NEMA Welcomes you!
WELCOME TO THE 2ND ANNUAL NATIVE-E MUSIC AWARDS!
It is our honor once again to officially announce the upcoming 2nd Annual Native-E Music Awards Show. Open submissions have officially begun as of May 8, 2009.
The 2009 Official Entry Forms can be downloaded in a PDF format here on our site. Just click on the link to the right.
We look forward to the official announcement of our elite entertainment and media industry Panel of Judges to be announced at a later date along with the official date, time,
and venue for this year's ceremonial event.
We invite all Native American and Aboriginal music artists to enter their music and to have the opportunity to have their talent reviewed and decided upon by
many of the entertainment and media industry's respected professionals. If you know you have the talent it takes to be heard by the world, believe in
yourself this is your chance to shine!
Mission Statement of the Native-E Music Awards:
The mission of the Native-E Music Awards® is to recognize and honor our Native American and Aboriginal
people's musical talents and achievements. To present these talents and achievements on a global stage. To
nurture and inspire the talent and goals of our Native American and Aboriginal people by creating and presenting
opportunities, programs, and resources for their musical talent to be developed, reviewed, exposed and marketed to the broader mainstream entertainment and media industry.
The Native-E Music Awards® will aspire to create a global awareness of our Native American and Aboriginal musical
talent and to build a bridge of opportunity for that talent to step out onto the mainstream stage.
Our Purposes:
In an effort to create a mainstream awareness of the growing industry of both contemporary and traditional
Native American and Aboriginal music, the Native-E Music Awards® was created. Now operating under Nu Vizhn Music Group,
the awards show is a non-profit based event founded and operated by and for Native American and Aboriginal Peoples, with the
help and support of many mainstream entertainment and media industry professionals and organizations from all walks of life.
The awards show is designed to aid our Native American and Aboriginal musical
talent all throughout the United States and Canada, in the advancement into the mainstream entertainment and media industry.
The Native-E Music Awards® will seek to develop and promote a more
profound awareness and recognition of our Native American and Aboriginal music sector that is classified as
“mainstream music." This sector does not fall under the umbrella of the more traditional contemporary and traditional
Native American and Aboriginal music niche more predominantly promoted to the mainstream society.
The Native-E Music Awards® is founded on the principle of recognizing true Native American and Aboriginal
contemporary and traditional music based almost entirely on the artist’s respective musical talent alone. Whether the artist is a seasoned
industry veteran or a newcomer who just finished their first “garage band” demo, consideration for an award in either case
will be given the same equal and un-biased opportunity.
Unlike most current recognition processes, Artist popularity, commercial distribution, album sales, or time in the
industry, will hold no value in the general categories during the judging process. However, they will be
recognized in the "Excellence in Musical Achievement" category.
This award is bestowed upon an individual artist or group by the awards committee based on the significant achievements the Artist
or group has made within the mainstream entertainment and media industry.
In a condensed minority based industry at its beginning stages of growth and development such as the Native
American and Aboriginal music industry, its talent base is more susceptible to the possibility of being overlooked,
failed to be reached, nurtured, or recognized. Some factors for this reason include the lack or availability of proper
production resources, artist location, marketing outlets, industry awareness, financial support, and suitable recognition processes.
Efforts have been made towards the latter factor but are more based on the model of a popular mainstream recognition
process, such as the
GRAMMYS®. Although these efforts are
commendable, this majority “member-based” voting process is
ineffective in a small “close-knit” industry where there exists a small amount of record companies who retain the vast
majority of its industry’s talent base. This "member-based" voting process is more suitable for a more diverse and global
industry.
Still other processes have tried an "open public voting system," which allows the general public to vote for their favorite Artists. This process fails the
integrity of the voting system almost completely. In an age where the internet is flooded with numerous "social networks" (ie., MySpace, Facebook, etc.),
it is a very simple task for any novice user to solicit other users to vote for the Artist they favor or are promoting.
Moreover, there are numerous software programs that are automated to do just this
very thing by the thousands!
In order to thwart this process, instill integrity, and gain the artist's confidence in the voting process, the Native-E Music Awards® utilizes
a revolutionary new recognition process for the Native American and Aboriginal music industry. Award recognition, with the exception of a few
categories, is based on judging the true and actual “musical talent” of the artist.
Entries do not have to be produced or recorded professionally, nor do they have to be commercially released or have time constraints. These barriers to entry
eliminate over 95% of our talent base across the US and Canada, given that the majority of our youth and talent live in poverty on over 500
rural reservations across the US and in similar conditions throughout Canada. The majority of our talent base does not have the means by which to
have a "commercial album release" at their disposal. An Artist may enter a song they may have just recorded onto a voice-recorder, and it will be
accepted and treated equally. Our Panel of Judges are very experienced in hearing the true voice and talent of the Artist, no matter what medium it was
recorded on or type of production.
Our event is based on uncovering "raw" talent and to create
opportunities for this talent within the global entertainment and media industry.
Several categories are judged based on the various creative
and technical processes of recording. These categories are for those Artists who have spent much time and dedication in developing their craft and
who seek the opportunity to have their production and talent judged in whole by industry professionals.
Judges outside the domain of the Native American and Aboriginal
music industry will be utilized in order to eliminate the possibility of any potential favoritism from any familiarity or involvement with
the artist. The exception to this rule will be the traditional categories which will utilize Native American and Aboriginal
Judges. The Judges' ballots will be redirected to an outside accounting firm for an independent
official tally of the ballots. The Awardees will be announced the evening of the Awards Show.
All judges are selected by their involvement in the mainstream entertainment and media industry on a
prominent scale, either as a record company executive, A&R personnel, DJ, talent scout, artist, producer, engineer, songwriter,
composer, music instructor, film/TV industry personnel, radio broadcast personnel, music critic, music publication or
music resource. The use of judges not directly involved in the Native American and Aboriginal
music industry will enable entrants to receive a professional un-biased decision based on the entrant’s actual talent.
The Awards Show is designed to include mainstream celebrities within the
entertainment and media industry. Select mainstream celebrity performers and presenters will be present to share the same stage as our elite
Native American and Aboriginal artists. This strategy is to combine the two industries, bringing together a diverse audience. Each
mainstream celebrity performer or presenter will attract their respective audiences to the event. These audiences will in turn be exposed to our
Native American and Aboriginal artists in the matching genres, with the goal of attracting an even greater and diverse audience for our artists.
With this process, these efforts will produce and bring forth our industry's most talented and capable
emerging un-tapped Native American and Aboriginal musical talent base. Our industry's talent will subsequently have the
opportunity to have their music exposed and reviewed by the some of the music industry's most experienced and respected entertainment and media
professionals of today.
Last year's Panel of Judges consisted of professionals with production credits with superstars such as Elvis Presley to
Snoop Dogg!
This process will also give our entrants the parallel opportunity to create a newfound awareness of our Native
American and Aboriginal contemporary and traditional talent among mainstream entertainment and media professionals.
This new opportunity will give our talent the global exposure our industry deserves and has been lacking for
far too long.
Respectfully,
The Native-E Music Awards®
