ARTIST MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: This is open to marketing staff who have worked on a UK music industry marketing campaign in 2009 for a specific artist release (as well as those for UK-signed artists internationally) in traditional and digital environments. Campaigns which have achieved widespread business-to-business and consumer objectives are recognised, as well as those which have used limited resources to gain maximum impact.
INDEPENDENT ARTIST MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Qualification for entry: companies are 51% independently owned. Sister award to the existing artist marketing award, this recognizes the challenges faced by independent companies as well as their ability to adopt a flexible approach to exploring the opportunities for grass-roots marketing, particularly in the digital environment via social network sites.
CATALOGUE MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Innovation is the hallmark to the successful marketing of catalogue in a highly competitive field. This award makes particular reference to innovation and excellence in the following areas: price, packaging, presentation and compilation and also recognizes that harnessing these elements into a marketing campaign is the result of strong team-work and inter-company communication.
MUSIC AND BRAND PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Suitability and creativity are the watchwords for this category which is open to projects based on the partnership of music with a particular consumer brand. It is open to entries from record labels, publishing companies, artist management, websites and brand marketing agencies.
MUSIC SYNC OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to staff at record and publishing companies and marketing and advertising agencies, this award considers the wow factor achieved by the placement of music within advertising campaigns, games, film and television projects as well as the more recent development of tailored soundtracks for iBooks, Kindle, Reader and other handheld reading devices.
Not only does this award consider the suitability and surprise element of juxtaposing particular pieces of music with other media, it also recognises how this can in turn propel sales beyond the specific sync into soundtracks, compilations, downloads, etc.
INDEPENDENT BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Qualification for entry: companies are 51% independently owned. Open to labels and publishers which have recorded a notable breakthrough in their business achievements in the year, whether by exploiting catalogue and sync opportunities or excelling in a&r and achieving chart profile for new and/or established artists and writers.
CONSUMER-FACING DIGITAL MUSIC SERVICE OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to consumer-facing digital music businesses and professionals offering streaming, subscription, downloading, recommendation/discovery and/or a mixture of these and other services.
SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to sales forces of any size from independent and major UK music companies, this award recognizes the sales team which achieves success in terms of customer services, field sales reliability, product and specialist knowledge and depth of advance information.
PR CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to in-house and independent press office teams, PRs and publicists, this award recognizes the most effective consumer and trade campaigns in terms of both quality and quantity across traditional and digital media, with particular emphasis on those which have addressed the onset of online social networks and harness mobile download software and services. Effective use of existing and new materials, as well as originality and imagination, will also be taken into account.
PROMOTIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Judged on the presentation of written entries, this applies to regional and national promotions teams which are required to provide details of a maximum of four artist campaigns outlining objectives and outcomes. Originality, creativity and imagination are recognized as being key to the delivery of a successful campaign.
NATIONAL RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Regardless of genre, geographical location or size, this award is open to analogue, digital and online national radio stations.
Some radio “brands” may wish to enter the National category as well as the Regional category, but must submit separate entries, as long as they have chosen to be measured by Rajar on a national basis.
As well as music policy, quality of promotion, DJ roster and editorial standards, this award also recognises quality of content (including range and frequency of updates), innovative programming, ingenuity in reaching the target audience, marketing and station branding and digital and online innovation. * *For this category, please make sure you upload audio files to support your entry.**
REGIONAL RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Regardless of genre, geographical location or size, this award is open to analogue, digital and online regional radio stations.
Entrants to the national radio station category may also submit individual stations on the basis of regional RAJAR figures if applicable.
As well as music policy, quality of promotion, DJ roster and editorial standards, this award also recognises quality of content (including range and frequency of updates), creative programming and ingenuity in reaching the target audience, marketing and station branding and digital and online strategies. * *For this category, please make sure you upload audio files to support your entry.**
DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to independent and major physical and online distribution companies, this award recognizes customer service, speed of delivery, order fulfilment, and product condition as well as innovative and successful strategies adopted by companies to combat the economic circumstances and the drastically changed distributive landscape.
INDEPENDENT MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Qualification for entry: companies are 51% independently owned. This applies to those working in both the online and physical environments providing excellence of service and product range to consumers on the basis of product knowledge and retail innovations.
SPECIALIST MUSIC RETAIL BRAND OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to all music retail brands operating either on the high street, online or both, and selling physical or digital product or both, this category recognises those companies whose business is predicated on music sales and - as well as providing excellent customer service/experience, product knowledge, range and retail innovations - have displayed a commitment to breaking new acts/genres.
MAIL-ORDER ONLINE RETAILER OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Concomitant with the rise in download sales has been an upward surge in mail-order business based in online presences such as websites, eBay shops and user-built databases (which operate as marketplaces for small traders). Collectible formats, particularly vinyl, have benefited from the growing passion among music consumers to seek out catalogue items online. This category is open to companies and individuals utilizing the latest technology to retail one of the music business’s oldest formats.
NON-SPECIALIST MUSIC RETAILER OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Independent and multiple retail companies whose businesses are not predicated on music - such as supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol stations, book and fashion retailers - yet have made a significant contribution (either in terms of scale or qualitative and innovative retail concepts) to overall music sales in 2009.
LIVE MUSIC VENUE OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to venues of any size which have presented live music events in 2009, this award considers customer service, successful venue management, facilities, equipment and services available in-house for artists and promoters. Also taken into account are intelligent use of partnerships with brands and artists, audience loyalty, scheduling, transport, booking policy and general amenities.
LIVE PROMOTION TEAM OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to the employees of companies who work across the board on all the facets of live promotion, this award recognizes that the nature of this work, while reliant on leadership, is predicated on the knowledge, multi-disciplinary skills and group experience of a number of individuals.
There is a quantitative element - overall output of shows by established and new acts, scale of ticket sales, sell-outs achieved - but this award is also about quality and innovation in such areas as ticketing, marketing and user-friendliness within the industry.
LIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: This also recognizes team efforts by those working within the British live music agency business, in particular the achievements of staff communicating and applying shared knowledge and experience to successful projects such as developing rosters of new and established artists, developing relationships with promoters and venues, and maximizing live exposure for their acts.
Given the international nature of the British live music agency business, this award must reflect feedback from overseas companies as well as success in terms of ticket sales in the UK and around the world.
LIVE PRODUCTION TEAM OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: Open to a professional audio team (ostensibly, a hire company/live sound service provider) who have excelled in the live environment on a project or number of projects by working together and providing expertise, infrastructure, equipment and technical support, made evident in productivity, motivation, repeat business and audience satisfaction.
ONLINE MUSIC DESTINATION OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: This category is open to specialist online music publications presenting commentary, criticism, news and access to downloads, with special reference to subscription levels, interactivity and quality of design as well as scope of music made available.
This category will be posted online for the musicweek.com audience to vote for a shortlist from which a winner is selected by the panel of experts.
DIGITAL ARTIST TOOL OF THE YEAR
CRITERIA: This award goes to the best and most user-friendly digital tools - whether device, service or software - designed specifically for musicians to enable not only the creation of music but also its marketing and distribution to consumers.
This category this will be posted online for the musicweek.com audience to vote for a shortlist from which a winner is selected by the panel of experts.
