Electronic music has become a popular mainstay genre, with dedicated festivals, celebrated recordings and genre artist giants. The GRAMMY Awards have celebrated dance/electronic music since the inaugural Best Dance Recording category in 2002, and added Best Dance/Electronic Album in 2004.
This fall , the genre gets an awards show to call its own, the way the Alternative Press Music Awards celebrate alternative genres or the Dove Awards celebrate gospel.
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The inaugural Electronic Music Awards has been announced for fall 2017, taking place in an appropriately cool multistage warehouse venue in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 21. The awards will be streamed globally via Twitter.
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"We realized if we were going to do this, it had to be done completely different than any other award show and it had to be live-streamed," says co-founder Luke Alan. "We're also excited to share the show live via Twitter with our community around the globe."
According to Billboard, awards will be given in 11 categories that cover "every level of producer and performer, from the underground to the commercial giants," decided on by industry advisors and executives. Nominees, presenters and performers will be announced as the show approaches. The show is co-produced by Paul Oakenfold and Alan, along with the Hunt & Crest entertainment company.
"The genre and culture has been around now for over 30 years," says Alan. "This year, more than any, it has dominated the popular music charts and festival lineups, and the underground club scene continues to grow around the world. We think it's not only important to shed light on that but to also unite and celebrate our community and colleagues and simply say, 'Hey, we've come a long way.'"
