Unsigned Music Awards

The Unsigned Music Awards (often referred to as "UMA" or "The UMAs") is an international televised awards ceremony held annually to recognise the achievements of artists that are not signed to a record label. The awards are part of UMA Music Group and were established in 2016 by Simon O'Kelly, Georgina Thomas and Ben Connor.

Unsigned Music Awards
The official trophy for the Unsigned Music Awards.
Sponsored byLiquiproof
Date16 May 2018
LocationThe Brighton Centre
CountryUK
Presented byUMA Music Group
Hosted byLaura Whitmore & Chris Stark
First awarded2016
Highlights
Icons AwardBoyce Avenue
Best AlbumRothwell
Best FemaleElle Exxe
Best MaleMullally
Websiteumamusic.com
Television/radio coverage
NetworkSky, Freeview, Freesat, UNILAD
Runtime120 Minutes (Live)
90 Minutes (TV)

The first ceremony was held at the Troxy Theatre[1] in London on Thursday 27 October 2016 and will be held annually each year to recognise and champion the continued growth and successes of the emerging music sector.

Since 2016, the awards have been co-hosted by Laura Whitmore of MTV and Chris Stark[2] who is best known as the co-host of The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1.

Ceremonies

The first ever event took place at the Troxy Theatre[3] in London on Thursday 27 October 2016.

The Unsigned Music Awards will return to the UK in May 2018 as the opening ceremony of The Great Escape music festival, forming part of a new deal with Live Nation.

The show will take place on Wednesday, 16 May at The Brighton Centre. Tickets go on sale in Spring 2017.

Definition of unsigned

The definition of unsigned as used by the Unsigned Music Awards is any artist that is not currently in a commercially negotiated recording contract with a third party record label.[4]

So long as an artist owns and controls the rights to their recordings and is in a position to exploit them through fixed-term licensing deals, publishing deals or any other, they shall be deemed an unsigned artist who may be considered for the Unsigned Music Awards.

An artist may still qualify for an Unsigned Music Award if they have a manager, publishing deal, live/booking agent, talent agent, sync/licensing deal, distribution deal or are 'signed' to their own record label, even if they have received outside funding.

Eligibility and voting

The first annual Unsigned Music Awards recognised any music that had been released prior to the 2016 event, making up for the lack in existence of an awards show that recognises unsigned music at this time.

As of 2018, UMA awards ceremonies will recognise albums, EPs, and songs that have released between January 1 in the previous year, and March 31 in the current year, allowing artists fifteen months to work their releases to a point that it becomes notable.

The winners and nominees of the Unsigned Music Awards are selected by a panel of judges who are currently active within the mainstream music industry, working at an executive level across major music industry companies.[5]

From 2018 (with the exemption of some categories) there will be four nominees announced within each of the seventeen categories. In order to ensure that the artists nominated for an Unsigned Music Award meet a certain criteria, three of the four nominees chosen are put forward by the UMA Voting Panel, with the remaining nominee in each category being selected from the list of applications submitted through the UMA website.

TV and media coverage

In 2016, the first ever Unsigned Music Awards was televised on Monday, 31 October 2016 at 9:30pm, four days after the event took place on Sky, Freeview and Freesat via the digital TV network, Showcase.[6]

Since 2016 UNILAD have been the official media partner for the Unsigned Music Awards.[7][8]

YearCountryEventTelevision NetworkKey Media Partner
2016United KingdomUnsigned Music AwardsShowcase TVUNILAD

Awards

In 2016, there were 17 categories up for grabs at the Unsigned Music Awards. The winners are as follows:

CategoryWinnerAlso Nominated ForSponsored ByPresented By
UMA Icons AwardBoyce AvenueUMALaura Whitmore / Chris Stark
Best AlbumRothwellBest Female Solo ActLiquiproofJon Webster
Best Male Solo ActMullallyUberLaura Whitmore / Chris Stark
Best Female Solo ActElle ExxeNKDb Cosmetics
Best Music VideoGunshipBest Electronic Act
Best Live ActBrother and BonesBest Rock Act / Best AlbumTime Out LondonRay Jones
Best Produced / Engineered RecordJerry WilliamsBest AlbumMetropolis StudiosAamir Yaqub
Best International RecordGostoMood MediaLaura Whitmore / Chris Stark
Best International Music VideoMadyxBest International RecordMusic Gateway
Best SongwriterDani SylviaBASCACrispin Hunt
MusicpreneurAnno DominiBIMMJake Shillingford
Best Urban ActMugunCaner Veli
Best Electronic ActMajikRobertson TaylorLaura Whitmore / Chris Stark
Best Rock ActBroken Witt RebelsBest Album
Best Country / Folk ActWesterman
Best Jazz / Blues ActMalaika
Youth Music AwardMomacYouth Music FoundationAndy Parfitt

References
  1. "Unsigned Music Awards 2016: Full Winners List". Music News. Newsdesk. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  2. Kelly, Emma (28 October 2016). "Future of Music? Elle Exxe wins at Unsigned Music Awards". Emma Kelly. Daily Star. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  3. "Unsigned Music Awards 2016: Full Winners List". Music News. Newsdesk. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  4. "Terms and Conditions". Unsigned Music Awards. Legal Team. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  5. "Unsigned Music Awards Voting Panel". www.theumas.com. February 12, 2017.
  6. Stanley, Carl (10 October 2016). "Countdown to Exciting New Unsigned Music Awards Event". Louder Than War. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  7. "UNILAD Partner with Unsigned Music Awards". UMA Music. UMA Music. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  8. Stewart, Rebecca (3 January 2017). "Unilad beats the Daily Mail and BuzzFeed's Tasty to become 2016's most popular Facebook publisher". The Drum. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
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