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 News, Press Releases by A2IM

SoundExchange announced record distributions for 2012 as digital performance royalties continued to grow. Record labels receive 50% of SoundExchange distributions and Independents share from the reporting services, which include Pandora and Sirius/XM, are strong as these services give greater access to Indie music. The full press statement is here.

Posted in News by A2IM

Independent music labels and their artists continued to move forward in 2012, repeatedly proving the value we bring to the music industry and fans. As we look back, our 2012 State of the A2IM Indie Community highlights many promotional & financial success stories:

• As reported by Billboard, Independent market share of recorded music sales based upon label ownership rose to 32.57%, we thank our good friends at Billboard for their reporting perspective! By our computations we also note that digital album share has risen to over 39% of market, significantly underscoring that our Independent community sells a body of work, not just singles.
• The increased market share is not a surprise as Independents controlled the top slot on the charts for seven consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 with Glassnote’s Mumford & Sons’ ‘Babel,’ Broken Bow’s Jason Aldean’s ‘Night Train,’ and Big Machine’s Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ [October-November 2012].  During the Fall period diverse acts such as All Time Low- Hopeless, DJ Drama-eOne, Papa Roach- Eleven Seven, Deadmau5- Ultra, Lumineers- Dualtone, Grizzly Bear-Warp, The xx-Beggars/XL, Animal Collective- Domino, Cat Power-Beggars/Matador, Punk Goes Pop-Fearless, The Sword & All That Remains- Razor & Tie and the Nashville Soundtrack-Big Machine all made the Billboard Top 20.
• On the digital performance front, payouts to Independents by our SoundExchange advocates continue to soar! Pandora estimates that Independent music plays represent almost 40% of their steams and Sirius reports Independents are 30-35% of their programming. We thank our friends at Pandora for answering our requests by giving Independent labels an improved portal to submit music and other informational support during the past year, and thank Sirius for providing our diverse programming to their audiences.
• Independents are even seeing improved success at terrestrial radio and we thank Clear Channel for including Independents in their bi-annual programmer label presentations and look forward to increasing the Independent label community’s radio access and share of plays with Clear Channel and other radio groups in 2013.
• A2IM’s export funding initiatives came to fruition this year with the first government funded trade mission to Asia in September, and the MDCP funding grant. We thank the U.S. Department of Commerce ITA, U.S. SBA, NY State, Tennessee and our legislative champions like Congressman Jerry Nadler for making this happen. The Recording Academy support of our export funding initiatives was vital.
• We thank the Recording Academy for their support on many fronts. Critical recognition of Independents included the share of Independent Grammy nominations crossing the 50% level and our community’s 34 wins included major categories like Best New Artist, as well as many best album categories.  Our successes were across the board at many award shows; our members even swept all of the awards at the 11^th annual Americana Music Awards.
• A2IM held its first Libera Awards, where Independents honored fellow Independents, during Indie Week in NYC last June. The event was a sold-out success and received critical acclaim as A2IM members claimed their Libby’s and we honored Beggars’ Martin Mills with a Lifetime Achievement Award! Libera means freedom in Latin; Independents are free and not confined in the mainstream, not dependent, get it? The A2IM “Libby’s” celebrated that freedom and how our community is not limited by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas and open to new ideas.
• Indie Week 2012 continued to grow, with over 500 executives and staff gathering in NYC to discuss issues and learn from each other. In 2012, the focus was on garnering greater publicity access, optimizing YouTube monetization practices, reflecting on digital case studies, and discussing Pan European licensing, among other topics. The schedule was packed with one-on-one networking meetings, panels and roundtables, which led to the fourth annual Indie Roadmap discussion and white paper. We thank our speakers who included Pandora’s Tim Westergren, Free Ride author Rob Levine and keynoter U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel.
• We geared up for the launch of the non-invasive Copyrights Alerts program, which aims to reduce unlicensed music acquisition and we thank our colleagues at the RIAA for our inclusion.
• A2IM continued to stay in touch with Washington D.C. to advocate our positions and file on issues ranging from International trade to Copyright regulations. Many of the filings were made at the request of U.S. Government Agencies who approached us for the Independent views. We also practiced advocacy on legislation like IRFA, which we oppose, and as a member of the World Independent Network (WIN) issued the Indie Manifesto.
• We continued to educate our members so they can make informed choices based on understanding all sides of an issue via the weekly Round-up newsletter, committees like DMET and the Licensing & Publishing white papers and meet-ups.  This included a joint event with our AIMP brothers and sisters and networking events around the country at local chapters and during conferences such as SXSW, CMJ, NARM, and Midem (2012 had our largest-ever presence at MIDEM ever (more than 300 members from 135 companies)

As your extra employee, with pride, your A2IM staff takes dozens of calls from its members every week and in this time of need and continued financial challenges it is the pleasure, no honor, of the A2IM staff to support and represent you all, the greatest privilege of our careers. Your A2IM elected board does the same, meeting monthly, annually setting our priorities on your behalf, always all hands on deck.

Independent music labels are diverse in label sizes with hands-on management, allowing for entrepreneurial speed and based upon genre and geographic diversity provide music with cultural diversity. We thank all of our supporters, especially our associate members who understand the Independent vitality, who increased our access for both marketing & promotion and monetization as we move forward! We thank our publicists at Shore Fire for the fabulous press coverage at all mediums that has increased the A2IM press profile to new heights. We thank you all for your continued financial support of A2IM’s mission, we know it is not easy and we appreciate it.

The A2IM Board and Staff

Posted in News by A2IM

SoundExchange has published a searchable database of labels and artists that are not registered to collect royalties owed them.  A2IM urges you to use this database to search your label (including variations of spellings on your label name including common mis-spellings, if any) and also any sub-labels you control.  We also hope you’ll share this database with your artists and their representatives so that they (along with you) can search their names to see if they’re missing royalties that they’re due.  If you find a label name that you control/own or find one of your artists on this list please make sure that you register with SoundExchange immediately.  If you find your name on the list but are already registered and collecting from SoundExchange please contact A2IM or your representative at SoundExchange to find out why you’re on this unregistered list and make certain that any errors are corrected.

Posted in News by A2IM

If you weren’t able to attend the A2IM Libera Awards in June or even if you did attend, we hope you’ll enjoy seeing the whole show.  Here is the video shot from the sound booth at Le Poisson Rouge on June 21, 2012.

Posted in News by A2IM

A2IM’s Indie Week 2012, which was held in NYC from June 19-21, was a huge success. Over 600 members were in attendance across the three days of events making this the largest gathering in A2IM history. In attendance were delegations from AIM in the UK and China as well as delegates from over 10 other countries around the world and our A2IM members from all across the United States. All the panels are available to watch now and other highlights, which include Rich Bengloff’s State of the Union address and the Obama Administration’s “IP Czar” Victoria Espinel’s Keynote address at the A2IM annual member meeting will be on the website later this week and highlighted in next week’s RoundUp Newsletter

Indie Week 2012 was capped off by the Inaugural A2IM Libera Awards. The Libbies, hosted by John Ross Bowie (Big Bang Theory), were held at Le Poisson Rouge on June 21, 2012. In attendance was a veritable who’s who of the Independent Music Community. A2IM extends a warm THANK YOU to the A2IM Awards Committee for a fantastic event.

Below is a compilation of the press which Indie Week 2012 has received as well as pictures and videos of the panel presentations and annual meeting.

A2IM extends a BIG thanks to our member volunteers (Jeff Kent/Sound Performance, Anna Siegel/7digital, Stacy Karp/A to Z Media, Kyle Olesen/OEM, Jim Logrando/Redeye Distribution, Andrew Keyes/Robot of the Century, Judith Govey, Lara Baker, James Farrelly/AIM, Christina Zafiris, Louis Joachim and Tara Frank) who gave of their time to make Indie Week 2012 run smoothly.

The A2IM staff offer a heartfelt “THANKS!” to our Indie Week 2012 sponsors:

Billboard.Biz (recap of Day One)

Billboard.Biz (recap of Day Two)

Obama Administration’s “IP CZAR”, Victoria Espinel: Indie Week 2012’s Keynote Speaker

Victoria Espinel’s Keynote Address Transcribed

Below are the videos of the panel discussion and annual meeting. Please note, the videos are password protected for A2IM members only. Please contact Sheryl Cohen if you have any difficulties logging in. (sheryl@a2im.org)