Glassnote, Daptone, Arcade Fire & The Arctic Monkeys Celebrated by their Independent Peers at A2IM LIBBY Awards

A who's who crowd of music executives turned out June 19 to celebrate the Independent Music community at A2IM's third annual Libera Awards ("The LIBBYs"), held at NYC's Highline Ballroom and hosted by Comedy Central "Comic to Watch" Kurt Braunohler. Honoring the year's top accomplishments in Independent Music, the room was packed with labels big and small, from around the world, representing every genre imaginable as well as all of the key music service providers. The excitement was palpable as applause roared for both this year's nominees and the triumphant winners who took home their hand-sculpted LIBBY statuettes.

Merge Records' Arcade Fire led with the most wins, taking home three LIBBY awards, including a shared title of "Album of the Year" with Domino Recordings artist Artic Monkeys. "Label of the Year" awards went to Brooklyn funk and soul outfit Daptone Records (5 full-time employees or fewer) and indie powerhouse Glassnote Records (6 full-time employees or more), the later of which took home the award for the second year running. 

A2IM Vice President Jim Mahoney said of the night's celebrations: "What a night! There isn't another event that better captures how independent labels and their artists are enriching today's music landscape. We had everyone from chart topping hit makers to tremendous new artists, across every genre imaginable, being lauded together in one night where we also got to toast one of our great long-time music leaders, Bruce Iglauer... It just doesn't get better than the LIBBY Awards. Congratulations to the nominees and award winners...congratulations to the Independents!"

Bruce Iglauer, Alligator Records' Founder/CEO, was awarded the A2IM Libera Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his celebrated career and long-time leadership within the independent music community. TommY BoY Founder and 2013 A2IM Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tom Silverman presented Iglauer with his LIBBY.

Bruce Iglauer said: "Serving on the board of A2IM has been one of the great honors of my life. I love giving back to the Independent community, which has given me so much."

Merge Records Label Manager Keith Artin said: "Incredible. I'm really happy for the band and everyone at Merge who worked so hard on this record."

Neal Sugarman, co-founder of Daptone: "The fact that this is an award that's voted on by my Independent colleagues makes it that much more special."

Daniel Glass, founder and CEO of Glassnote Records: "On behalf of everyone at Glassnote, I'm a little overwhelmed, it's such an honor. I thank every A2IM member. It's been a tremendous year of artist development, and it's extremely gratifying to be recognized by our peers at A2IM. I couldn't be more proud."

During the ceremony, Jagjaguwar's Angel Olsen was announced as the winner of the "Up & Comer Award" and Glassnote's Chvrches took home the LIBBY Award in a new category, "Breakthrough Artist of the Year", an award which celebrates the best independent label artist who, for the first time in their career, eclipsed sales of 5,000 albums or 25,000 tracks.

Created by and for the independent label community, the Libera Awards - named for the Latin word for freedom - concluded A2IM's 9th Anniversary Indie Week.

 

2014 Libera Winners:

 

Light Bulb Award (sponsored by Redeye) - celebrating the most innovative/creative marketing campaign by an Independent label or artist

Steven Hill & Josh Berman (Warp Records), Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

 

Hardest Working Artist - celebrating the Independent label band/artist that worked hardest at their job or was the most instrumental in promoting their music

Charles Bradley (Daptone Records) 

 

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)

 

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

NPR Music

 

Best Live Act of the Year (sponsored by Entertainment One) - celebrating the Independent label band/artist that had the best live act

Arcade Fire "Reflektor" (Merge Records)

 

Creative Packaging Award (sponsored by A to Z Media) - celebrating the best or most creative packaging including bundled packages, premium offerings or artwork/design packaging

Kurt Vile "Wakin On A Pretty Daze Deluxe LP" (Matador Records) by Stephen Powers/ESPO

 

Breakthrough Artist of the Year (sponsored by INgrooves) - celebrating this year's best breakthrough act

Chvrches "The Bones of What You Believe" (Glassnote)

 

Video of the Year (sponsored by Merlin) -

Arcade Fire "Reflektor" (Merge Records)

 

Up and Comer Award - A2IM Member Vote (sponsored by Beats Music) - celebrating the next Independent label superstar artist

Angel Olsen "Burn Your Fire For No Witness" (Jagjaguwar)

 

A2IM Lifetime Achievement Award - celebrating a lifetime of exceptional independent music success and leadership

Bruce Iglauer (Alligator Records)

 

Independent Album of the Year (sponsored by Spotify) - TIE

Arcade Fire "Reflektor" (Merge Records)

Arctic Monkeys "AM" (Domino Recordings)

 

Independent Label of the Year Award (sponsored by The Orchard)- 5 employees or less worldwide

Daptone Records

 

Independent Label of the Year Award (sponsored by ADA) - 6 employees or more worldwide

Glassnote Records

 

A2IM thanks the Libera Award Sponsors, Caroline, ADA, Beats Music, Ingrooves, Merlin, Spotify, The Orchard, A to Z Media, Bandzoogle, Entertainment One, Redeye Distribution, and Silva Screen Music Group for their sponsorship of the 2014 Libera Awards.

http://www.a2imlibbys.com/

http://a2im.org/

http://shorefire.com/clients/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 recorded music 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.

As of July 4, 2014, the organization's board of directors will be composed of the following: Razor & Tie President Craig Balsam, Concord Music Group President Glen Barros, Secretly Label Group Head of Domestic Sales & Marketing Cathy Bauer, Smithsonian Folkways Director of Marketing & Sales Richard Burgess, Epitaph/Anti- General Manager Dave Hansen, Hopeless Records Owner Louis Posen, Dualtone Music Group CEO/Co-Founder Scott Robinson, Kill Rock Stars Owner/President Portia Sabin, Glassnote Records General Manager Chris Scully, Ole SVP Digital Jim Selby and Tommy Boy Owner/CEO Thomas Silverman. A2IM's president's advisory committee is Warp Records US Label Manager Josh Berman, Mack Avenue Records President Denny Stilwell and Compass Records Group Co-Founder Garry West. A2IM's Worldwide Independent Network lead representative is Wind-up Records General Manager Alan Galbraith.

For more information, or to become a member, please visit www.a2im.org