The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...

that represents

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

s in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in

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, with chapters located in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

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, and the

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. Among other events, they organize the annual

Libera Awards The Libera Awards, sometimes referred to as The Libbys, are an annual awards ceremony organized by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). First hosted in 2012, the awards celebrate the independent music community. The capstone of A2 ...

. The organization was preceded by the National Association of Independent Record Distributors (NAIRD) founded in 1972, which in 1997 changed its name to the Association for Independent Music (AFIM), which dissolved in 2004.

History

A2IM launched on July 5, 2005. The organization has some 600 independent music label members and over 200 associate members (companies who don't own masters but rely upon, provide services for, or otherwise support independent music labels). A2IM was preceded by the National Association of Independent Record Distributors (NAIRD) founded in 1972. In 1997 it changed its name to the Association for Independent Music (AFIM). As AFIM, the organization was best known for the annual issuing of Indie Awards, recognizing artistic and commercial success among artists signed to independent music labels. These were known as "NAIRD awards" prior to the name change. The AFIM Indie Awards were last issued in 2003, and the organization dissolved in 2004. The name "Indie Award" has since been adopted by the

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convention.

Events

While A2IM presents events for members and non-members alike in various cities, they are best known for their three large scale flagship events – IndieWeek, an independent music focused conference located in New York City, the Libera Awards, an independent music award show located in New York City, and Synchup, an independent music licensing and digital conference located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

Libera Awards

The Libera Awards occur annually to honor contributions to independent music.

Structure

A2IM's president and CEO is Richard James Burgess. The organization's board of directors is composed of the following: *Stephanie Alexa - ATO Records VP of Finance and Licensing *Craig Balsam -

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles a ...

CEO and Co-founder *Glenn Dicker - Yep Roc Records Founder *Amy Deitz - INgrooves EVP and GM *Dave Hansen -

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo ba ...

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General Manager *Andrew Kautz - Big Machine Label Group COO *Martin Mills - Beggars Group Founder/CEO *Louis Posen -

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Founder/CEO *Scott Robinson - Dualtone Records CEO/Co-founder *Tom Silverman -

Tommy Boy ''Tommy Boy'' is a 1995 American buddy adventure comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring former ''Saturday Night Live'' castmates and close friends Chris Farley and David ...

Founder/CEO *Darius Van Arman - Secretly Label Group Co-Owner The organization's president's advisory committee is composed of: *Alisa Coleman - ABKCO Music & Records COO *Randy Chin - VP Records President *Amit Nerurkar - Mass Appeal Records General Manager .

Associations

It is a member of the World Independent Network, which represents most of the world's independent music label trade organizations.

References

External links

*
A2IM Indie WeekThe Libera Awards
{{Libera Awards Music industry associations Music organizations based in the United States Organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1939