CMW 2007 OPENS NOMINATIONS FOR INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS: THE INDIES
Deadline for nominations – November 15, 2006
10/3/2006
Canadian Music Week (CMW) is calling all independent recording artists to apply for The Indies – the 2007 Independent Music Awards. The event will kick off the CMW 07 festivities held in Toronto on Wednesday, March 7, 2007. Applications are due on November 15th of this year.
This year’s submissions will be taken exclusively through Sonicbids at www.sonicbids.com/indies2007. Submission rules and regulations can be obtained from the CMW Web site at www.cmw.net.
Presented by inDiscover.net, The Indies celebrate outstanding achievement in sound recording. The awards are limited to independent artists and cover some 14 different genres of music. Winners in 27 of the 30 categories are decided by both a public vote and an industry vote. Four new categories have been added for 2007, including Live Artist/Group/Duo Of The Year, International Single Of The Year, International Breakthrough Artist/Group/Duo Of The Year, and International Video Of The Year.
The Indies celebrate the best in Canadian and International independent music. Last years sold-out event was hosted by Jian Ghomeshi and featured performances by Stars, Elliott Brood, Figurines, The Road Hammers, Rosette, Cursed, The Parachute Club, and The Pursuit Of Happiness. Past years’ winners include The Arcade Fire, Bedouin Soundclash, City and Colour, The Trews, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Alexisonfire, Kataklysm, Death From Above 1979, Hot Hot Heat, Default, The Weakerthans, Fidgital and Dashboard Confessional.
The Indies will also present the 2007 Galaxie Rising Stars Award of the CBC. As opposed to the fan-voted Indie Awards, this honour is the choice of the nations music critics. Music journalists from print, TV, radio and online media will be submitting their top 10 lists of Canadian independent releases of 2006. Sales and airplay are irrelevant for this reward, while artistic merit is the true deciding factor on who will be the winner. All submissions will then be pared down to a shortlist from which these same critics will choose the most deserving recording and determine the 2007 recipient of the Galaxie Rising Stars Award of the CBC.
The Award – a $3,000 cash prize – is part of the Galaxie Rising Stars Program of the CBC, an original program that sets out to discover, encourage and promote new artists.
“The program’s main goal is to enable upcoming stars from all over the country to shine. Since 2001, the valuable partnership between Galaxie and Canadian Music Week has allowed us to highlight the talents of gifted artists year after year,” said Jean-Richard Lefebvre, Development, Partnerships and French Programming.
To date, more than 500 artists and groups have benefited from the Rising Stars Program across the country, including The Arcade Fire, Matt Mays, Lisa Brokop and the 2006 Indies winner, Elliott Brood.
Tickets for The Indies may be purchased on the Rogers Wireless Canadian Music Week web site at www.cmw.net or by calling 905-858-4747.
Keep checking www.cmw.net for updates on nominations, hosts, presenters and performers.
Galaxie is the most listened to continuous music network in the country with more than 5 million subscribers. Thanks to its 45 music channels, uninterrupted by ads or talk, and programmed by music experts, the network has a sound for everyone. Galaxie offers an always-fresh mix of classic hits, contemporary chart toppers and new treasures to discover. Galaxie is available via satellite, digital cable and telecom companies. Many distributors offer CBCs continuous music network on their basic service. For a complete list of Rising Stars Partners and winners, or for more information, visit: www.galaxie.ca
Sympatico.MSN.ca is Canada’s most popular online destination with 17.5 million unique visitors experiencing its entertainment, information and communication services a month. The portal brings together Bell Sympatico’s Web content and broadband services with MSN’s popular Hotmail, Messenger and Search services. Bell Sympatico is Canada’s leading ISP, while MSN and Windows Live Messenger are used by more Canadians than any other instant messaging service and MSN Hotmail is the leading Web-based email service. Sympatico.MSN.ca also delivers exclusive content to Sympatico High Speed Internet service subscribers, as well as value-added services such as MSN Premium.
Canadian Music Week is Canadas largest annual entertainment event dedicated to the expression and growth of the countrys music, media and entertainment industries. Combining two information-intensive conferences; a cutting-edge trade exposition; five awards shows and the Canadian Music Week Festival, CMW spans a four-day period from March 7 to March 10, 2007 at the Fairmont Royal York and various downtown Toronto venues, attracting participants from across the globe. For more information, visit www.cmw.net.
For media information, please contact:
Planet3 Communications Ltd. • Joanne Smale/Sarah Etherden
t: 416.922.4459, e: sarah@planet3com.net
For Canadian Music Week information, please contact:
Bessie Bullard
Communications Director
t: 905.858.4747, e: bessie@cmw.net