Music fans mark your calendars for the 2012 Artists In Music Awards, Friday, February 10 at the Key Club on the world famous Sunset Strip.
The Artists In Music Awards promotes independent artists and was created to honor and recognize the best independent music artists from around the world in 21 categories and at the helm of it all is its entrepreneurial and talented host and creator, Mikey Jayy.
Its inception began back when Jayy, who wanted to be a journalist, was in college. “I noticed a link on our campus website called “Podcasts.†Only one person was doing podcasts so I asked my newspaper advisor if I could create another type and she agreed,†says Jayy. Soon after “The Great Unknowns Presents†was born.
The premise was to share information on up-and-coming indepen
dent artists to college students. By the end of 2009 Jayy had created a show and online contest designed to give recognition to the artist that had the most listeners—an early precursor to the “AIMA†—but Jayy says, he knew for it to gain any recognition, he would need to expand it even further.
In 2010, he set his sights on producing a major award show, but he wanted something fresh and unique. During this time, “The Great Unknown Presents†was gaining popularity. Still, Jayy wasn’t completely satisfied. He explains, “Most awards in music are based on the work of the producer coupled with record sales and these two elements justify the winning of the award. For independent artists, this is nearly an impossible feat to accomplish, unless they have the backing of a major record label. Th
ere are also many requirements and procedures that must be followed in order win, and often sponsors and radio stations dictate the winner.â€
Jayy says, “I designed the event to truly honor incredible talent. If you listen to all the nominees, all of them deserve to win. But if an artist wins, it’s not because they sold “x†number of tickets or because they have 500,000 likes on their Facebook page. I wanted to make the entire system as fair as possible.†To this end, Jayy recruited outside judges to make decisions on the winning artists. “Artists win because the judges and their fans love their music.â€
Jayy charges a $10 submit fee for the artists through MusicXray.com. He’s taken some flack for this but explains, “For two years, I did my radio for free. I knew I had to earn my place in this industry, but when an event like this costs thousands of dollars and I’m not obligating anyone to sell tickets and there are no major sponsors to back me up, I need to draw money from somewhere to help offset the expenses. I certainly don’t want to throw an event by gouging the artists because frankly most of them are broke. The way I see it, we’re all in this together and that tiny fee can go a long way.â€
Jayy’s radio show pulls in about 37,000 listeners a month, All Indie Magazine roughly 52,000 hits a month and since he is producer/host/publisher, he says, “I get very little sleep. I’m pulled in all directions, but I have an awesome team… and I work with people who believe in what I’m doing. They aren’t here for the money, but for the passion.†And isn’t passion is what independent music is all about?
$25 and $35 tickets (which include the After Party) can be purchased at http://www.keyclub.com/. The show includes live performances. Doors at 7 p.m.
Photo of Mikey Jayy courtesy of Mikey Jayy
Photo of Spaceship Days courtesy of Spaceship Days
Photo of Dymaxion Vehicle by Taylor Van Arsdale
