The judges’ work is done, the Curatorial Committee has weighed in and now the 2023 AMP Awards for Music & Sound has released the shortlist for its juried competition for music and sound for agencies and brands. Winners will be revealed and celebrated with a live, in-person awards gala set for Monday, May 22 at Sony Hall in New York City.
In addition to announcing its shortlisted entries, the AMP Awards also saluted the work of its 2023 Curatorial Committee, which convened under the leadership of AMP Awards Show chair Leanne Amann, group creative director at Anomaly, to confirm all category winners and select the coveted Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award winner.
Leading the roster of shortlist-nominated companies is the ad agency Anomaly and Yessian Music, both of which scored five shortlisted entries. Anomaly was shortlisted twice in two different categories: In Best Artist + Brand Collaboration, it was shortlisted for its Crown Royal “Dave Grohl/Donna Grantis ‘O Canada’” spot and for its “Bottle Beats” spot for Johnnie Walker, while “Bottle Beats” and “Fabric of Life,” also for Johnnie Walker, were shortlisted in the category of Outstanding Mix. Its fifth shortlist entry, again for “Fabric of Life,” came in the David & Jan Horowitz Award for Best Original Score category.
Yessian earned three shortlisted entries for its “Jazz Bath” project for State Farm, in the categories of Most Innovative Process & Execution, Best Use of Music in New Media Marketing and Excellence in Audio Only Marketing. It was also shortlisted for its “DYC ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’” entry for the Detroit Youth Choir in the Outstanding Adaptation/Arrangement category and for “Google Play ‘Diablo Immortal’” in the Best Sound Design Category.
Other companies scoring multiple shortlisted entries were Antfood, Human and Townhouse, which each notched three entries on the shortlist, and 72andSunny, Deutsch LA, Found Objects Music Productions, Mophonics, Music and Strategy (MAS), Sonic Lens Agency and Squeak E. Clean Studios, which each earned two shortlisted spots.
Also represented on the AMP Awards Shortlist were entries from ABKCO Music + Records, BUTTER Music + Sound, Droga5, Duotone Audio Group, Groove Guild, Heavy Duty Projects, Howling Music, Marc Algranti Music, Made Music Studio, Nettwerk Music Group, Q Department, Quiet City Music + Sound, Radish Music, TBWAMedia Arts Lab and Zync/Round Hill Music.
To view all AMP Awards shortlisted entries, go here; the full AMP Awards shortlist can be found here.
The AMP Awards finalists across all 13 categories were reviewed late last month by the competition’s Curatorial Committee, who determined whether each finalist met their respective categories’ judging criteria before voting on the Best in Show winner. Participating in the discussions, in addition to Anomaly’s Leanne Amann, were Beliansh Assefa, music producer, Townhouse; Dan Burt, associate director music production/supervision, Wunderman Thompson NY; Mary Crosse, independent executive producer; Keith D’Arcy, SVP, Sync & Creative Services, Warner Chappell Music; Ben Dorenfeld, director of music, Anomaly; Damien Escobar, SVP, director of music and culture, Arnold; Paul Greco, executive director of music & audio, Wunderman Thompson NY; Carolyn Hill, executive content agent, Carolyn Reps; Julie Hurwitz, president, Global Synch and Creative Operations, Hipgnosis Song Management; Jamie Jou, director of music, BA Licensing, McCann NY; Mike Ladman, music supervisor, Droga5; Patrick Oliver, music supervisor, Pretty Good Songs; Brandy Ricker, independent music supervisor; Jessica Shaw, SVP, Sync Licensing, Sony Music Entertainment; Stephen Stallings, executive music producer, Dentsu Creative; and Nick von Zumwalt, sr. music supervisor, Movers+Shakers.
Tickets for the 2023 AMP Awards will be on sale soon. Price is $195 for non-AMP members, $175 for AMP members. Dubbed “the loudest show in the industry,” the presentation will also feature live music performances and extensive cocktail party chatter to tunes being spun by Hang the DJ.
Music Biopics Get Creative At Toronto Film Festival
Many of the expected conventions of music biopics are present in "Piece by Piece," about the producer-turned-pop star Pharrell Williams, and "Better Man," about the British singer Robbie Williams. There's the young artist's urge to break through, fallow creative periods and regrettable chapters of fame-addled excess. But there are a few, little differences. In "Piece by Piece," Pharrell is a Lego. And in "Better Man," Williams is played by a CGI monkey. If the music biopic can sometimes feel a little stale in format, these two movies, both premiering this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, attempt novel remixes. In each film, each Williams recounts his life story as a narrator. But their on-screen selves aren't movie stars who studied to get a part just right, but computer-generated animations living out real superstar fantasies. While neither Williams has much in common as a musician, neither has had a very traditional career. Their films became reflections of their individuality, and, maybe, a way to distinguish themselves in the crowded field of music biopics like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman." "This is about being who you are, even if it's not something that can be put in a box," Pharrell said in an interview Tuesday alongside director Morgan Neville. Also next to Pharrell: A two-foot-tall Lego sculpture of himself, which was later in the day brought to the film's premiere and given its own seat in the crowd. The experience watching the crowd-pleasing "Piece by Piece," which Focus Features will release Oct. 11, can be pleasantly discombobulating. A wide spectrum of things you never expected to see in Lego form are animated. Virginia Beach (where Pharrell grew up). An album of Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life."... Read More