A2IM is excited to announce the 2018 dates for two of its most hotly-anticipated annual events. A2IM Indie Week, presented by SoundExchange in partnership with BuzzAngle, is an international educational and networking opportunity for those in the independent music community, will take place from June 18 to June 21, 2018. The Libera Awards presented by SoundExchange will be held on June 21.
Indie Week will feature a four-day lineup of talks, workshops, and panels by music industry leaders. The event will be held at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center. For decades, the Clemente has worked to foster the downtown NYC arts community and A2IM is proud its members will get the opportunity to experience the magic of the Center and its historic location.
At the culmination of Indie Week, the Libera Awards brings together the luminaries of the independent music world. Held at NYC’s PlayStation Theater, the Awards provide members of the community the opportunity to honor their peers and recognize all they have achieved over the previous year. Nominees will include artists and labels from across the musical spectrum in addition to organizations that have supported independent music around the world.
Indie Week and the Libera Awards are part of A2IM’s four-pronged approach: advocacy, commerce, education, and connection building within and outside the independent music community. From helping promote independent music to standing up for the rights of the independent community, A2IM is dedicated to strengthening the independent music sector as a whole.
Last year’s Indie Week was a huge success, with speakers such as former Pandora CEO and Founder Tim Westergren. The 2017 Libera Awards honored independent visionaries such as Ani DiFranco and Nick Lowe, and were capped off with a stellar performance by the legendary Talib Kweli. A2IM plans for this year’s Indie Week and Libera Awards to be its most exciting and well-attended events yet.
Richard James Burgess, CEO of A2IM, made the announcement on Monday, October 2nd, saying, “We’re excited to share that Indie Week and A2IM’s Libera Awards will take place from June 18 – 21, 2018 with the Libera Awards being June 21. Indie Week will be at Clemente again, and the Libera Awards will be at the Sony Playstation Theater in Times Square. We will have a cocktail party before the awards, a networking party till midnight after the awards and, because we know that won’t be enough for the indies, in grand New York tradition, we will have an after-after party until you drop.
Be sure to mark your calendars and submit your sick leave requests for the Friday after now! Tickets are on sale on our website. They start extremely cheap but, like last year, get more expensive the closer we get, so reserve early!”
A2IM 2018 Libera Awards are presented by SoundExchange in partnership with ADA, The Orchard & INgrooves.
A2IM members can purchase their tickets to Indie Week here and Libera Awards here.
About A2IM:
A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 490 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America’s creative class that represents America’s diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.
The organization’s board of directors consists of the following: ATO Vice President Stephanie Alexa, President of Concord Music Group Glen Barros, Redeye Co-Owner Glenn Dicker, INgrooves EVP & General Manager Amy Dietz, Co-President of Mom+Pop Music Thaddeus Rudd, Big Machine COO Andrew Kautz, Beggars Group Founder/CEO Martin Mills, Hopeless Records Owner Louis Posen, Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin, Secretly Label Group Co-Owner Darius Van Arman and Razor & Tie President Vic Zaraya.
About the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center:
The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center carries the ideas of cultural preservation, the unity of humanity, and the imperative of progress forward in an ever-changing celebration of culture that embraces every part of our organization. The strength of the Clemente’s artistic engagement with our visitors comes from the unbounded expression of its artists, and from the manner in which the Clemente’s building draws the visitor into deeper engagement with the arts.
About The PlayStation Theater:
PlayStation Theater is a 2100-capacity venue operated by The Bowery Presents and designed by the award-winning architect David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group. The venue officially opened in September 2005, and has the capability to hold a wide array of events, including concerts, live television, web broadcasts, live recordings, award shows and event parties.
For Media Inquiries:
Dawn Kamerling
The Press House
[email protected]
646.322.4903