2017's Inaugural Electronic Music Awards (Preview)

I've written about the Grammys and Junos before, focusing on their electronic categories, but always lament the lack of coverage they get, as both opt to announce those winners on their side shows. I've since wondered whether we should care about these award shows at all, since they so often leave a bad taste in our mouths (fans and artists alike). Everyone one knows about the DJ Mag Top 100 lists and the controversies they entail, particularly the so called "DJ" list that in the end is a popularity contest among producers, not DJs. Perhaps as a protest, two new award shows have arisen: The Goldie Awards (backed by A-Trak and THUMP, focusing on DJ and Beat Battles) and The Electronic Music Awards (backed by Paul Oakenfold and TV4, showcasing all that is electronic music). For the purposes of this post, I'll focus on the latter as the anticipation grows in the 3 weeks prior to the event.

Originally announced in January of 2016, as the Electronic Music Awards and Foundation Show, and set for broadcast on FOX, this seemed as large and legitimate as anyone could possibly hope. However in the following months the event was postponed for more than a year, renamed and relegated to a Twitter broadcast. The previously 7 categories have grown to 11, and the winners will be announced live September 21st starting at 7:47 PM PDT. So now let's take a look at those categories and their nominees. Note that I won't be making predictions today, but merely digging into the categories and nominations themselves. See the image below or find the direct link to the noms here.

As you can plainly see, the list of names here is absolutely packed with powerhouse producers, deserving DJs, and awesome artists. The organizers have done a good job of separating categories from Producer of the Year to DJ of the Year, and Live Act of the Year. However I wonder about the New Artist of the Year category, as arguably every act has been big since early 2016, if not before then. But since this is the first edition, I'll give them a little leeway in what new means.

Looking through this list it's clear that the same people who would argue that award shows are mainstream, could easily make that argument again here. There are no names that I'm unfamiliar with. It's absolutely jam packed with big names, but at least to their credit those big names come from all over the place. It's not just top 40 radio wannabes or techno titans. There's deep house, hip hop, electro and of course, what continues to be the style of the moment, future bass.

As always I wonder about how these names were chosen, and further how the winners will be decided. The official statement is that "nominees and winners are voted on by sixty-seven members who were selected to represent all aspects of the electronic music community, in a two-round voting process." But who selected these members? And how well are they balanced? Now, I don't mean to claim that there's collusion or foul play, I just always advocate for more transparency. And no matter what people will bitch and moan about this or that. The positive (and value of any award show) is to showcase worthy talent. Sure you can claim that some of these artists need no more showcasing, but their impact is undeniable, and ought to be recognized as such. Now back to those categories.

A-Trak - Best of 2015 Mix

When A-Trak drops a mix, the world listens, and did they ever listen to the tracks he's included in his 2 hour mix for his Beats 1 radio show "Day Off Radio." He's compiled a list of the best tracks from 2015, but not just the biggest and brightest but rather some of his favourites, and he's got good taste!

Beyond the superb song choices, there's the expected yet always unparalleled mixing ability from A-Trak that makes this mix one that will surely get played over and over. And of course A-Trak's always the genre bender, meaning the mix isn't just the best of 2015 in electronic music, or pop music for that matter; it's rife with tracks that you may not have heard before even if you consider yourself highly in tune with this scene or that scene. Not many people are in tune with the world of music as Canadian music royalty, Alain Macklovitch. It's because of tastemakers like A-Trak, Annie Mac, Zane Lowe, Anna Lunoe and the now departed, Nina Las Vegas (to name but a few), that radio still holds some kind of sparkling magic, drawing in it's listeners and maintaining a relationship of trust, wondering just what these soothsayers will play for us next. I highly recommend checking any and all of them out, there's so much music in the world that will truly change your life. Go out and find it, if you don't have the time, find someone whose ear you trust and hold on tight, the world of music moves ridiculously fast.

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