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 (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

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

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, with chapters located in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. Among other events, they organize the annual Libera Awards. 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

Canadian Music Week The Departure Festival + Conference, formerly known as Canadian Music Week, is an industry conference and music festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.David Friend"Canadian Music Week buyers rename event Departure Festival, expand its scope" ...

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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Libera Awards

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

Structure

A2IM's president and CEO is

Richard James Burgess Richard James Burgess (born 29 June 1949) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. Burgess's music career spans more than 50 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s a ...

. The organization's board of directors is composed of the following: *Tony Alexander - Made In Memphis Entertainment President/Managing Director *Nabil Ayers -

Beggars Group Beggars Group is a British record company, founded by Martin Mills, that owns or holds stakes in various record labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings, and Young (record label), Young. History The company had i ...

President *Mariah Czap -

Yep Roc Records Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Fountains of Wayne ...

Co-General Manager, Head of Digital *Dee Diaz -

Reach Records Reach Records is an American independent record label specializing in Christian hip hop. The label was founded in 2004 by Ben Washer and the hip-hop artist Lecrae. In addition to Lecrae, the Reach Records roster contains artists like Tedashii, ...

VP of Digital Strategy *Wilson Fuller -

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

Head of Digital *Mary Jurey -

Blue Élan Records Blue Élan Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by entertainment and insurance lawyer Kirk Pasich, and his son, musician Connor Pasich, in 2014. Stylistically, the label's releases cover Alter ...

Chief Business Officer *Heather Johnson -

FiXT FiXT (pronounced "fixed") is an American independent media company with several divisions including a record label, an online music store, and a film/TV/video game music licensing arm. FiXT was founded and is owned by Klayton, the sole member o ...

Director of Label Operations *Tony Kiewel -

Sub Pop Records Sub or SUB may refer to: Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB People * Bottom (BDSM), or "sub" for "submissive" * Substitute teacher Christianity * Sub tuum praesidium, an ancient hymn and prayer dedicated ...

President *Hays Rudolph -

Secretly Group Secretly Group is a family of American independent record labels based in Bloomington, Indiana. The group is made up of Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar, and Dead Oceans. Secretly Canadian, the first of the labels, was formed in 1996 by brothers C ...

General Counsel/VP of Business & Legal Affairs *Victor Zaraya - Concord Chief Operating Officer *Zena White -

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam's South B ...

Chief Operating Officer The organization's president's advisory board is composed of: *Kristin Epstein - Screenwave Media Vice President *Steve Kline -

Better Noise Music Better Noise Music is the rebranded and re-organized record label founded in 2006 by Allen Kovac, CEO of 10th Street Entertainment. The label was previously known as Eleven Seven Label Group with Eleven Seven, Five Seven and Better Noise Records ...

President, COO *Jennifer Newman Sharpe -

Exceleration Music In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Acceleration is one of several components of kinematics, the study of motion. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnit ...

General Counsel/VP of Business & Legal Affairs *Elliott Peters -

Empire Distribution Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, EMPIRE has offices in New York, London, ...

SVP of Global Business *Jason Peterson - CINQ Music, GoDigital Media Group CEO, Founder *Reed Watson - Single Lock Records Co-Owner

Associations

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

A2IM Star Certification

In June 2025, A2IM launched the A2IM Star Certification, a sales certification program for independent music. The initial batch recognized 36 records. Developed in partnership with Luminate, the program awards one star for 50,000 album sales, two stars for 100,000, and three stars for 300,000. Sales are calculated using

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

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