The AMP Awards for Music & Sound has announced its return as a live, in-person event in 2022. The unofficial “loudest show in the industry” will rock the stage when it comes back to Sony Hall in New York City on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.
An official AMP Awards call for entries, which signals the opening of the online entry portal, will be announced in the new year, as will more news and details about the competition, including naming of the AMP Awards Show chair for 2022.
“We’re so excited to be returning to a live event and being back on stage in New York for our 2022 celebration,” said Georg Bissen of MetaTechnik, national president of the Association of Music Producers, sponsors of the AMP Awards. “Like everyone else, we went virtual in 2020 and 2021, and while it’s been gratifying to recognize outstanding achievements in music and sound–especially during such a challenging time–the prospect of honoring the work with our friends and colleagues around us has everyone excited. We can’t wait to get back!”
The event will be preceded the day before by a special, invitation-only reception celebrating the winners of the AMP Awards in 2020 and 2021. On hand will be members of the AMP National Board, winners, guests, judges and sponsors.
AMP will also be announcing its inductee into the AMP Hall of Fame early next year. The honor, in recognition of a marketer’s Outstanding Achievement in the Use of Music and Sound to Define the Brand, was suspended during the virtual events. Past inductees into the AMP Hall of Fame include Apple, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser, Nike, Chevrolet and Pepsi.
The AMP Awards is billed as being the only juried, non-profit advertising contest to focus on the unique contributions made to the industry by creators and producers of music and sound. Judged by agency, label, publishing and music production professionals, the competition will present trophies in 14 unique categories. Its Best in Show honor, named for the late Droga5 music supervisor Ryan Barkan, will be selected by its Curatorial Committee from among the top category winners.
Last year’s AMP Awards show was chaired by Perry Fair, EVP/ global executive creative director and director of entertainment at McCann. Awards were presented virtually on July 22 of this year, with the Ryan Barkan Best in Show award going to Found Objects Music Productions for its work for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.
And even though the AMP Awards went virtual, it continued its tradition of highlighting musical performances. In 2020, multi-platinum singer, songwriter and producer Aloe Blacc performed two songs, while for 2021, the Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer/songwriter legend Melissa Etheridge performed.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads โ essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More