Nominations for the 2020 Steamtown Music Awards now open, with new categories added to Scranton event
Starting today, nominations for the 2020 Steamtown Music Awards are open from now until Tuesday, June 30.
The public can nominate their favorite artists and music industry professionals for the seventh annual local music awards ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, Sept. 10 and serve as the opening of the Electric City Music Conference in Scranton.
Nominations are accepted by visiting electriccitymusicconference.com/awards.
“Some people love online voting. Most people hate it. But, we feel as though it’s part of the excitement around the event and believe it’s important to let people have a say in the process,” ECMC co-founder Joe Caviston said.
“We’re just more prepared after seven years of taking criticism and learning from it.”
Nominations will close on June 30, and online voting for the award categories that allow public voting will open shortly after that.
A panel that consists of local music industry professionals and past award recipients will vote on all awards. This committee is currently being reassessed and resembled, and the 2020 members will be announced later this month.
Nominations are being accepted for the following categories: Acoustic/Solo, Best New Artist, Blues/R&B, Country, DJ, Duo/Trio, Electronic, Folk/Americana, Hip-Hop/Urban, Indie, Jam/Reggae, Jazz/Swing/Big Band, Metal, Pop/Top 40, Punk/Hardcore, Rock/Alt Rock, Tribute/Cover, Music Video of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.
Nominations for individual awards are as follows: Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, Guitarist, Bassist, Drummer, and Best Auxiliary Musician (keyboard, piano, saxophone, etc.).
Local music industry professionals will again be honored in the following categories: Recording Studio, Music Publication, Music Journalist, Radio Station Station of the Year, Radio/Podcast Personality, Sound Engineer of the Year, Local Producer/Recording Engineer, and Music Photographer.
New in 2020, Live Performance/Concert of the Year, Best Place to See a Concert/Show, Podcast/Streaming Series of the Year, and Videographer/Video Producer of the Year have been added to this year’s ceremony.
Slight alterations for 2020 have been made to a few categories. The Duo of the Year Award will now be the Duo or Trio of the Year Award. After being combined last year with the Radio Station Award, Podcasts and Streaming Series will now have their own category. Finally, the Music Journalist of the Year Award is now the Music Journalist/Music Reviewer/Music Online Influencer of the Year Award.
Beginning last year and again in 2020, artists and professionals can self-nominate for the awards.
“The public nominations still make up the majority of the nomination process. Last year, we saw a great benefit from the self-nominations. Some people who may have flown under the radar were able to be highlighted – because they did some amazing things. We found those diamonds in the rough we were looking for. The process served its purpose,” Caviston noted.
Applications to perform at the 2020 Electric City Music Conference, which runs through Saturday, Sept. 12 in various venues throughout the Scranton area, opened last month. The 2019 Electric City Music Conference aftermovie by Scranton media production and web development company Ionic Development also premiered in February:
Electric City Music Conference 2020 timeline:
Monday, March 2 (today): Steamtown Music Award nominations open
Tuesday, June 30: Steamtown Music Award nominations close
Sunday, July 19: Nominee and lineup announcement event
Thursday, Sept. 10: Steamtown Music Awards
Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12: Electric City Music Conference
Last year’s ECMC featured performances by over 150 bands from seven states in 12 venues throughout Scranton, the Steamtown Music Awards ceremony with many new awards and special performances of its own, and free panel discussions and mentoring sessions for local musicians, professionals, and music fans. As the largest event of its kind in Northeastern Pennsylvania, this celebration of the diverse local music scene is much more than a music festival, bringing hundreds of artists and music industry professionals together annually to meet and network while recognizing and showcasing established and up-and-coming musicians.
See NEPA Scene’s photos from the 2019 Steamtown Music Awards ceremony at The V-Spot in Scranton here.
Photo by Keith Perks/1120 Studios/NEPA Scene
