On Thursday 11th March ‘Treble with the Bass’ was invited to attend the launch party of The UMAs (The Unsigned Music Awards). The Unsigned Music Awards will be the first major televised music awards show especially for unsigned artists, which will air in 2016.
The event took place at Borderline in Soho London where there was soon a room filled with music industry representatives all eagerly waiting to find out more. To keep us entertained throughout the night there was music from three contrasting acts; firstly we listened to a Pop/Soul artist called ‘Marnie’ who gave a very heartfelt two-song set. A five-piece Nouveau Rock band called ‘Half Crown’ whom gave a hugely energetic set with some mesmerizing tambourine playing and rapping. And finally a rap artist called ‘Phoenix Da Icefire’ and guest whom gave an energetic set with definite comparisons to the influences of early Nas and Run DMC.
There were numerous presentations given such as; ‘UMA Presentation’ given by Ben Connor (Co-Founder), ‘Platform Demonstration’ given by Simon O’Kelly (Co-Founder), Guest presentation for ‘Youth Music’ and finally an ‘Audience Q&A’ with Ben Connor, Simon O’Kelly and Georgina Thomas whom all founded The Unsigned Music Awards.
Ben Connors ‘UMA Presentation’ where he described the purpose of ‘The UMAs’; “The major record industry boasts countless of awards shows from ‘The Brits’ to ‘The Grammys’, which are crafted at recognizing the achievements of some of the elite global chart toppers and other big names throughout the year. Including the hard work of an elite team of professionals backing them financially, which is undisputedly deserved however until now no-one has tilted the spotlight for the unsigned community with the view of recognizing the enormous wealth of new music on the same scale with the same glamour and with the very same prestige as all of those other ceremonies. And that is exactly what we are here to do.”.
Who are the UMAs for? The UMAs are “open to pretty much everyone predominantly UK based although due to the increased amount of traction and interest we’ve had from abroad we have introduced two international awards and at no point will any artist have to pay a single penny to be involved in our awards. Our classification of unsigned for artists to nominate themselves is they can’t be signed by a 3rdparty”.Watch the full presentation and Simon O’Kelly ‘Platform Demonstration’ here:
We then heard from Simon O’Kelly whom went through the ‘Platform Demonstration’ and application process with us,the application process seemed really straight forward and easy to fill out, the website is equally as easy to explore through. However don’t just take my word for it, Jack Valero from the RPMs whom went through this process told me that; “I found it very easy and coherent to fill out the online application. It only took a few minutes and I encountered no problems or confusions” when he applied on behalf of his band.
UMAs Application The night was very well organised and put together, we as listeners were entertained and informed throughout the night, the team are very helpful, friendly and open to answering any questions which is very important when starting something like this. I recommend any artist and bands currently working to apply for the UMAs, because it will be a great opportunity to gain traction in the industry.
(Simon O’Kelly, Georgina Thomas and Ben Connor)
(UMAs unknowingly supporting Treble with the Bass)
To find out more about the UMAs please check out the links below:
Written By: Samantha McQueeney
treblewiththebass@outlook.com