The People’s Music Awards inaugural live award ceremony went off in London last week to the acclaim of music industry professionals and the winners, who received awards, praise and recognition from the voting public.
The People's Music Awards
The first music awards of its type, The Peoples Music Awards have rocketed to notoriety since their launch online last September, as the first ever-online music network, chart and awards platform for unsigned artists in the world. This has seen bands and musicians hailing from around the globe battle it out to be one of the 9 winners to take home a converted TPMA trophy.
The award ceremony kicked off at Mass in Brixton with a champagne reception where the bands were greeted on the red carpet by the press, and had the opportunity to mingle with music industry insiders, producers, and presenters including Radio 1 producer Alex Kenning and the legendary Mick Glossop and Tony Platt before the formal awards ceremony began, hosted by the enigmatic Mat Fraser and Shappi Khorsandi.
Presenting the Indie/Rock/Metal/Punk category was Kerrang radio DJ and presenter of the Unsigned show Alex Baker who announced hotly tipped hardcore band Lavondyss as the winners to the rapturous audience, swiftly followed by Portugese threesome; Papercutz who “were overwhelmed to win the award” for the ‘Off The Beaten Track’ category.
Praised by the likes of XFM radio DJ and guest judge Eddy Temple-Morris (who presented the ‘Dance/Electronica’ award) as “a beautiful and important awards ceremony, that unlike the Brits (Brit Awards) actually means something to everyone in the room” the inaugural awards have clearly shown their impact on the world of established music. Eddy went onto say “I’m truly honored to be here to present (this) award” before crowning Swindon based dance duo High School Crush the best Dance/Electronic act.
Following award wins by North of Ping Pong (Hip Hop), Future Shape of Sound (Funk/Soul/R&B), Kevin Lucas Orchestra (Pop), Michael Hyman (Male Solo artist), and a double win by Pamela Martin for ‘Best Female Solo Artist’ and ‘Best Folk/Jazz/Lounge/Blues’ categories was a surprise set by Valerie Maxfield. The Selector Award, presented by Selector Radio and Bloom Festival, wrapped up the formalities with North of Ping Pong taking home their 2nd award of the evening before taking to the stage as one of the stand-out performances of the 12 incredible live acts.
Guest judges and presenters soon joined in with the evening’s host of music talent as the after party moved into the early hours with DJ sets from Kid Kanevil, Eddy Temple-Morris and Slyde.
Talking about the success of the awards TPMA director Dylan Satow said, “what makes the awards so special is the people decide who wins! The awards are dedicated to the promotion and development of new and unsigned bands and unlike other unsigned music competitions it’s completely free to take part as a contestant, judge, fan, or all round music lover.
“We are already gearing up for the next awards which are going to be even bigger and better, and are truly excited by the caliber of music that is being entered from all over the world – from Icelandic Hip Hop to Electro Pop from Athens, the site is a real melting pot for new and exciting emerging talent”.