Music NB Presents 2nd MNB Awards

Music NB (MNB) will be holding its second edition of the MNB Awards, on October 16th. These awards are designed to recognize excellence in music by rewarding artists and professionals of the New Brunswick music industry. Applications for the 2011 Prix MNB Awards will open on June 20th and will close on July 15th.

Jean Surette, MNB executive director, believes that the MNB Award arrived during a great time for NB music. “After the response we got from last year, it really showed that there is a need and place for this kind of award in New Brunswick. We are swimming in musical talent and we need to recognize the work of our musical artists as well as people who help promote NB music in the province and beyond.”

Music NB Awards were first awarded on October 10, 2010. Chris Colepaugh, Pascal Lejeune, Jessica Rhaye, and the Divorcees were amongst the musicians to receive an award for their recordings.

Eligibility

All New Brunswick artists who have released recordings between January 1st 2010 and July 15th, 2011 are eligible to apply for the 2011 Music NB awards. The submission period starts on June 20th and ends on July 15th 2011, at midnight, Atlantic Time. Online application forms as well as more information on these awards will be available at www.musicnb.org.

Categories
Prizes will be awarded according to three types of categories: general, specific musical genres, and special categories. In the General category, there is an award for Anglophone Album of the Year, Francophone Album of the Year, Male Recording Artist of the year, Female Recording artist of the Year, Group Recording of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year.

Awards will be given for recordings in specific genres: Bluegrass; Country; Folk; Jazz; Blues; Classical; pop; rock; Loud, which includes metal, punk and hard rock; Roots Traditional; Spiritual; Children’s and Urban / Electronic. If a sufficient number of both anglophone and francophone candidates are received for the general and genre specific categories, separate awards will be given for each language.

Submissions will also be accepted in the following categories: Musician of the Year; Classical artist of the year, Music Business of the Year; Music Industry Professional of the Year; Venue/Festival of the Year; Visual Artist of the Year; Educator of the Year; Video/DVD of the Year; Fan’s Choice Award (one in English and one in French); and the MNB Expat Award for artists from NB who no longer living in the province, but have made a mark on the national or international music scene.

The nominees in each category will be announced September 13th, 2011. Voting will begin immediately and close on October 14th. Winners will be chosen by a combination of the following: 50% combined votes of all eligible members of Music NB, 25% public voting through the MNB website and 25%, final jury. All member voting will take place online. Through a new partnership with Bell Aliant, the Fan’s Choice award voting will be through the Bell Aliant website . The final jury, composed of a panel of experts, will vote the week preceding the announcement of the winners. Winners will be announced at the Music NB Music Awards in Moncton on October 16th, 2011.

Music/Musique NB (MNB) is a provincial music industry association that provides a support network for musicians, managers, and businesses that are involved in the creation of music within the province of New Brunswick. MNB is a non-profit bilingual association with ties on regional, provincial, and national levels with government agencies and departments who enable us to lobby, promote our industry, and our artists whenever possible. MNB’s primary responsibility is to represent the interests of its members and foster the New Brunswick music industry. More details on the Music NB Awards may be found at www.musicnb.org