That’s right! As we enter the final month of 2012, we take a look back at the high points of the year, recognizing Artist & Album of the Year, Live Artist of the Year, Breakout Artist of the Year, as well as Music Video of the Year…Lets read on as The 2012 Pier Awards are coming…
Here is a breakdown of each category…
Artist of the Year…
In most cases, a nominee for Artist of the Year can just as easily be nominated for any of the other categories, but that’s not fair. Plus, we did our best to limit one artist per category (w/the exception of Music Videos). So, the five nominees for this category hold a certain weight of influence over the scene with their art and contribution, especially in 2012. This is the most difficult category to nominate groups for, but we feel the selected five groups had an outstanding 2012 with an impact felt throughout the entire community.
Album of the Year…
There were a ton of great albums released and of the five nominated, we look forward to your selection of 2012’s Best Album! Sure, some albums have really good songs that stay with you for awhile and may even wind up on some long term play-lists, but we nominated albums that we feel will stay with you in its entirety, from start to finish. From production to creativity, originality to its likability, we focused on five albums, all of which received the highest star rating in our reviews earning at least four out of five stars. (EPs have been excluded from this category). Read ALL of our Album Reviews!
Live Artist of the Year…
Any artist can stay at home and record music to throw up on iTunes with crazy internet promotion, while playing sparingly at local venues. But to get in a van and do it 100-200+ dates a year at a new venue in a new city each night, isn’t easy. And, if your able to sell out the same city in the same night, your band is on to something. On top of that, you have to be prepared to play at a high energy even if certain shows have disappointing turn outs. Let’s not forget all the work and sacrifice that goes into developing a big enough following to suffice a national tour. It takes time, networking and you have to leave an impact when you take the stage with your live presence, crowd control and sound. We picked five bands more than worthy that did just that in 2012!
Break-Out Artist of the Year…
There have been quite a few re-emerging artists in 2012. From networking, to releasing new music and revitalized touring. Maybe these groups weren’t nominated for Album of the Year, or they didn’t have enough of an impact to be Artist of the Year, but the following groups certainly had a Break-Out year, setting the tone for years to come with their music and contribution. These five selected groups figured it out and have worked their tail off earning them a spot as a Breakout Artist in 2012. It is up to YOU, the fans, to recognize which act was this year’s Break-Out Artist.
Music Video of the Year…
While this isn’t Total Request Live on MTV, we do feel that if you’re a group and you decide to do a full production music video, then it should be recognized. Plus, music videos are rad when quality production is used to complement a new song. We’re not talking about the music videos put together on iMovie with a Flip Video via your home computer; we’re talking about the videos where directors and producers get involved to have a story come to life using high quality production. There are five solid music videos nominated for Music Video of the Year.
COME BACK DEC. 6TH TO VIEW NOMINEES & PLACE YOUR VOTE!
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