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Why Awards? p.2 by Katharina Lobeck
Once the scheme had found its patron, other partners were identified, whose involvement ensured international acceptance and support. WOMEX, the world music trade fair, became the nomination platform, Rough Guides and Songlines were recruited as additional consultants and Serious International Music Producers took the organisation of the final event on board.
Though the Radio 3 Awards follow in the footsteps of established schemes in structure and voting process, one look at the nomination categories brings home the oddities of the field. Rather than identifying winners in specific genres, the scheme has found a more suitable solution in choosing some geographical demarcations. Thus, Okinawan music occupies the same pitch as Indian classical while Cuban timba competes with Canadian trad for sharing continental ground rather than musical language.
The world is a large place, and any attempt at drawing conceptual boundaries underscores the vastness of styles and traditions that are bundled together in the World Music store. As creativity stubbornly defies confinement to easy-glide drawers, some of the most imaginative artists will never be at ease in any of the assigned boxes. So far, spillovers are safely caught by the 'boundary crossing' category, which will no doubt expand as margins dissolve within all realms of music.
 Left: Anna Umbima, organiser of the first Awards for World Music in 2002.
For the moment, the first Radio 3 Awards for World Music are cautiously exploring their territory, and will surely settle more or less contentedly on the route to an ideal ceremony. The first year of the Awards created a buzz within the industry. Nominees received increased media attention and consumer interest. It is to be hoped, that the prestigious scheme will continue to generate the publicity needed to push some of its winners to the front rows of the music business.
For anybody interested in how the original 1987 creation of
World Music as a marketing term came about, read the full story
at
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