THE ARTISTS IN MUSIC AWARDS - THE BREAKTHROUGH SERIES, THAT'S WHAT!
Guess what? It’s May and we’re just a few weeks away from the premiere of “The Breakthrough Series” at Hard Rock Café in Hollywood, CA on June 27, 2013 beginning at 10pm. This will be the first event of the series to officially kick off the 2014 Artists In Music Awards!
FOUR REASONS WHY THIS IS GOING TO BE AN EXCITING EVENT
One, we’re helping out a charitable cause by donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Two, we have some spectacular performers that evening including 2013 Artists In Music Awards winner for Best Folk/Acoustic Artist, Soren Bryce and Best Rock Artist and Best Album of the Year winner, Glitter Rose.
Three, some big celebrities will be in attendance. We’re not at allowed to publicly say who is coming, but you should definitely come and find out!
Four, this is going to be a fantastic photo opportunity on the Red Carpet. You may even get interviewed by inDspotlightTV and by other members of the media.
PRICE
So what is the ticket price? For this event, we’re only accepting donations. We’re asking for $10, but you may donate what ever you’d like. If you can’t afford $10, send us $5. If you are in a position to give $100, please do so! Make your donation HERE
A SURPRISING ACCOLADE FROM A NEW YORK SENATOR!
2013 AIMA winner for Best Electronica Artist and Producer of the Year, Avery Berman of The Ground Above received a nice public notice from a government official.
“…[T]his Legislative Body is justly proud to congratulate Avery Berman of New Paltz, New York, upon the occasion of his designation as recipient of two prestigious Artists in Music Awards” - New York State Senator, John J. Bonacic (R, C, IP) 42nd Senate District.
Read the full public notice at http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/J802-2013
Once again, congratulations to The Ground Above for receiving 2 awards! We couldn’t be more proud of him.
Remember, if you’re a Nominee or an AIMA alumni and you’d like us to put an important announcement or you'd like to brag about a recent accolade in our monthly newsletter, please let us know by writing us at info@aimusicawards.com
New Partnerships and Sponsors!
Earlier this year, we partnered with Arts Seen & Heard PR and they graciously donated a $5,000 grand prize to the Artist of the Year winner. We’ve also established a new partnership with MusicSUBMIT and we are proud to announce the return of 101Distribution and Independent Music Promotions. We are also very proud to announce our partnership with St. Jude Children’s Hospital. They are the official charity of the 2014 Artists In Music Awards. We would also like to thank Spirit Airlines, Advantage Distribution, and of course KGUP 106.5FM “The Emerge Radio Networks”, the official radio station of the Artists In Music Awards.
If you're interested in submitting for the 2014 Artists In Music Awards, we are now accepting submissions. Just go to http://www.aimusicawards.com/submit.html
Thank you!
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Friday, May 17, 2013
What does Hard Rock Cafe, Celebrities, New York State Senate, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have in Common?
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Meet the 2014 Artists In Music Awards Judges
Meet the 2014 Artists In Music Awards Judges!
Guy Towe - Radio Disc Jockey and Host for LA Talk Radio show called "Relevant Music and Muse"
Monday, March 4, 2013
The Truth about Getting Radio Airplay
When the internet began to become the preferred way to listen to music at home and on personal devices like the iPod, piracy began to change the entire industry as well. It almost collapsed the major record label market. Many labels were bought, sold, and dissolved as a result. Now we have an entirely new industry. Fewer CD's are sold and less money is made selling music on the internet. Artists and labels were forced to find new ways to sell music, and that was through live performances and on radio performance royalties, because traditional mechanical royalties weren't paying the bills.
WHY CAN'T I GET MY MUSIC ON MAINSTREAM RADIO?
You can, but it costs a lot of money to do so. Radio campaigns range differently in price depending on the size of the region and how large a network you want to market in. If you want to market to radio stations in the major metropolitan areas, then get ready to cough up in upwards of $250,000 per campaign. If you're doing your own promotion, be prepared to be ignored and get your CD's tossed in the garbage. A station manager or program director gets upwards of 20 to 100 CD's per day. By email, they are unsolicited by hundreds of indie labels and do-it-yourself artists. Guess who's emails and appointments they're going to accept? Not yours unless you're a rep from the "Big 3" (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group) or one of the smaller major labels including Columbia Records, RCA Records, and Epic Records. Priority goes down from there to the next highest labels in the chain.
SO, WHERE DO ALL MY CD's AND PRESS KITS REALLY GO?
You want to know the truth? It goes in a big cardboard box in the back of the office or studio usually where the interns sit during six months of the year. You have to look at the industry from the radio station manager/program director's perspective. It's all about the numbers. If you're barely coming out of your parents garage and you have no following and no "virility", then you are less likely to get their attention. Also, do not just slap together a CD cover with you holding your guitar that you snapped with your iPhone and expect it to be opened and certainly don't write on the CD with a Sharpie and think it's going to be played. It won't. Radio industry folks are people and they WILL judge your book by its cover, so make sure you have a professional looking CD jacket in a professionally shrink wrapped case.
In almost ALL radio stations, guess who's opening your CD's and listening to your music? 9 out of 10 times it is an intern from a local college. These interns are individuals that are typically brainwashed by mainstream society and they most likely listen to popular music and they have no patience for bad art. If your design happens to catch their attention, it better sound the way it looks. If your music doesn't sound like the music they're currently listening to, that intern won't bother handing your CD to his or her boss. The intern already has a specific set of instructions as they go through the big box of CDs, "If you don't like it, don't bother giving it to me". That's a scary thought, right? It's true. Don't believe me, ask for yourself.
HOW DO I KNOW MY MUSIC IS READY FOR MAINSTREAM RADIO?
The best way to find out if your music is ready for the "big time" and will be accepted by a professional representative that will successfully shop your music, is send your music to alternative mainstream radio stations like KGUP 106.5FM "The Emerge Radio Networks" and various other alternative-mainstream radio stations that have a good reputation and play QUALITY independent music. Other reputable alt-mainstream radio stations in Los Angeles include 98.7fm, KCRW 89.9, KROQ 106.7, Indie 103.1,KXLU 88.9FM, and KCLA 99.3FM.
DON'T SUBMIT IT AND FORGET IT
Be proactive. Make sure you are promoting the radio station that is playing your music. Ask your fans to request your songs. If you don't, you may find that your songs aren't even being played anymore. Radio stations often keep your music on rotation based on how well you promote, so make sure you create a designated page on your website and list all the radio stations that play your songs and LISTEN TO THE STATION TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE PLAYING YOUR MUSIC. Do this weekly with all the radio stations you submitted your music to. If you don't hear your song inside of 2 hours, don't complain to the station manager, because he won't listen to you. The only way to get your music back on the air is get your fans to call the station's hotline, emails, or Tweets them to ensure your song is on rotation at all times. The moment you stop promoting, the station managers know this, because they keep a daily log of ALL requests that come in.
GET YOUR MUSIC PROFESSIONALLY REVIEWED
Before you pay thousands of dollars to a representative to shop your music to all the major radio stations in the bigger markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville, New York, Atlanta, or Miami, get lots of reputable reviews from magazine publications, professional music reviewers, and music bloggers. If you're constantly getting rejections, that is a sign that your music isn't ready and needs to be reworked. If you are rejected, don't act proud and curse out the reviewer for rejecting your music. Instead, ask why it was rejected. You might get some constructive criticism that you might be able to use when you record your next song or album.
Another sure way to get your music heard in a major market radio station is to get your music played on a major film or popular television show. Find a licensed agency that will shop your music for the right film or tv show. However, it's not that simple. You need to think like a Sound Engineer. The Sound Engineer is responsible for taking raw footage of a film, tv show, or commercial and puts music in the background of a scene. Don't just throw your music in all directions hoping it will get picked up somewhere. First, have a meeting with your agent and brain storm the available opportunities and visualize your music in that specific scenario. If you think your music will fit a specific score and the right opportunity comes up, you'll have a better chance at landing a licensing deal. Once your song is placed on a major film or tv show and it's a box office hit or a popular tv show with high viewer ratings, then likely your music video will go viral. If your song goes viral on YouTube, it will not only catch the attention of radio station managers and program directors, but also to major record label executives.
YOUR PROFILE
You need a following. Don't just create a website and one profile on MySpace. You will get rejected before anyone presses "play". MySpace is no longer the barometer used to measure your popularity. Other sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are. Sites like Reverbnation will pull data from all your social media sites to measure your relevancy. Sure, 500,000 Likes on Facebook sure looks great and it does look great on your resume, but it's not necessary, because more executives know anyone can buy Followers and Likes. There are plenty of career recording artists that make a decent living by having their music played on the lessor radio markets and it all adds up. Some of these artists have less than 30,000 combined followers and fans (excluding MySpace). You have to assess your own overall profile. Industry professionals like to look at your entire profile and evaluate your activity. They often ask themselves, is this artist proactive? Are their fans interacting with them? Are they frequently performing? Are they involved in charity activities?
IS YOUR MUSIC RELEVANT?
The station manager/program director or executive will ask his or herself, "Is the music trendy today?" You cannot have aged music. Your music cannot sound like it should have been released during 1971. Even 2004 is behind the times. NEVER BE BEHIND THE TIMES. It needs to sound like today or tomorrow. Tomorrow is better, but today is acceptable. Sometimes, it takes more than just good music to engage your fans. You need to bond with them. That means you need to make more appearances and you must never stop applying to perform at festivals, appearing on radio shows, getting on network television and become the "artist of the week". All these things develop a unique persona that make fans want to engage with the artist.
PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING
To most people in the industry and especially in radio, sound quality is as important as the timeliness and relevancy of your sound. Make sure you are working with a sound engineer that understands what "normal" compression levels are and how frequency is done correctly. But, be careful. Even if you ask the right questions, you might have some "hack" lie straight to your face. If you have any doubt, ask for referrals or don't do business with him. Compressing a song for FM radio is vital and can make or break your career before it even gets off the ground, especially if you just spent $5k or $10k to make this EP all to find out that your engineer screwed up and doesn't know how to fix it.
There is a lot to learn about the industry that most independent artists either never learn, learn the hard way, or the information is never shared, because other people don't want to see you succeed. Now you have an idea what really goes on in an actual radio station and how to get your music played on the "all-mighty" FM radio station you've always dreamed of. Now get to work.
Friday, March 1, 2013
NEWS UPDATE: Grand Prize Announcements, Perform at Hard Rock Cafe, and Charity Events!
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We are NOW officially on the road to the 2014 Artists In Music Awards. I can’t believe we are already in our 3rd year!
BREAKTHROUGH AT THE HARD ROCK!
As you may or may not be aware, we will be hosting a series of events called, “The Breakthrough Series” at Hard Rock Cafe or called, “Breakthrough at the Hard Rock” (pending Hard Rock Cafe approval). These events are an 11-show series held at Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Blvd in the heart of Los Angeles from April through October 2013. Two artists will be selected to perform at each of the 11 shows. There won’t be any winners, losers, and no elimination. Just come for great food, great music, great friends, and get photographed on the Red Carpet.
At the end of the series, we will invite 4 artists to come back and perform at the Awards Ceremony.
CHARITY FUND RAISING EVENTS
If you are selected to perform and you already represent a specific charity, we want to know about it and a portion of the donations for that evening will go to your representing charity.
If you are interested in performing during the “Breakthrough at the Hard Rock,” please SUBMIT HERE and let us know you would like to perform asap as these slots will fill quickly.
GRAND PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENT
For the news you’ve all been waiting for. We recently partnered with 2 amazing new companies. First, we reached an agreement and have partnered with Arts Seen & Heard PR, which provides public relations for artists, musicians and writers and has placed clients in local and national publications. They have graciously donated a PR prize pack worth $5,000 that will be awarded to one of the top three recipients for either Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, or Performer of the Year.
We've also joined forces with MusicSUBMIT. MusicSUBMIT has donated a prize pack valued at $500. MusicSUBMIT is a music promotions and internet publicity website for musicians. Music SUBMIT submits your music to genre-specific radio stations, online music magazines, online music directories, blogs, podcasts, indie record labels, and other electronic music media. In addition, 101Distribution and Independent Music Promotions have returned and will also provide valuable prize packages worth $500 each. That's over $6,500 in valuable prizes!
From June 1st through November 1, 2013, fans will decide through the voting poles who are their favorite artists. Between November 1st through November 31, combined with the voting results, the judges will make the final decision who will be the Top 5 Final Nominees in each of the 27 categories, including the Top 5 in the Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and the Performer of the Year category. On December 1st, the voting poles will reopen to the public for the winner take all in each of the categories. On January 20, 2014, the poles will permanently close and we will begin the trophy engraving process. The trophies will be handed in person to each artist that secures their genre category at the Awards Ceremony in February 2014 (date and location TBA).
AWARD CATEGORIES
Over the last 2 years, we’ve had artists ask us to add various genres into our award categories, but unfortunately, we can’t recognize every category that’s out there. However, we want your opinion. Below is the full list of current and newly added genres. We would like to know what you think. What category(s) is missing from this list? Is your genre not represented? Should we add Music Educator of the Year? Should we add Best Songwriter? We want to know what you think. Music Award Categories:  - Alan Freed Award (Lifetime Achievement) - Artist of the Year - Album of the Year - Alternative - Blues - Indie - Christian/Gospel - Country - Dance - Electronica - Folk/Acoustic - Funk (new) - Hip Hop - Latin - Jazz - Metal Band - Music Video - Pop - Performer of the Year (New) - Producer of the Year - Radio Disc Jockey - Reggae - R&B/Soul - Rock - Singer/Songwriter - Southern Rock - LGBT Person of the Year Sincerely, Mikey Jayy Executive Producer Artists In Music Awards Official Website: http://aimusicawards.com Have you watched our promo video? |
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
2013 Artists In Music Awards Recap & Looking ahead to 2014
First I would like to give a BIG thank you to everyone that came to the awards ceremony last Thursday in celebration and support of these incredible artists. We pulled off a very successful Red Carpet Event and Awards Presentation, plus a successful first time Nomination Event and Summer Showcase series during 2012. I am truly honored to have had each and every one of you apart of this incredible platform.
Read the full review of the show here:
Without platforms like the Artists In Music Awards, music artists are subjected to false recognition and unattainable platforms that are nearly impossible to achieve. By supporting our program, you give independent artists a fighting chance with recognition that is truly deserved.
With the 2013 Artists In Music Awards now officially over, we can now turn the page and begin to look forward to 2014.
This coming year, we have a lot of new stuff happening. In case you are not aware, the submission window for the 2014 Artists In Music Awards just opened, so if you'd like to make your run at a repeat win, have your chance at becoming a first time recipient of the 2014 A.I.M.A. trophy, or recapture the title from 2012, by all means, please enter. You are not required to have new material or a new album to qualify. Just bring your “A” game and your desire to be at the top.
We've also added a few new categories including:
Best Funk Artist
Best Reggae
and
Performer of the Year
**************ANOTHER BRAND NEW GOODIE************
"BREAKTHROUGH AT THE HARD ROCK"
Another big opportunity this year will include performing at Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, CA at our event called "Breakthrough at the Hard Rock". We have several shows scheduled this year beginning April 18. Several bands will perform, but only 4 artists will be selected to perform at the Nomination Event and the Awards Ceremony. However, this is subject to change. If there are more than 4 of you that put on amazing performances, we may invite you to perform on one of the main events.
So far we have Whisky Row, Reachback, Lift Off, Glitter Rose, and The Brilliancy are our scheduled performers. Several slots are still available. If you'd like to be considered to perform, please let us know asap as these will fill very quickly.
**************We still have T-shirts left******************
If you did not purchase a limited edition 2013 Artists In Music Awards Nominees t-shirt with all the Nominees names printed on them, we still have a bunch left and they are going for $12. Shipping is included in the price. Just tell us what size you want in the “Add Note to seller”
Men's Sizes:
Medium
Large
X-large
Women's sizes:
Medium
Large
X-large
Send us your $12 payment via Paypal to aimusicawards@gmail.com
While supplies last, we will send you a free Event Program. Of the 1,000 we had on hand, we have 99 left.
*****For those of you that are considering entering the 2014 Artists In Music Awards as a Nominee, here are some helpful tips******
Last year, there were a lot of artists that did everything they were supposed to do and the results of their hard work paidbig dividends. Some of artists created events on Facebook asking for Votes, they even sent out weekly and monthly newsletters asking fans to vote, and posted daily Tweets on Twitter asking people to vote, but many of the artists that submitted never promoted at all or did very little to promote the voting portion of the contest and therefore, they either did not advance to the Final Judges Round or lost in the Final Voting Round, because they simply didn't not ask their fans to support them or were focused on other things. Don’t make this mistake next time.
There were some artists that really busted their butts to win and only lost by a matter of a handful of votes. I think this is an outstanding achievement. That means their fans cared enough and fought for them until the very end. That is something almost worth more than winning.
Now that you know how to win, your name may forever be etched on one our beautiful trophies in February 2014.
This program is not about how many tickets you sell or how many tables you buy. It truly is about the music and about how hard you work to promote your music and promote our program.
In order to make it in this program or in this business for that matter, you need to test the loyalty of your fans. If you are afraid of bugging your fanbase in fear that they may unlike or unfollow you, then you should do something else. If this is what you are worried about, then the small few that complain were never true fans to begin with. You need to be confident, fearless, and be aggressive. This business is all about the numbers. PR reps, Management, and Label Executives will all tell you it's a numbers game. You need the fan numbers to back you up in order for labels to take you seriously. It's not enough that your music is great. You need to find your diehard fans that believe in you and want to help you succeed. They will in turn help promote you, and your numbers will multiply. You cannot sit back and hope people will vote for you simply because you're music is awesome. Your music is your Product and your product is only one of the four P's of your business.
We have established that your music is your Product, now you need to Promote yourself, a Place to promote it (Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, performing at gigs, etc), and the Price (fans get to see their favorite artist win an award). Do not sit back and hide yourself in the studio and write music and jam all day long and make cover songs on YouTube. Get out there. Do interviews. Appear on Red Carpets. Attend charity events. Do things that are out of your comfort zone and have fun doing it. You cannot expect to win anything if you do not have a balancing act between appearing, performing, practicing, and promotion. Each plays a vital role in your career as an artist.
Okay, that's enough lecturing for today.
Mikey Jayy
Artists In Music Awards
Official Website: http://aimusicawards.com
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2013 ARTISTS IN MUSIC AWARDS RECEPIENTS!
Best Folk/Acoustic Artist - Soren Bryce
Best Christian/Gospel Artist - In the Midst 777
Best Blues Artist – Trevor Sewell
Best Adult Contemporary Artist - Tom Slack
Best Country Artist – Katie Cole
Best Jazz Artist – Alex Economou
Best Singer Songwriter – Mika Ben-Yami
Best Latin Artist – Samy Gana
Best Punk/Post Punk Artist – Static People
Best Metal/Hard Rock Band - Haster
Best Music Video - Reachback
Best Alternative Artist – In Air
Best Indie Rock Artist - Walla
Best Pop Artist - The Beu Sisters
Best Rock Artist - Glitter Rose
Best Hip Hop Artist - Ko-Lition
Best Dance Artist - Melanie Taylor
Best Electronica - The Ground Above
Best R&B/Soul Artist - Ill Funk Ensemble
LGBT Person of the Year – Dr John Carvalho
Best Radio Disk Jockey - Diggy Kat
Producer of the Year – Avery Berman
Lifetime Humanitarian Award - Ron Whitaker and Isabella Shaldan
Humanitarian of the Year - D'Andre Lampkin
Lifetime Achievement – Brad Mercer
Breakthrough Artist of the Year - Lisa Panagos
John Cassese “Comeback Artist of the Year"
Album of the Year – Glitter Rose
Artist of the Year - Katie Cole
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