MAMAs Announce Elimination of Registration Fees;
Registration Now Open
The Madison Area Music Association is kicked of its eigth season with an event to mark the opening of registration for the next awards show. The Registration Kickoff Event took place on the Promenade Terrace at the Overture Center on October 15th from 5-9PM. Artists stopped by to renew their annual membership and also dropped off recorded materials. These recorded materials will be uploaded to artists’ profiles for them, allowing them added simplicity when entering their materials into the desired award categories.
There are several key changes being made with the MAMAs this year. The most notable, and the one that should please artists the most, is the elimination of the $10-per-entry fee that artists paid to enter their music. The MAMAs charged this fee to keep the organization solvent during its start-up years and to cover the lack of corporate sponsorships due to the economic downturn over the past several years. Now the award categories will be sponsored by area businesses. This allows the MAMAs to replace the lost revenue with smaller, more affordable sponsorships.
The membership donation of $5 remains for the time being. This money is the chief means by which the MAMAs does its charitable giving (The MAMAs is a 501 (c)(3) exempt organization whose mission is to provide musical instruments for Madison-area youth and to further their music education. To date the MAMAs have given nearly $35,000 in funds and instruments). The $5 membership is a donation that goes to a separate bank account and is not mingled with other operating funds. The $5 membership also provides a disincentive for those who would attempt to manipulate the online voting system.
Other key changes include:
- Changing the “Urban/R&B” genre classification to “Hip-Hop”
- Changing the “Pop” genre classification to “Pop/R&B”
- Adding an “Interpretive Song of the Year” award for cover songs released during 2010
- Related to the “Interpretive Song” is the fact that all “Song of the Year” entries must be original works.
- Moving the DJ Performer of the Year and the Cover Band Performer of the Year awards to the People’s Choice Awards (write-ins).
The Registration Kickoff also featured performers. Multi-MAMA winner Jessi Lynn, John Masino, last year’s Guitarist of the Year and Joe Bainbridge performed. There was also a special performance by Bonnie Greene’s Musik Makers, a string section made up of youngsters. The MAMAs is a proud supporter of Music Makers.
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