Wave Studios NY won the Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award at the 11th AMP Awards for Music & Sound tonight (5/15), taking home the trophy for its “Heal the Future” spot for Sick Kids Foundation. The two-and-a-half minute spot, created by Cossette, also won in the competition’s category for Outstanding Mix. The awards were presented at a sold-out event held at Sony Hall in New York, which was presided over by AMP’s leaders and the competition’s 2024 Show chairman Leo Premutico, co-founder and creative chairman of Johannes Leonardo.
This is the third Best in Show winner for Wave Studios; the company won back-to-back honors in 2019 and 2020 with its work for Smirnoff (“Infamous Since 1864”) and The New York Times (“Fearlessness”), respectively. Wave Studios’ winning entry this year shows, in dramatic fashion, how early diagnoses can help save the lives of children with serious illnesses or conditions. It was mixed at Wave Studios by Issac Matus.
The only multiple category winner at this year’s AMP Awards was Yessian Music, which won in two categories with its entry for Schweppes titled “The Social Sound Experience.” The piece topped the categories of Best Use of Music and Sound in Emerging Media or Experiential Events, and Most Innovative Process & Execution.
To view all the winning entries, click here.
Here’s a rundown of 2024 AMP Awards winners:
Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award
Wave Studios NY
Sick Kids Foundation
“Heal The Future”
Best Artist + Brand Collaboration
Sponsored & Presented by Concord Music Publishing
The Elements Music
7-Eleven
“Anything Flows”
David & Jan Horowitz Award for Best Original Score
Supreme Music
Kärcher
“Beautiful Insanity”
Best Original Song
Sponsored by Music Alternatives
Citizen Music
Under Armour
“Armour Up”
Best Sound Design
Droga5 New York & Accenture Song
General Entertainment Authority
“Rumble”
Best Use of Licensed Pre-existing Recording
Sponsored & Presented by Reservoir
Groove Guild
Volkswagen
“An American Love Story”
Best Use of Music and Sound in Emerging Media or Experiential Events
Yessian Music
Schweppes
“The Social Sound Experience”
Best Use of Music in a Promo, Trailer or Title Sequence for Film, TV or Game
Sponsored & Presented by Marmoset
SixtyFour Music
Element Pictures
“Poor Things Trailer”
Most Effective Use of Music in a Campaign
Sponsored & Presented by APM Music
Heavy Duty Projects
Etsy
“Your Mission Campaign”
Most Innovative Process & Execution
Yessian Music
Schweppes
“The Social Sound Experience”
Outstanding Adaptation/Arrangement
Sponsored & Presented by TRO Essex Music Group
Sneak Attack Music
Jordan
“Beyond”
Outstanding Mix
Wave Studios NY
Sick Kids Foundation
“Heal The Future”
Outstanding Sonic Branding or Mnemonic
Elias Audio Branding & FIFA
FIFA
“FIFA World Cup 26 Audio Identity”
AMP Awards Show Highlights
The AMP Awards presentation featured a number of standout moments that made the event extra meaningful for those in attendance, as well as for the larger advertising music community.
It kicked off with an animated and live-action opening video created by Antfood that spoofed the current fascination with the impact of generative AI on the music industry. An animated talking computer welcomed the audience to “world’s first awards show honoring exclusively non-human creations.” Antfood crafted the story, visuals, music and sound in what ECD and partner Wilson Brown described as “a timely love letter to our community of music creators. As new technologies offer both opportunities and disruption, delight and disgust, we set out to tell the lighthearted story of the joy of making music as a community: we do it because we enjoy it.” The team responsible for the project included Brown, along with Antfood’s Trevor Haimes, Dalton Harts, Sue Lee and Linton Smith II.
Following that was a special tribute marking the 100th birthday of the legendary film and TV composer Henry Mancini, whose work earned him four Oscars, 20 Grammys and an Emmy. This occasion was presented in a fast-paced performance by the Storefront Music Orchestra, led by John “Scrapper” Sneider of Storefront Music. The Mancini presentation appeared in cooperation with the Mancini family and Primary Wave Music.
Another highlight was the induction of adidas into the AMP Hall of Fame. Recognized for its longstanding use of music and sound to define the brand, adidas is the first Hall of Fame inductee since 2019, when Apple was similarly honored. Accepting on behalf of the advertiser was Rima Patel, director of global brand communications, Originals. A retrospective video of adidas ads was screened, which included clips from both of the brand’s AMP Award Best in Show winners, from 2017 and 2023; both featured music provided by Human.
Also appearing, on screen at least, were the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame icons Alice Cooper and John Oates, with a special message for the AMP Awards audience. Both artists had graciously starred in an earlier series of comedic promos for the AMP Awards, appearing with the assistance of Cyndi Goretski from Warner Music Group Labels and Charlie Davis from BMG, who arranged for their participation. The videos were created by Johannes Leonardo and produced by Attic22, the agency’s in-house production unit, and Groove Guild.
Members of AMP’s Diversity, Equality & Inclusion committee appeared during the presentation to give an update on the progress of AMP’s ambitious scholarship program and introduced the first group of scholarship recipients–Uche Anwanyu, Jadia Brown, Max Castrillo and Justice Short–all of whom traveled to New York to be on hand for the event.
The presentation closed with a performance from Natu Camara, a dynamic singer/songwriter from West Africa whose music not only reflects her rich heritage but also electrifies stages with her mesmerizing presence. The founder of West Africa’s first ever female R&B/hip-hop ensemble, The Ideal Black Girls, Camara performed two numbers, one backed by the horn section from the Storefront Music Orchestra. She’s toured extensively, and appeared recently on an episode of NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” series.
Once the stage was cleared the party took off, driven by the beat of Hang the DJ. A longtime presence at the AMP Awards, Hang the DJ is the New York-based DJ collective led by Francis Garcia and Charlie Davis. Garcia is the CCO of Academy Fight Songs, a Brooklyn music house that composes original soundtracks by the Rough Trade Publishing roster for branded content and visual media, while Davis, SVP, Creative Synch, Advertising at BMG, doubles as a Brooklyn-based musician and DJ.
