Nominations open today for music industry members to cast their votes for he National Indigenous Music Awards [NIMA] – to be held in Darwin on Friday 19th August.
Members from the music industry are encouraged to submit their nominations in the key categories – Act/Album/Song and New Talent of the Year. Nominations close Friday 22nd July COB.
The contemporary Indigenous music scene has come a long way since its early days in the late 70s / early 80s. Seminal aboriginal bands No Fixed Address/Us Mob/Joe Geia/Coloured Stone/Warumpi Band/Yothu Yindi spear-headed a musical pathway starting in the 70s right through to the early 90s when the ground-breaking ARIA Award winning, double platinum selling “Tribal Voice” by Yothu Yindi significantly raised the bar. With the extraordinary success of what is now termed “the Gurrumul effect” and the remarkable trajectory of Dan Sultan [ARIA Male Artist of the Year 2010] and Jessica Mauboy, contemporary aboriginal musicians have truly found their feet in a broader musical context. Artists such as Archie Roach, Gurrumul, Dan Sultan, Jessica Mauboy, Naomi Wenitong amongst numerous others continue to broaden this pathway for other artists to follow.
The introduction of a national awards system is timely and a natural evolution of the Indigenous Music Awards which has been hosted in Darwin by MusicNT for the past seven [7] years. This year, MusicNT with the support of the NT Government decided it was time to extend the awards system so that it was open to musicians from across the country in order to ensure a true national representation; hence in 2011 “National Indigenous Music Awards” is born.
NIMA organisers are in the final stages of cementing the deals for what is sure to be an outstanding line up – it’s now time for the industry to play their critical role and place their nominations for this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards.
Please note that nominators do not need to nominate in every category.
The National Indigenous Music Awards recognise excellence, dedication, innovation and outstanding contribution to the Indigenous Music Industry and is a peer nominated Award.