award (sponsored by A to Z Media) – celebrating the best or most creative packaging – including bundled packages, premium offerings, or artwork/design packaging – from an Independent label or artist in the last 12 months
• “Charmer” – Aimee Mann (SuperEgo Records) by Gail Marowitz & Aimee Mann
• “II” – Bad Books (Triple Crown Records) by Brian Manley & Chris Freeman
• “Until the Quiet Comes” – Flying Lotus (Warp Records) by Stephen Serrato with B+
• “12 Bit Blues” – Kid Koala (Ninja Tune) by Eric San
• “The Disintegration Loops” – William Basinski (Temporary Residence Ltd.) by Jeremy deVine
• “Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection” – Woody Guthrie (Smithsonian Folkways) by Fritz Klaetke

21st Century Award – celebrating the service provider or platform that was most beneficial to Independent labels and artists
• Bandzoogle
• Pandora
• PledgeMusic
• Rdio
• Spotify
• YouTube

Jon Salter, GM at ATO Records summed up the expression of pride that the LIBBY Awards are about when he accepted the nominations for his label and artists saying, “To see Indie records topping the charts and competing on a level playing field is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding for ATO and our artists. It’s been incredibly vibrant this year at ATO, and we feel lucky to have achieved such phenomenal results in a really tough climate. Being recognized by A2IM for the LIBBY nominations is an honor, especially during this extraordinary time for the Independent music sector.”

Dualtone’s Paul Roper, upon learning of the LIBBY nominations for The Lumineers and Dualtone Music Group said, “It’s a great honor to be recognized by our Independent community with these nominations. As evidenced by the recent GRAMMY Awards and reports on market share, Indies are thriving now more than ever. We are extremely proud to have been able to contribute to that story.”

“It is an honor and a privilege to be nominated for the A2IM Light Bulb Award on behalf of all the great Yep Roc Artists who made having the festival possible in the first place,” said Billy Maupin, General Manager of Yep Roc Records. “And knowing that the nominations come from our peers in the Independent music community makes it that much more special and meaningful.”

Hopeless Records said of their three nominations, “What great news! We here at Hopeless Records are big supporters of A2IM and it is an honor to be nominated for Best Label, Video of the Year (All Time Low) and Up & Comer (Air Dubai). Vote for us!”

Hardest Working Artist nominee Jukebox The Ghost (Yep Roc Records) expressed their appreciation (from the road, of course), “Thanks to everyone who nominated us for this. We have met countless hardworking and talented artists, bands, promoters, and labels through years of doing this, so it feels quite special to be recognized among such a passionate community.”

“We at Pandora are particularly proud to receive this nomination,” echoed Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Pandora. “Since its inception, Pandora has been singularly focused on helping artists connect with their audiences. Personalized radio is a phenomenal resource for Independent musicians, drawing on a huge breadth of catalogue without regard to popularity. In a given month, Pandora plays the music of well over 100,000 artists, the vast majority of whom have never before been played on radio.”

And Daniel Glass, CEO of Glassnote Records, who has spent the better part of the last year seeing his vision and the passion and efforts of his artists and team being acknowledged from music fans, GRAMMY voters, and across the industry affirmed his Independent pride in accepting his three nominations exclaiming, “Huge! Thank you. We are so proud.”

In addition to the above twelve categories, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced shortly; voting on all awards will be open to A2IM voting members from April 25 to May 19.

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 Caroline, ADA, A to Z Media, Bandzoogle, Believe Digital, eMusic, Getty Images Music, Silva Screen Music Group, Spotify, and The Orchard for their sponsorship of the 2013 Libera Awards.

The 2nd Annual Libera Awards conclude A2IM’s 8th Anniversary Indie Week (June 18-20 in NYC), which will bring together more than 500 executives from around the globe for three days of interactive panels, think tanks, and one-on-one discussions on maximizing the global impact of Independent music.

Posted in Chapters, Events, Members Only by A2IM

A2IM will present its 3rd Annual Chicago Licensing Day on Tuesday, December 4 at 6PM at the offices of Music Dealers, 328 S. Jefferson Suite 260, Chicago, map.

The panel will feature Jocelyn Brown of DDB, Matthew Jacobson of Digitas, Gabe McDonough of Leo Burnett, Marisa Wasser of McGarry Bowen, and Dan Kuypers of Music Dealers and will be moderated by Jeremy Peters of Ghostly International. Bios HERE.

The panel discussion will be followed by a beer, wine & pizza reception.

RSVP NOW

This event is only open to members of A2IM.

Big thanks to Music Dealers for sponsoring this event!!

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM Libera Award Finalists Were Announced Today (May 8, 2012). Read the Press Release HERE. Below are additional quotes and reaction by A2IM members on their nominations.

“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 many emerging indie artists. It’s an honor to be recognized.” Adam Klein, CEO & President eMusic

“Being part of the A2IM community has played a big role in the Next Big Sound story. From meeting spaces at MIDEM, to industry mixers in cities throughout the US, A2IM members are some of our earliest customers, supporters and friends. It’s an honor to be nominated for a Libera.” Alex White, Next Big Sound

“We’re very pleased to see Mr. Alvin’s synch placement recognized with this special nom.  Dave’s exceptional songwriting talent and performance couldn’t be more perfectly suited and we’re proud for his work to receive such an honor.” Glenn Dicker, Yep Roc

“The Civil Wars and our sensibility music team are completely honored to be recognized by such a lovely group of peers within the independent music community. We’re grateful to share a mutual support and affection with so many other wonderful independent artists and organizations.” Nate Yetton, Owner sensibility music

“We’re honored to be nominated by our peers in the independent community for the first annual A2IM Libera Awards. Truly looking forward to the event and to celebrate all the intrepid indies and their artists. There is a lot to celebrate, and a bounty of great art and creativity happening right now.” Sam Valenti, Founder/Owner Ghostly International

“The recognition of the independent music community means so much to us.   With so many creative independent labels producing so much great music, we’re very honored to receive these nominations.” Glen Barros, Concord Music Group

“It has been an exciting year for Glassnote and our Artists. We are proud and honored to be nominated for the A2IM Libera awards.” Daniel Glass, Glassnote Records

“So many different people came together across the country to bring Emperor X’s musical scavenger hunt to life. It is a testament to a progressive independent industry to be recognized by A2IM and the Libeara Awards.” Mark Lipsitz, Marketing Bar/None

“Six Degrees Records has been flying the indie banner for 15 years now. Lord knows, it hasn’t always been easy- but we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and of our diverse & eclectic roster and we’re particularly excited to be recognized by our peers with these nominations.” Bob Duskis, Co-Founder Six Degrees Records

“We are honored to be recognized by our colleagues at A2IM.  Our bands and their growing success are a testament to the importance of artist development, which we believe is alive and well in the independent community.” Greg Hammer, Managing Director, Red Bull Records

“Century Media is honored to have so many nominations in the inaugural Libera Awards.  It is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to be acknowledged by our peers and to be included with so many other great nominees.  The Libbies truly showcase the diversity and strength of the independent music community.” Brian Sharp, Chief Operations Officer, Century Media Records

Posted in Events, Member Services, Members Only by A2IM

The Licensing & Publishing Committee of the American Association of Independent Music (”A2IM”) is planning a Licensing Day event for A2IM members at the offices of The Recording Academy Chicago Chapter (303 W. Erie St., Suite 210, Chicago, map) on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 from 3-7PM.

Join us for our 2nd Annual Chicago Licensing Day for an insider look at brands integrating with bands to maximize campaign impact. Our panelists will discuss non-traditional licenses with brands being more open to new ideas and integrating Facebook apps, downloads, etc.; how brands and agencies execute the artist & music involvement for their campaigns; and how labels and agencies can be creative in accessing various budgets to involve artist fanbases and maximize brand impact. Panelists will include Bonny Dolan from Comma Music, Eric Johnson from DDB, Stump Mahoney from Draftfcb, Gabe McDonough from Leo Burnett, Chuck Bein from See Music and Michael Pallen from VerveLife; moderated by Jeremy Peters of Ghostly International.

Immediately following, we’ll have a beer & wine reception to further discuss topics from the panel. Special thanks go to all who have volunteered their time, to Ingenious Records for sponsoring this event, and to The Recording Academy for hosting us!

Please RSVP to jen@a2im.org.

Live Streaming Of The Event Below

Posted in Members Only by A2IM

A2IM Indie Week 2011: Licensing Day: Brands & Bands