A2IM: American Association of Independent Music

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM’s annual Board of Directors election opens for voting on Wednesday, May 1^st.  A2IM’s board is elected by a vote of the A2IM label membership with every label member’s primary contact for A2IM possessing the right to vote on behalf of her or his company.  Once again our voting members have an exciting (and large) list of member executives who have stepped up or accepted nomination to run for election to the A2IM board of directors. A2IM’s voting members will be voting to fill four (4) seats from the below list of candidates (alphabetical by first name). Voting closes on Friday, May 24.

The nominees are:

-Alan Galbraith (Wind-up Records)

-Cory Robbins (Robbins Entertainment)

-Damon Sgobbo (Allegro Media Group)

-Denny Stilwell (Mack Avenue Records)

-EJ Johantgen (Prosthetic Records)

-Fabio Acosta (Akela Family Music)

-Glen Barros (Concord Music Group)

-Jamar Chess (Sunflower Entertainment)

-Jeff Waye (Ninja Tune Records)

-Jim Selby (Naxos)

-Josh Norek (Nacional Records)

-Jurgen Korduletsch (Radikal Records/Gummybear International)

-Linda Lucchesi (Simply Grand Music)

-Louis Posen (Hopeless Records)

-Matt Lunsford (Polyvinyl Records)

-Portia Sabin (Kill Rock Stars)

-Richard Burgess (Smithsonian Folkways)

-Robert Williams (335 Records)

-Tim Lee (Tummy Touch Records)

-Todd McCarty (Fearless Records)

A2IM expresses our gratitude to the three board members who, due to term limits, must step down at the end of this term:  Eric Brown (Sub Pop), Dave Hansen (Epitaph) and Tom Silverman (Tommy Boy).  We also thank Jim Selby (Naxos) who will appear on this year’s ballot as an incumbent seeking re-election.  Jim is eligible to run without sitting out a year because he didn’t serve a full 3 year term.  We thank each of these board members for their leadership and commitment to this organization and to the A2IM membership. We look forward to ongoing contributions from each.

Posted in News by A2IM

As per A2IM’s By-Laws, A2IM will be holding an election in May to fill four (4) board of director seats.  All senior management executives from A2IM label member companies in good standing are eligible to be nominated to run for a board seat.  If you are interested in serving on the A2IM board please contact Jim Mahoney.  You are also invited nominate someone from your senior staff or another A2IM label member executive for nomination for this election.

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS FRIDAY, APRIL 26^th.

Please email jim.mahoney@a2im.org if you would like to run for a board seat or if have a nominee in mind.

ABOUT A2IM’s BOARD

A2IM board of directors’ terms run for three years.  Each board seat is term limited to one full three year term.  Any board member serving a full three year term must sit out one year at the conclusion of her or his term before being eligible to run for election again.  The A2IM board of directors meets in person or by teleconference eleven times a year to review the agenda and progress of the organization, represent the membership at large, and assist in setting the priorities and direction for the organization.  Each board member is encouraged to offer his or her expertise and opinions as well as getting involved in committees and projects supporting the efforts and growth of A2IM.  The A2IM staff keeps the board informed of important developments as they arise and seeks guidance from the board in order to better serve the independent music community.

ABOUT THIS YEAR’S ELECTION

There are four (4) expiring seats up for election this year.  Those seats are currently held by Eric Brown (Sub Pop), Dave Hansen (Epitaph), Jim Selby (Naxos) and Tom Silverman (Tommy Boy).  All four (4) A2IM board seats will be filled by a vote of the full A2IM label membership, 1 voter per label member company, in a secret ballot election (voting to be done on-line) in May.

The newly elected board members will serve terms as per the above to begin on July 4, 2013.

TO APPEAR ON THE A2IM BALLOT

1.     All member companies in good standing are eligible to nominate or field a candidate for nomination.

2.     All nominations must be accompanied by the names of five (5) member companies whose principals support the nomination to be confirmed as candidates for election.  Jim Mahoney can assist you in securing a nominee’s 5 supporting recommendations for nomination.

3.     Forward nominations, including a short description of the nominee, the music label the nominee represents, priority issues the nominee will champion, and five (5) supporting names from five different label members for the nominee to A2IM vice president Jim Mahoney via e-mail at jim.mahoney@a2im.org.  You can submit yourself or nominate another A2IM member.

4.     Deadline for nominations:  Friday, April 26^th (9pm EST).

5.     A2IM staff will certify nominations by Thursday, May 2nd and election voting details & ballots will be circulated to each A2IM label member voter (the primary contact at each label member company).

Posted in News, Press Releases by A2IM

Independent label Grammy successes continued with 36 wins at the 55^th Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and Best Album wins in 18 categories. Mumford & Sons’ win for Album of the Year (Glassnote) is the fifth consecutive trophy for indies in the category, following Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Concord/Rounder), Taylor Swift (Big Machine), Arcade Fire (Merge), and Adele (who is signed to and marketed by Beggars/XL outside of the U.S.). Below is A2IM’s Grammy Press Release.

Mumford & Sons log 5th consecutive Album of the Year for Indies

2013 marked another strong night for independents at the Grammy Awards, taking 36 of 79 non-producer categories, including Album of the Year and Best Album wins in 18 categories. Mumford & Sons’ win for Album of the Year (Glassnote) is the fifth consecutive trophy for indies in the category, following Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Concord/Rounder), Taylor Swift (Big Machine), Arcade Fire (Merge), and Adele (who is signed to and marketed by Beggars/XL outside of the U.S.).

Glassnote founder/owner Daniel Glass noted “I’m beyond thrilled and grateful to the band, the independent community that we’re so proudly a part of, to indie retail and the fans that have been a part of this effort.  What can I say about Mumford & Sons?  They’re a joy, a privilege to work with…I can’t even call it work.  And my Glassnote team, I can’t thank them enough for all they’ve done in helping build this tremendous achievement.  On behalf of all indies, I thank the Grammy voters for embracing great music and great artists…this is truly part of an independent movement and we’re only just beginning.”

Leading all independent labels, Concord Music Group artists took home eight Grammy Awards. Concord President Glen Barros couldn’t be more pleased sending this message, “I’m so happy that I want to give everyone Kisses On The Bottom…along with all our other Grammy winning and nominated albums.  I’m so grateful to work with such amazing artists and one of the best teams in the business.”

Said Naxos USA CEO Jim Selby (six non-producer awards): ”I would like to congratulate all of the artists, engineers, and producers who helped create these wonderful recordings. Their dedication, excellence and imagination allows all of us to enjoy this amazing music. All of these projects were created by vibrant independent classical labels, proving yet again how important the ‘indie’ labels and classical music are to each other.”

This year marked the third consecutive year that independent labels and artists led the industry with 50% of all nominations, earning 210 of 393 non-producer nominations.

Billboard’s Item is HERE. In addition prior to the Grammy’s Rich Bengloff was quoted in an AP news item on Huffington Post thanking The Recording Academy for its inclusiveness in the Grammy process.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM congratulates Naxos and their CEO and A2IM board member Jim Selby on their 25^th anniversary year! Read the feature article published in the November 8, 2012 edition of The Washington Post HERE.

Posted in News by A2IM

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).

Posted in News by A2IM

Jim Selby, Naxos of America CEO, has been elected by the A2IM Board of Directors to fill the vacant Board seat created when Priya Dewan of Warp Records decided to leave WARP Records.  We congratulate Priya on her successes at Warp Records and thank Priya for her service to the independent music label community.  We all wish Priya only the best in her future endeavors for the Asia marketplace!

A2IM Board Members were surveyed and commended Jim Selby’s work and dedication to the independent community during the past year.  Jim has been heavily involved in the Nashville Chapter, was a member of our D.C. lobbying trip last year, participated in the last L.A. think tank, has provided input on publishing issues, etc.  As per A2IM by-laws, the sitting A2IM Board voted to elect Jim to the board.

As Jim Selby was already on the A2IM Presidential Advisory Committee, his appointment to the Board created an opening in that group. A2IM’s President Rich Bengloff selected Darius Van Arman of JagJaguwar in Bloomington, Indiana to fill that role.  Darius graciously accepted and has already begun sharing his input.  We also congratulate Darius on the recent success of his Bon Iver release.

A listing of the entire A2IM board and presidential advisory committee is here.