The official home of Australian Independent Music, a place for music industry professionals alike, featuring the cream of the crop of Australia’s diverse and thriving independent music sector.

We're not sure if you've read this story [pictured right] in The Music Network about Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's absence from our list of nominees for the 2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. We've spoken extensively to their label, Central Station, about the issue and we respect their right to voice an opinion on the matter. They are an independent label who have achieved something extraordinary with this release.

Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP's song 'We Speak No Americano' has achieved incredible success as an independent single. It's a worldwide smash-hit. One of the biggest releases in Australia of the year full stop.

Anyway, we at AIR were a little miffed at the fact that The Music Network didn't contact us before publishing their article. So, here's our response. We've sent a copy to them and they can publish it if they like.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Did it deserve to be nominated? Should the awards just be based on sales or airplay? Should they be based on artistic merit and achievement? What is truly independent and where should we draw the line for these awards?

Dear TMN

Thanks for showing continued interest in the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. Jamie Raeburn and Central Station's frustrations are understandable and warrant an airing but in the interests of balanced journalism we're surprised that we weren't asked by The Music Network for comment regarding Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's omission from the list of nominees before you published the article.

'We Speak No Americano's omission was due to AIR's own confusion about Central Station's relationship with Universal. For the sake of these awards only masters that are 100% Australian owned are in contention. Without delving into the contractual details of every record label's relationship with their distributor we do our utmost to discern where the ownership of the masters lie.

'We Speak No Americano's success has been a phenomenon which has been reflected in our own Jagermeister Independent Charts. However, like the ARIAs, these nominees are based on votes from our judging pool and their inclusion in a shortlist would have been no guarantee of nomination. You'll also notice that neither The John Butler Trio or Sally Seltmann were nominated. Not because they weren't deserving or hadn't achieved incredible commercial or artistic success but because our 250 judges chose otherwise. The nominees this year are exceptional across the board and we stand by them.

In response to the article it's worth letting you know exactly what the voting process for the awards is.

1. AIR gathers a shortlist of artists who have made an impact on the Jagermeister Independent Music Charts from the previous year. We also consult with our membership in case their has been an omission or release that deserves consideration despite a lack of commercial success. 
2. This shortlist, including tracks from the album is presented to 250 judges in a secure voting form. The judging panel is made up of music press (online, street press, mainstream newspapers and specialist music publications), radio (community radio, ABC and commercial) and music industry representatives from the independent sector. As a whole they are unbiased and we do not interfere with their judging.
3. Votes are collated, the top 6 announced as nominees and the winner announced at the awards ceremony.

Both Dance/Electronica and Jazz are genres that rarely make a charts impact so we rely on a smaller number of specialist judges (about 60) who know the Australian scene well. In the case of Dance/Electronica we had specialist judges from music media, festivals and promoters. Dance judges pointed out that the criteria of "albums" is not representative of a scene whose currency is singles and remixes. We've already begun looking at ways to better gauge the success of independent dance artists in future years.

Cheers

AIR