Chvrches, William Onyeabor Top Artist Nominees for 3rd Annual A2IM LIBBY Awards

A2IM today announces the nominees for the 3rd Annual Libera Awards (The 'LIBBYs'), to be held Thursday, June 19 at NYC's Highline Ballroom, closing out A2IM's 9th annual Indie Week. The LIBBYs, co-sponsored by Caroline, celebrate the continually expanding successes of Independent labels and artists – and the services that support them – and are voted on solely by members of the Independent community.

Except for album of the year which has 10 nominees, eligible releases (released between March 1st 2013 and February 28th 2014) were narrowed down to six nominees per category (or more in the case of a tie) by expert panels including the most knowledgeable tastemakers, programmers, and professional supporters of Independent music.  Similar to the second annual LIBBYs, which counted The Lumineers, Glassnote Records, and Dualtone among its winners, this year's nominees exemplify both the diversity of the Independent label community in terms of label sizes, geographic locations, and genres of music they release, as well as the critical and commercial success of Independent labels investing in the creation of music by the artists they love.

2014 Libera Award Nominees:

Independent Album of the Year
•    Arcade Fire 'Reflektor' (Merge Records)
•    Arctic Monkeys 'AM' (Domino)
•    Boards of Canada 'Tomorrow's Harvest' (Warp Records)
•    Cécile McLorin Salvant 'WomanChild' (Mack Avenue Records)
•    Chvrches 'The Bones of What You Believe' (Glassnote)
•    Neko Case 'The Worse Things Get…' (Anti Records)
•    Phosphorescent 'Muchacho' (Dead Oceans)
•    The National 'Trouble Will Find Me' (4AD)
•    Vampire Weekend 'Modern Vampires of the City' (XL Recordings)
•    William Onyeabor 'Who Is William Onyeabor' (Luaka Bop)    

Independent Label of the Year Award - 5 employees or less worldwide (sponsored by The Orchard)
•    Daptone Records
•    Ghostly International
•    Innovative Leisure
•    Luaka Bop
•    Rhymesayers Entertainment
•    Temporary Residence Ltd.

Independent Label of the Year Award - 6 employees or more worldwide (sponsored by ADA)
•    ATO Records
•    Dualtone Music Group
•    Epitaph/Anti Records
•    Glassnote
•    Merge Records
•    Secretly Canadian
•    XL Recordings
 
Video of the Year, sponsored by Merlin
•    Arcade Fire "Reflektor" (Merge Records) / Video Director: Anton Corbijn
•    Chvrches "The Mother We Share" (Glassnote) / Video Director: Sing J. Lee
•    Queens of the Stone Age "My God Is The Sun" (Matador Records) / Video Director: Boneface and Liam Brazier
•    Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Retreat" (Daptone Records) / Video Director: Lizzi Akana
•    The Knife "Tooth for an Eye" (Mute/Brille/Rabid) / Video Director: Roxy Farhat & Kakan Hermansson
•    William Onyeabor "Atomic Bomb" (Luaka Bop) / Video Director: Nicolai Troshinsky

Up and Comer Artist Award, sponsored by Beats Music  - Predicting and celebrating the next independent label superstar artist (to qualify artist must have total career sales not exceeding 5,000 full length albums or 25,000 tracks - combined - as of the submission deadline)
•    Alpine 'A Is For Alpine' (Votiv)
•    Angel Olsen 'Burn Your Fire For No Witness' (Jagjaguwar)
•    FKA Twigs 'EP2' (Young Turks/XL Recordings)
•    Lo-Fang 'Blue Film' (4AD)
•    Mandolin Orange 'This Side of Jordan' (Yep Roc)
•    The Strypes 'Blue Collar Jane' EP (Photo Finish Records)

Breakthrough Artist of the Year, sponsored by INgrooves - Celebrating the independent label superstar artist who has for the first time commercially released a music project that has exceeded 5,000 full length album or 25,000 track sales
•    Cécile McLorin Salvant 'WomanChild' (Mack Avenue Records)
•    Chvrches 'The Bones of What You Believe' (Glassnote)
•    Hurray for the Riff Raff 'Smalltown Heroes' (ATO Records)
•    Mikal Cronin 'MCII' (Merge Records)
•    Savages 'Silence Yourself' (Matador Records/Pop Noire)
•    The Front Bottoms 'Talon Of The Hawk' (Bar/None Records)
•    Valerie June 'Pushin' Against A Stone' (Concord Records)
•    William Onyeabor 'Who Is William Onyeabor' (Luaka Bop)
 
Best Sync Usage, sponsored by Silva Screen Music - Celebrating the most creative or most impactful use of independent music in a film/TV/ad campaign
•    Alabama Shakes "You Ain't Alone" (ATO Records) in Dallas Buyers Club by District Music
•    Beach House "Take Care" (Sub Pop Records) in trailer for Blue Is the Warmest Color
•    Cat Power "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (Matador) in Apple iPhone 5s and Airplay – "Misunderstood" by Peymon Maskan and David Taylor at Media Arts Lab
•    Cinematic Orchestra "To Build A Home" (Ninja Tune) in Guinness Wheelchair Basketball commercial by Third Side Music
•    Grinderman "Hyper Worm Tamer (UNKLE Remix)" (Anti-) in Nike Running Presents: The Nike Free 5.0 - online ad by JT Griffith - Nike
•    Junip "Line of Fire" (Mute) in Breaking Bad - series finale trailer video by Bankrobber Music
•    Wax Tailor "Positively Inclined (feat. Marina Quaisse & A.S.M.)” (Le Plan Music) in Motorola G Ad by Revolution Songs
 
Light Bulb Award - Celebrating the most innovative/creative marketing campaign for a project released by an independent label or artist
•    Label Name: Warp Records / Project: Boards of Canada / Head of Marketing: Steven Hill & Josh Berman
•    Label Name: Kill Rock Stars / Project: Win A Date with Marnie Stern / Head of Marketing: Portia Sabin
•    Label Name: ATO Records / Project: The Silver Gymnasium 8-Bit Video Game / Head of Marketing: Will Scheff / Kirby Lee / Jon Salter
•    Label Name: New West Records / Project: Songs For Slim / Head of Marketing: Peter Jesperson
•    Label Name: Ghostly International & Warby Parker / Project: Ghostly International x Warby Parker: Curtis Sunglasses / Head of Marketing: Samuel Valenti
•    Label Name: Luaka Bop / Project: Who is William Onyeabor? / Head of Marketing: Eric Welles Nystrom
 
Hardest Working Artist - Celebrating the independent label artist that worked hardest at their job or was the most instrumental in promoting their music
•    Charles Bradley (Daptone Records)
•    Hurray for the Riff Raff (ATO Records)
•    Local Natives (Frenchkiss Records)
•    Passenger (Nettwerk)
•    Taylor Swift (Big Machine Records)
•    The National (4AD)
•    Twin Forks (Dine Alone Records)
 
Best Live Act of the Year
•    Arcade Fire (Merge Records)
•    Charles Bradley (Daptone Records)
•    Chvrches (Glassnote)
•    Hanni El Khatib (Innovative Leisure)
•    J. Roddy Walston & The Business (ATO Records)
•    Pearl Jam (Monkeywrench Records)
•    Queens Of The Stone Age (Matador)

Creative Packaging Award (Physical or Digital), sponsored by A to Z Media - Celebrating the best or most creative packaging - including bundled packages, premium offerings or artwork/design packaging
•    AWOLNATION - Megalithic Symphony Deluxe Edition (Red Bull Records) by The Uprising Creative
•    Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Daze (deluxe LP) (Matador Records) by Stephen Powers/ESPO
•    Okkervil River - The Silver Gymnasium (ATO Records) by William Schaff/Daniel Murphy
•    Quasimoto - Yessir Whatever (Stones Throw Records) by Jeff Jank
•    Tift Merritt - Traveling Alone (Yep Roc) by Raúl Peña
•    Various - Mexican Summer 5 Years (Mexican Summer) by Jesper Eklow
 
Independent Ally of the Year, sponsored by Caroline - Celebrating the music service provider or partner (including but not limited to physical and digital retailers, media outlets, digital platforms, music supervisors, licensors or marketers) who was most supportive or beneficial to independent labels and artists
•    Merlin
•    NPR Music
•    PledgeMusic
•    Record Store Day
•    Sirius XM Radio
•    SoundExchange
•    Spotify

Jon Salter, GM of ATO Records, which led with seven label nominations, emphatically championed the independent spirit that the LIBBY Awards are about when he learned of the nominations for his label and artists, saying, "To see Indie records topping the charts and competing on a level playing field is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding for ATO and our artists. It's been a very exciting journey for us this year at ATO, and we feel lucky to have achieved such amazing results. Thanks to A2IM, it's going to be another great year celebrating the LIBBYs and independent music with such a thoughtful and creative group of fellow A2IM members who truly know the meaning of artist development."

Luaka Bop President Yale Evelev on the 4 LIBBY Award nominations for Luaka Bop’s Who Is William Onyeabor project, "After five years of trying to reissue William Onyeabor, its just beautiful to see how many people now care about his music. We have worked endlessly this past year to try and introduce him to people in all kinds of ways, and done our very utmost to re-create the very special experiences he created for us. To see him go from being an unknown artist that no one ever has heard of - to someone that's being widely recognized - is simply fantastic."

Portia Sabin of Kill Rock Stars, nominated in the Light Bulb Award for Most Creative Marketing Campaign, “We're so excited to be nominated for a Libby Award! As chair of the awards committee, I've been coveting these statuettes for three years, so it's fun to think we're getting a chance at one at last.  This project was such a blast to do, and Marnie was such a great sport - we ended up with 295 properly completed entries for her to choose from, and she couldn't pick so we sent her on three dates with the top three guys.  It was pretty hilarious and fun, and I think people liked it because it was a different way to promote an album -- a more lighthearted approach, perhaps?  Marnie also had t-shirts on her last tour that said "Win Marnie Win" so I hope we do!”
 
Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day on RSD’s Independent Music Ally of the Year nomination, “Record Store Day 2014 was our biggest yet, breaking all previous sales records and creating a massive social media wave that spread the word on music around the globe. It’s really nice to have Record Store Day be recognized as an ally to the independent artists and labels that A2IM represents. It’s quite an honor.”

Jeremy Peters from Label of the Year Nominee Ghostly International said, "It is an honor and a testament to our insanely talented artistry to be nominated by a group of our peers (including many labels we look up to) for both awards. We can't wait to see who wins, as all of the nominees work insanely hard to promote and release the depth of wonderful independent music that exists in the US."

New West Records' Peter Jesperson said of the nomination for Light Bulb for Most Creative Marketing Campaign nomination for Songs for Slim, " We’re deeply honored to receive this Libby nomination. What a great reward it is for the recording artists, Songs For Slim team and New West, all of whom helped raise money that brought substantial financial relief to Slim and his family. Thank you!"

And Daniel Glass, CEO of Glassnote Records, who saw critical acclaim last year at the GRAMMY awards and with two wins at the 2013 Libby Awards, including large label of the year, said of his label’s five nominations, "We are incredibly honored and proud to be nominated for the A2IM LIBBY Awards. It has been an exciting and vibrant year for Independent Music and we look forward to celebrating with our peers at the LIBBY's!"

In addition to the above twelve categories, Alligator Records Founder Bruce Iglauer will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award; voting on all awards will be open to A2IM voting members from April 25 to May 18.

A2IM thanks the Libera Award Sponsors, Caroline, ADA, Beats Music, Ingrooves, The Orchard, YouTube, A to Z Media, Silva Screen Music Group, and Bandzoogle. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Interested parties seeking to support and celebrate the best independent music artists and labels can contact A2IM for further information.

http://a2im.org/
http://shorefire.com/client/a2im

About A2IM:
A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the Independent music community as a unified voice representing a sector that, according to Billboard Magazine, comprises 34.6% of the music industry's market share in the United States (and almost 40% of SoundScan digital album sales). The organization represents the Independents' interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community.

The organization's board of directors is composed of the following: Concord Records President Glenn Barros; Daptone Records General Manager Cathy Bauer; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Director of Marketing & Sales Richard James Burgess; Yep Roc Records Co-Owner Tor Hansen; Alligator Records Founder/CEO Bruce Iglauer; The Beggars Group Founder/CEO Martin Mills; Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin; Glassnote Records General Manager Chris Scully; Ole SVP Jim Selby; Dead Oceans/Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian Founder/Co-Owner Darius Van Arman; Razor & Tie COO Victor Zaraya.

For more information, or to become a member, please visit http://a2im.org/