The official home of Australian Independent Music, a place for music industry professionals alike, featuring the cream of the crop of Australia’s diverse and thriving independent music sector.

Welcome to the 2011 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. Over the coming weeks there's going to be some pretty amazing stuff happening on this website. We're talking about interviews, exclusive stories, guest blogs and news surrounding our annual celebration of Australian Independent Music.

Next week we'll announce nominees across 8 of the 11 awards categories and on October 12th we'll be announcing the winners!

We've got more than 450 music media, music industry, artists and broadcasters as a judging pool, helping us decide what the stand-out independent releases over the past 12 months have been. They're choosing from more than 300 releases put forward by more about 100 labels as potential winners. (check this out if you're interested in knowing what our judging criteria are).

The Jagermeister Independent Music Awards will be held at Revolt, Kensington in Melbourne. Gotta say we're pretty excited about the possibilities that this venue gives us. A beautiful band room/performance space connected to an art gallery where we'll be working with the rather awesome Kane Hibberd (check some of his stuff out) to curate an exhibition focused on Australian Independent Musicians and artists.

 

Revolt, Kensington, home to the 2011 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards

We're honoured to have Australian indie rock icon Adalita who delivered her critically acclaimed debut self-titled solo album earlier this year. We're also giddy with excitement to be hosting Seekae who have honed a truly original brand of organic electronica, hip-hop, indie pop, and ambient post-rock while gathering world-wide critical acclaim... we'll be last stop on their way home from Japan.

Illy will perform his killer  hit single “It Can Wait” with his collaborator and special guest appearance by Owl Eyes while Emma Louise (youtube's "best kept secret") will perform after taking home a stack of Queensland Music Awards last week. Last but not least, we'll all have our heads blown off by the awesome, vehemently independent hard punk rock of Calling All Cars...

One last thing... we don't forget something like this. So we've been working really hard to develop some awards around Dance and Club music that is more reflective of the Independent Dance music community in Australia. This year, for the first time ever we'll be awarding Australia's Best Independent Dance or Club Single. We want to thank the indie dance community for woking with us on this one, their enthusiasm has been inspiring.

Our media partners again will be NOVA and CHANNEL V (we love em)... The whole thing happens thanks to the generous and enthusiastic sponsorship of Jagermeister and it'll all be presented, produced, organised and curated us (that's the The Australian Independent Record Labels Association) with a lil' help from our friends at Mix It Up.

Stay Tuned!

Among all the sorry carnage and sad tales left by London’s looting fraternity over the last three days, perhaps the most devastating for music lovers was the huge fire that destroyed a Sony warehouse primarily used by independent distribution company PIAS.

A three-story, 20,000 square meter storage home for music from a number of independent labels from the UK and the US including 4AD, Beggars Group, Dead Oceans, Domino, Jagjaguwar, Matador, Ninja Tune, Polyvinyl, Rough Trade, Secretly Canadian, Side One Dummy, Silva Screen, Sub Pop, Too Pure, True Panther, Warp and XL among dozens more. Drownedinsound has a full list.  The warehouse was a temporary home for releases from all manner of indie labels and offshoots, and the extent of its destruction is starting to become  apparent. Numerous indies have confirmed massive losses.  Beggars Chairman Martin Mills called it a “horrible” setback for the indie sector.

Street Press Australia posted a shattering quote from the UK's Buzzin' Fly Records - “ Virtually all Buzzin’ Fly and Strange Feeling stock was destroyed in an arson attack on the Sony DADC warehouse in Enfield last night during the London riots... it is unlikely much of our stock will ever be repressed if at all. A huge slice of the label’s history has been destroyed.”

AIM has asked that fans worldwide show their support for the UK indie label community, and help them survive this disaster by buy a digital download of an album from any one of the digital retailers supplying their music.

This way, the labels will be able to re-manufacture their CD’s and vinyl more quickly, to resupply the record shops who are also affected by the riots.

Alison Wenham, Chairman and CEO of AIM: “This is a disaster for the music community, but with the fans’ help, labels and artists will survive. Please show your support for the music community by buying a digital album from an independent label today”.

What would it mean to our Australian indie sector if dozens of our labels lost ALL of their physical product? How could they survive? What would it mean for the artists on those labels? So many of our indie labels live a hand to mouth existence, re-investing any capital into the recording and manufacture of more releases. This means that a hit like this has the potential to devastate labels that play such an important role in the creation of new music.

Below is an unedited blog entry that 360 wrote for the this website. He's a master of pop hooks, arguably one of Australia's most exciting MC's and one of the crudest, funniest, most politically incorrect artist we follow on twitter.

You should know that he writes words lik c**t and f**k in it. If you're offended by that then you shouldn't read on...

 

SOCIAL MEDIA 101
by 360

 

To give you a bit of background, ever since i was 14 i've been a bit of an internet fiend.. i used to go on rap forums and post my lyrics for people to criticise etc.. in school holidays i wouldn't chill with my mates and party, i'd just go on these websites and write raps and battle people, i lived for it..   i cut down on my internet usage from the age of 16 - 18.. but then came myspace, and my addiction had officially arrived.. back then i wasn't using it for music networking or anything like that, it was strictly to find hot girls who lived in australia.. i used it so much to the point i'd be at a friends house and everyone would be having a good time and then i'd wonder off to go use myspace and look up babes.. it was pretty pathetic. Over time, Facebook came along causing myspace to die in the arse and twitter had made its arrival into the internet world.

The internet has completely flipped the whole music industry on its head, we all know that. A lot will say its killing the industry and its sad to watch, which i understand. Apart from live music it is totally dominating. In a way the pathetic addiction i had as a young'n has come to serve me greatly today. Some artists are capitalising on the social media avenue, some aren't, i'm one that is.

My 360 fanpage has grown to over 50,000 fans now, and im followed by more than 4,000 people on twitter. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that i don't strictly use my Facebook to promote my music.. i use it like its my personal page. i post random status updates, stupid pictures, links to funny video's on youtube, everything. THERE IS NOTHING MORE ANNOYING THAN SPAM! i see so many young artists trying to capitalise on the whole social media thing, and they really struggle. They put in so much time and effort in posting on everyones wall, sending links to shows, music whatever.. unless you have a big profile, spamming NEVER works. I see a lot of kids going so hard on the social media front when they really should be using that time to make their music good.. Having good quality music in the long run is better promotion than any social media skills someone can have.. not to be a hater but i see too many kids promoting the fuck out of their music when their music is trash. A lot of kids understand that social media is so important these days, which is good, but having social media presence and forcing your music down peoples throats wont gain you fans. in the long run it is all about the music.

If you follow me on twitter or are a fan of my Facebook page, you will know i post A LOT. you will also know that i post a lot of politically incorrect, obnoxious, stupid and random shit.. im just being myself. I was asked a while ago by management if i could 'tone it down' a little, cut out using the word 'cunt' etc. I was even asked to start another account under an alias and let management take over my twitter account to strictly post music updates.. fuck that. The whole reason i have so many fans is because i say whatever i want to say. I personally LOVE seeing artists post hilarious, rude and sometimes politically incorrect shit on twitter..  it makes me like them more as a person rather than an artist. Of course it has its pro's and cons.. i have no doubt in my mind i have lost heaps of fans due to me being so outspoken/crass on twitter and Facebook, im cool with that though. with 3 fans lost there are 30 gained. i truly believe me just being myself, no holds barred is what has gained me such loyal following on Facebook. That and constantly delivering music which i believe is quality.

Some people have said that im like a "social media guru" but i don't really see it like that.. everything that has happened is all natural.. my idea to start 'Rapper tag' wasn't  a calculated move. Starting this 'Shoosh cunt' (shooshcunt.tumblr.com) trend wasn't a calculated move.. things just seem to catch on.. i have an idea and i run with it, thats it. the important thing is to just be yourself and hope people buy into you as a person as well as an artist, because thats what will gain you a loyal following.

 

===================================================================

If you haven't seen rappertag.. check it now. Amazing. What other genre would you see such incredible comeraderie?

Check "Just Got Started" and "Thow it Away" featuring Josh Pyke here.

360 on Twitter
360 on Facebook
360 on the interwebs

 

Twitter is awesome. Last week a twitter user (@wraptinmusic) tweeted this to us:

"Does anyone know the stats for % of male vs female artist play on radio in Australia? @triplej @ausindies @fbiradio @homeandhosed"

The question got us thinking. The feeling around the office was that we hear heaps more male voices on the radio, but perhaps we should find out for sure?

Sample Size
We got our hands on 'spin' reports from every commercial radio network in Australia as well as dozens of the highest profile community and regional stations, Triple J, ABC local radio and Radio National. We ended up with a list of the 2,000 most played songs across Australia for June 2011.

Definition of Male And Female Music

We went through every song and identified whether the voice was male or female. This means that an artist like Sneaky Sound System would be considered female despite those hits featuring two males and one female. Oh Mercy have a female bass player amongst their members but the male singer means their songs would be considered male.

 

Results
Of the 2,000 most played songs in Australian Radio during June 2011:

• 1,634 featured male vocals, that's 81.7%
• Only 366 featured female voices, that's 18.3%

When we adjust the statistics, taking into account the number of spins each track had (ie Katy Perry and Adele's respective 3040 and 3016 spins obviously have more impact than Bluejuice's 106 spins) the stats were still incredibly skewed.

Of the 348,329 separate spins in this study:

• 265043 spins featured male vocalists, that's 76.1%
• 83191 spins featured female vocalists, that's 23.9%

Wow. We're not sure why this trend exists. Is it a result of listener tastes? Radio music directors? Audience surveys? Less female signings to labels? Less female participation in the music industry? Any ideas? Email us at newsletter@air.org.au

Thanks to @wraptinmusic for asking the question and thanks also to our excellent intern Eddie who came in and spent a day processing the stats.

42 years ago, the Australian government passed an unusual law that still effects the music industry negatively today.

As part of the Copyright Act of 1968, the Australian government imposed a 1% cap on commercial radio revenue payable to record labels and recording artists for their music. That same copyright cap also dictated that the ABC pay a mere $0.005 (half a cent) per head of population for all of the music it plays.

This outdated law imposed limitations on commercial negotiations and didn't take into account any potential changes to the Australian radio landscape in the future, so much has changed since then. The 1% cap is a law that is outdated, a law that in effect provides a subsidy to a billion dollar media industry at the expense of record labels and musicians.

On May 10th, the PPCA will to take to the High Court of Australia on behalf of their members (many of whom are independent) and the Australian recording industry as a whole to challenge the validity of the 1% Cap. We support them 100%. An historic win next month at the High Court will make a significant difference to record labels and musicians Australia-wide. Here's why.

 

WHY THE 1% CAP NEEDS TO BE REMOVED

At the time that the 1% cap was introduced, no-one envisaged the phenomenal growth of commercial radio in Australia. In fact, last year the industry which had grown to include 273 commercial radio stations Australia-wide reported combined revenues of more than a billion dollars over the 2010 calendar year. It is estimated that 70% of that money comes from the FM sector. Commercial radio is an industry that leverages huge sums of money from advertisers due to combined audiences of more than 9 million people.

But people don't listen to radio for the ads...

None of the powerful Australian commercial FM networks could survive by providing a diet of talk and advertisments without music. A billion dollar industry built on the back of musical content now only pays approximately $4 million dollars a year for the music that they play.

Normally rates paid by users of music (or for that matter, any copyrighted material) are negotiated between the record labels and the users, if they can't reach agreement the issue will go to the Copyright Tribunal for an independent hearing. The only exception to this process is the broadcast licence fee paid by radio stations for use of sound recordings, where the cap hinders labels by providing a ceiling to all negotiations which favours the users.

Meanwhile, the ABC's $0.005 'per capita' cap was set long before the ABC grew from a few talk focused stations in major cities into a vast multi-media network of local radio stations, online radio, digital radio, Radio National, Radio Australia, Dig Radio and of course Triple J. Even if we forget about the fact that the ABC must be playing vastly more music than it was in 1969 we could just take into account the increased cost of living (CPI) and see that the cap should have increased 10 times its current level.

The whole situation means that owners of master copyrights are only getting paid one tenth the amount that APRA registered songwriters and publishers are receiving for the same material.

If the PPCA wins their case at the High Court (even though we may not find out the verdict for 6 to 12 months) then they'll be free to negotiate with Commercial Radio and the ABC (with or without the help of the Copyright Tribunal).

In the end, we're looking for an independent and fair assessment of the value of music to commercial radio and the ABC, which will lead to fair remuneration for musicians and record labels and bring the Australian industry in line with dozens of countries around the world.

There's been some interesting online debates, comments and opinions published in the wake of the 2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards - The Vine, Mess+Noise and Collapse Board, to name a few.

AIR's general manager, Nick O'Byrne, took to Mess+Noise to respond publicly.

M+N Exclusive: AIR Responds

News posted Tuesday, October 5 2010 at 04:00 PM.

General manager of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association NICK O’BYRNE responds to some of the online criticism of last Friday’s Jagermeister Independent Music Awards, including Nova’s sponsorship and acknowledging acts with major label ties.

For AIR, an independent label is a company that is 100 percent Australian, owns the master rights for recorded music and “exploits” it for commercial gain. It’s a broad definition that includes some of the countries biggest music companies such as Shock, Inertia, Liberation and MGM through to micro-businesses and labels like Tall Poppy, Rice Is Nice, Aarght!, Newmarket and Room 40.

AIR was set up 15 years ago by a bunch of independent record labels who weren’t altogether happy with the representation they were getting through ARIA. ARIA’s constitution is designed so that major label board members have the power to veto any decision made by the independent representatives on ARIA’s board. It means when major and independent interests don’t align, Independent labels miss out.

Click here to read Nick's full response on Mess+Noise. (Dan Sultan photo credit: Carbie Warbie)

On the brighter side, we'd like to thank a handful of dedicated music bloggers for their support in the lead-up to this year's Awards. Specifically, the following:

Erin of the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative for her support in promoting this year;s awards; Jim of the All Aussie Hip Hop blog and Jacob from Pigeons and Planes; Damien of auspOp for his coverage of the nominations; Sarah and the team at No Heroes Mag for their props to The Amity Affliction; Bobby Six for his blog on Cloud Control's nominations; Ben Vernel at CTRL-X; Lauren for her Electric Skeleton blog entry, and great commentary about the AIR Awards, and finally, thanks to Peter at Jazz & Beyond for their event listing.

For more info on the Awards, Charts and Independent music, check out http://www.ausindies.com.au/

Ahead of the 2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards, held October 1 at The Forum Theatre in Melbourne, we're pleased to announce the nominees for Best Independent Jazz Album. As follows:

BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM

• Allan Browne Quintet - Une Saison En Enfer (Jazzhead)
• Joe Chindamo - Another Place, Some Other Time (Jazzhead) [music video for 'Raising Arizona' embedded above]
• Jonathan Zwartz - The Sea (Vitamin)
• Mike Nock Trio - An Accumulation Of Subtleties (FWM Records)
• Stu Hunter - The Gathering (Vitamin)

For the full list of the 2010 Independent Music Award nominees, click here. 

The 5th Annual Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are held at The Forum Theatre, Melbourne on Friday October 1st, 2010, featuring live performances from British India, Cloud Control, The Amity Affliction, M-Phazes, Sally Seltmann and Joe Chindamo. Doors open at 8:00pm; tickets are $29+BF and available now via Ticketmaster.

For more info on AIR and Australian independent music, visit http://www.ausindies.com/

We're not sure if you've read this story [pictured right] in The Music Network about Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's absence from our list of nominees for the 2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. We've spoken extensively to their label, Central Station, about the issue and we respect their right to voice an opinion on the matter. They are an independent label who have achieved something extraordinary with this release.

Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP's song 'We Speak No Americano' has achieved incredible success as an independent single. It's a worldwide smash-hit. One of the biggest releases in Australia of the year full stop.

Anyway, we at AIR were a little miffed at the fact that The Music Network didn't contact us before publishing their article. So, here's our response. We've sent a copy to them and they can publish it if they like.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Did it deserve to be nominated? Should the awards just be based on sales or airplay? Should they be based on artistic merit and achievement? What is truly independent and where should we draw the line for these awards?

Dear TMN

Thanks for showing continued interest in the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. Jamie Raeburn and Central Station's frustrations are understandable and warrant an airing but in the interests of balanced journalism we're surprised that we weren't asked by The Music Network for comment regarding Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's omission from the list of nominees before you published the article.

'We Speak No Americano's omission was due to AIR's own confusion about Central Station's relationship with Universal. For the sake of these awards only masters that are 100% Australian owned are in contention. Without delving into the contractual details of every record label's relationship with their distributor we do our utmost to discern where the ownership of the masters lie.

'We Speak No Americano's success has been a phenomenon which has been reflected in our own Jagermeister Independent Charts. However, like the ARIAs, these nominees are based on votes from our judging pool and their inclusion in a shortlist would have been no guarantee of nomination. You'll also notice that neither The John Butler Trio or Sally Seltmann were nominated. Not because they weren't deserving or hadn't achieved incredible commercial or artistic success but because our 250 judges chose otherwise. The nominees this year are exceptional across the board and we stand by them.

In response to the article it's worth letting you know exactly what the voting process for the awards is.

1. AIR gathers a shortlist of artists who have made an impact on the Jagermeister Independent Music Charts from the previous year. We also consult with our membership in case their has been an omission or release that deserves consideration despite a lack of commercial success. 
2. This shortlist, including tracks from the album is presented to 250 judges in a secure voting form. The judging panel is made up of music press (online, street press, mainstream newspapers and specialist music publications), radio (community radio, ABC and commercial) and music industry representatives from the independent sector. As a whole they are unbiased and we do not interfere with their judging.
3. Votes are collated, the top 6 announced as nominees and the winner announced at the awards ceremony.

 

Both Dance/Electronica and Jazz are genres that rarely make a charts impact so we rely on a smaller number of specialist judges (about 60) who know the Australian scene well. In the case of Dance/Electronica we had specialist judges from music media, festivals and promoters. Dance judges pointed out that the criteria of "albums" is not representative of a scene whose currency is singles and remixes. We've already begun looking at ways to better gauge the success of independent dance artists in future years.

Cheers

AIR

We're rather excited (read: pretty f*ckin pumped!) to be announcing  nominees for the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards!

Big winners were Dan Sultan and Cloud Control, each with 3 nominations. The Jezabels and Eddy Current Suppression Ring also each picked up 2 nominations.

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

 

BEST INDEPENDENT ARTIST

British India (Independent/Shock)
Cloud Control (Ivy League)
Dan Kelly (Independent/Shock)
Dan Sultan (Independent/MGM)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring (Aaarght!)
Sia (Independent/Inertia)

 

BREAKTHROUGH INDEPENDENT ARTIST

Bridezilla (Inertia Recordings)
Cloud Control  (Ivy League)
Otouto (Two Bright Lakes/Inertia)
Philadelphia Grand Jury (Boomtown Records/Shock)
Richard In Your Mind (Rice Is Nice/Other Tongues)
The Jezabels (Independent/MGM)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT ALBUM

Cloud Control – Bliss Release (Ivy League)
Dan Kelly – Dan Kelly’s Dream (Independent/Shock)
Dan Sultan – Get Out While You Can (Independent/MGM)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Rush To Relax (Aaarght! /Shock)
Rowland S Howard – Pop Crimes (Liberation)
Sia – We Are Born (Independent/Inertia)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT SINGLE OR EP

Bliss N Eso – Down By The River  (Illusive)
Little Red - Rock It (Liberation)
Philadelphia Grand Jury – The Good News (Boomtown/Shock)
Sia – Clap Your Hands (Independent/Inertia)
The Jezabels – She’s So Hard (Independent/MGM)
The Temper Trap – Love Lost (Liberation)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM

Ash Grunwald – Hot Mama Vibes (Delta Groove/Shock)
Dan Sultan – Get Out While You Can  (Independent/MGM)
Jeff Lang  - Chimeradour (ABC Records)
Mama Kin -Beat and Holler (Independent/MGM)
The Beautiful Girls – Spooks (Independent/MGM)
The Red Eyes – Red Army (Independent/MGM)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM

Allan Browne Quintet - Une Saison En Enfer (Jazzhead)
Joe Chindamo - Another Place, Some Other Time (Jazzhead)
Jonathan Zwartz - The Sea (Vitamin)
Mike Nock Trio - An Accumulation Of Subtleties(FWM Records)
Stu Hunter - The Gathering (Vitamin)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT HARD ROCK OR PUNK ALBUM

50 Lions – Where Life Expires (Resist/Shock)
Calling All Cars – Hold, Hold, Fire (Independent/Shock)
House Vs. Hurricane – Perspectives (Independent/Shock)
Parkway Drive  - Deep Blue (Resist/Shock)
The Amity Affliction – Youngbloods (Boomtown/Shock)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY ALBUM

Amber Lawrence – When It All Comes Down
Deborah Conway and Willy Zyger – Half Man, Half Woman (Independent/MGM)
Kasey Chambers, Poppa Bill and The Little Hillbillies – Lost Music Blues (Liberation)
The Dingoes – Tracks (Liberation)
The Sunny Cowgirls – Summer (Compass Brothers/Shock)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT HIP HOP/URBAN ALBUM

Horrorshow – Inside Story (Elefant Traks/Inertia)
Lowrider – Round The World (Illusive)
M-Phazes – Good Gracious (Obese Records)
Ozi Batla – Wild Colonial (Elefant Traks/Inertia)
Urthboy – Spitshine (Elefant Traks/Inertia)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE / ELECTRONICA ALBUM

Faux Pas - Noiseworks (Sensory Projects/Inertia)
Jamie Lloyd - Beware Of The Light (Future Classic)
Midnight Juggernauts - The Crystal Axis (Siberia/Inertia)
Nick Thayer - Just Let It Go (Independent)
Opiuo - Slurp And Giggle (Addictech)
Space Invades - Soul:Fi (Invada Records)