A2IM: American Association of Independent Music

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM and eMusic Partner For Fan-Voted Libera Award
Up & Comer Award Category Voted On By eMusic Members

Today, the American Association of Independent (A2IM) Music Libera Awards (”The Libbies”) announces eMusic as a partner for the “Up & Comer Artist” category, which will celebrate the next great U.S. independent artist(s) with two special honors.

The A2IM Libera Award for “Up & Comer Artist presented by eMusic” will consist of two awards, determined by two separate votes: one by the A2IM member community and another by an eMusic member vote – giving both the music industry and music fans the opportunity to choose the next breakthrough independent artist(s).

“We’re thrilled to support the inaugural American Association of Independent Music Libera Awards,” said Molly Neuman, VP of Label Relations and MD Europe, eMusic. “Through this partnership, we’ll be giving members a unique way to participate in the exciting conversations about who will be the next big independent music superstar.”

A2IM is accepting nominations for all 11 Libby categories now through March 30th, 2012. Submissions are being accepted at A2IM.org.

Nominations are being managed via a partnership between A2IM & Official.fm and can be submitted by all U.S. independents or their representatives. A2IM Libera Award winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on June 21st at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC.

Click below to submit nominations in the following Libera Award categories:

Award: Independent Album of the Year presented by Official.fm

Award: Indie Label of the Year Award (5 Employees or less worldwide)

Award: Indie Label of the Year Award (6 Employees or more worldwide)

Award: Up and Comer Award presented by eMusic – celebrating the next independent label superstar artist; to qualify artist must have total career sales not exceeding 5,000 full length albums or 25,000 tracks (combined)

Award: Video of the Year

Award: Best Sync Usage – for the most creative or most impactful use of independent music in a film/tv/ad campaign

Award: Music Supervisor of the Year – for the music supervisor/licensing person who was especially supportive of independent music labels and artists in the last 12 months

Award: Light Bulb Award – celebrating the most innovative/creative marketing campaign by an independent label or artist in the last 12 months

Award: Road Warrior of the Year – celebrating the independent label band/artist that worked hardest at their job in the last 12 months

Award: 21st Century Award – celebrating the service provider or platform that was most beneficial to independent labels and artists in the last 12 months

Award: Creative Packaging Award (Physical or Digital) – 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

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 album 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.

The organization’s board of directors is composed of the following: Concord Music Group President Glen Barros; Sub Pop VP Business Affairs Eric Brown; tinyOGRE Entertainment COO Jim Cooperman; 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; Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin; Jim Selby, Naxos of America CEO, Tommy Boy CEO/Founder Tom Silverman; Razor & Tie COO Victor Zaraya.

About eMusic
eMusic is a discovery-and-download destination for music collectors. eMusic Members sign up for a monthly subscription that allows them to discover, download and own music. In addition to providing recommendations, eMusic’s editorial team publishes original artist interviews, album reviews, and curated streaming radio programming. eMusic also sells downloadable audio books from all major audio book publishers. Headquartered in New York with an office in London, eMusic is available in the U.S., Canada, the E.U., Norway and Switzerland. eMusic.com Inc. is owned by Dimensional Associates, Inc., the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.eMusic.com.
NOTE: eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of eMusic.com Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, or to become a member of A2IM, please visit www.a2im.org.

For press information on A2IM, please contact Elizabeth Lutz (elutz@shorefire.com) or David McTiernan (dmctiernan@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media, 718.522.7171.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM would like to congratulate our members included in the 2011 Billboard’s Women in Music feature in their Power Players series.

Jessica Steel : Executive VP of Business & Corporate Development for Pandora Media

Kelly Rich : VP of Sales, Marketing & Interactive  for Big Machine Label Group

Lynn Hazan : Executive VP / GM for IODA

Marilyn Laverty : President for Shore Fire Media

We also congratulate those who were nominated:

Kerri Brusca, VP of Media & Artist Relations, Razor & Tie; YiPei Chen-Josephson, Head of Marketing & Licensing, Glassnote Records; Cynthia Cochrane, GM, Rock Ridge Music; Karimah Day, President/COO, Sir Groovy; Alia Fahlborg, SVP, Nettwerk Music Group; Shanna Fischer, EVP of Promotion, Wind-up Records; Judith Folkman, Founding Partner, Music Resource Group; Melissa Goodman, VP of Business Development, TuneSat; Aimee Higgins, VP of Strategy & Planning, Pandora Media; Maureen Lloren, International Product Manager, Glassnote Records; Jenna LoMonaco, Head of New Media & Digital, Glassnote Records; Sid McCain, VP of Label Acquisitions and Development, EMI Label Services/Caroline Distribution; Tracy McKnight, Head of Film Music, Lionsgate; Vickie Nauman, VP of North America, 7digital; Molly Neuman, Senior Director of Artist & Label Relations, eMusic; Melanie Rodriguez, Director of Marketing & Publicity, MPress Records; Portia Sabin, President, Kill Rock Stars & A2IM Board of Director; Rachael Sage, Founder/President, MPress Records; Madelyn Scarpulla, SVP of Marketing & Creative Services, Roadrunner Records; Amanda Schupf, Creative Manager, Imagem Music; Mara Schwartz, Senior Director of Creative Services for Film, TV, Advertising & New Media, Bug Music; Colleen Theis, Managing Director for UK and Europe, The Orchard

Posted in Board of Directors, News by A2IM

As per A2IM’s By-Laws, A2IM will be holding an election in May to fill five (5) 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.  You are invited to submit yourself, someone from your senior staff, or another A2IM label member executive for nomination for this election.

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS IS FRIDAY, APRIL 29^th.

Please email jim.mahoney@a2im.org if you would like to be nominated or 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

A2IM’s current board has approved a by-laws amendment to increase the number of board seats from nine (9) to eleven (11) with the two additional seats being elected this year (one new seat designated to serve a full three year term, the second new seat to serve a two year initial term but with eligibility to run for re-election without sitting out for the standard one year). In addition, there are the three expiring seats up for election this year.  Those seats are currently held by Dan Hoffman (Razor & Tie), Martin Mills (Beggars) and Molly Neuman (Lookout!).  Dan and Molly have served full three year terms and must step down for at least one year, due to by-law term limits, before being eligible to run for election again.  Martin Mills, however, is eligible to run for re-election this term as he is fulfilling a partial term, having replaced a board member that stepped down during the current term.  All five (5) A2IM board seats will be filled by a vote of the full A2IM label membership, 1 vote 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, 2011.

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, if you choose, nominate yourself or another A2IM member.

4.     Deadline for nominations:  Friday, April 29^th (9pm EST).

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