The Association of Music Producers is heading uptown. The advertising music trade association has announced plans to hold the 5th Annual AMP Awards for Music and Sound at a new venue in New York. The event, scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, 2017, will move from City Winery, site of the four previous AMP Awards shows, to the Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel in the Theatre District.
The new venue is designed to transform the presentation into not just the loudest awards show in the business, but one where the work can be more properly honored, the networking can be even more gossipy and the artists better appreciated then at past AMP events.
An official call for entries, which signals the opening of the online entry portal for the competition, will be announced in the coming weeks, as will more news and details about the event.
“This is a great move for us,” said Jason Menkes, AMP National Board president, and partner/EP at COPILOT Music + Sound. “The Diamond Horseshoe has been transformed by its designers into an eclectic venue that’s as much the star of the show as the artists who appear on its stage. With this being our fifth birthday, our show has grown into one of the mainstays of the awards season in New York. It was time to take it up a notch, and our 2017 event will be all that and more.”
The AMP Awards is the only juried advertising contest to focus on the unique contributions made to the industry by creators and producers of music and sound. This year’s awards also marks the 20th Anniversary of the founding of its sponsoring organization, the Association of Music Producers, which was founded in 1997 to promote the work of advertising’s music and sound companies and audio mixing and recording facilities.
Judged by agency, label, publishing and music production professionals, the awards will present trophies in 11 unique categories as well as a Best In Show honor chosen by its Curatorial Committee. The 2016 Best In Show went to We Are Walker for “More Than Brains,” an ad for the University of Phoenix created by 180 in Los Angeles.
AMP’s new home is a site replete with history yet in many respects brand new. The Diamond Horseshoe, one of New York’s most celebrated historic venues, is located in the basement of the Paramount Hotel on West 46 Street. First opened in 1938 by theatrical showman and impresario Billy Rose, it was known for its vaudeville-style reviews and chorus of showgirls. In 2013 the landmark was restored and relaunched, resulting in an opulent space featuring avant-garde accents mixed with old world splendor.
In addition to presenting its signature awards, AMP will also induct another iconic brand into its AMP Hall of Fame at event. This award honors progressive advertisers for Outstanding Achievement in the Use of Music to Define the Brand and has been presented to marketers whose use of music and sound has been fundamental to building strong consumer perceptions. Past inductees include Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser, Nike, Chevrolet and Pepsi.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More