Recordings no longer require expensive studio space
If someone wants to whine that the Latvian sound industry is going to the bottom, then there is no reason to complain about it, at least in the field of recordings. This year, 163 albums (last year there were 156), 134 songs, 120 video clips, 46 debut recordings and 15 concert recordings were submitted for evaluation by the jury of the annual Latvian music recording award “Zelta mikrofons”. “The Latvian music industry continues to increase the volume of released recordings, which correlates with the trend that professional and expensive studio facilities are not needed to record your music – everyone can do it on their computer, and this is also reflected in the number of submitted recordings,” confirms the jury of “ZM” chairman, music critic and also musician Jānis Žilde, who has been selected as the head of the jury for the second year already. Regarding studies, he must fully agree, whether it is good – that is another question. It should be noted that the jury consists of 40 professionals from the music industry, including musicologists, music critics, journalists, radio program makers, who evaluated the recordings in 20 different categories.
Talks about the death of hits are far too early
It is indisputable that hip-hop has dominated Latvian music in 2023 as well, but it is not so noticeable in the area of albums – of course, until the most streamed record category is started, where probably only one “Brother” will have managed to survive alongside the rappers. don’t bargain with life”… “The proportion of electronic music has increased, 14 albums have been submitted this year. There is also a wealth of records in the combined category of jazz, funk and soul music. Another trend – the number of published and submitted hits records is decreasing, we can talk about the decline of this genre in Latvian music. The time when various hit music selections were released in huge numbers, both on cassettes and on CDs, is in the past,” Jānis Žilde says, but here, unfortunately, he has given the desired for the existing. The hit song in the Latvian land is still far from dead, which can be confirmed in the “Latvijas Sirdsdziesmas” survey, city fairs, green balls, etc.
Pop and rock – still on the charts
The “Golden Microphone” nominees, or the Top 5 of each nomination, will be announced on January 17. The largest number of submitted albums this year is in the pop category, as well as in the combined rock and metal category – 20 each. As expected, fierce competition will take place in the hip-hop nomination, for which 18 albums have been submitted. There are also albums in the category of cross-genre and instrumental music, but it cannot be attributed to a specific style, because it often combines something that cannot be found in any other genre.
As already mentioned, the number of albums submitted in the electronic music category (this year – 14), as well as jazz and funk (this year, soul has also been officially added to them) in the album farm (15), has been increasing in recent years, but at least the last one is not a surprise – Marek, who has gained momentum, takes care of it “Jersika Records” publishing house of American jazz. This time, the field of indie and alternative music looks thinner, and unfortunately not from the point of view of quantity (15 albums), but from the point of view of quality. On the other hand, the already mentioned category of country and hit music albums – 12 albums are not so playable at all, and most of them are presented in tangible CD format. Then it’s worse for the nomination of folk or world music, which can boast only 11 albums.
“Microphones” are of no interest to everyone
Of course, not all published recordings (especially in the classical music nomination) have been submitted to “ZM”. At a cursory glance, it can be found that such powerful records as “Les Attitudes Spectrales” album “Songs For No One”, “Deodium” metal work “Maldupe”, also “Next To Zero” edition “More Power” and ropaznieku have not been delegated to the rating mill. Human Reaction album by Fool On Parade. Charismatic Boo’s “Black magic” probably did not reach the number of EP songs provided for in the regulations, Dion submitted her “Marionette” only for her debut, while “Bermuda divstūris” was probably tired of the jury’s non-response and did not submit her “Tired in seven acts”. There are already others.
Interesting things behind the scenes
Interesting events can also be observed behind the scenes of “ZM”. Last year, several representatives of the music industry grumbled that an award for the most streamed record was also added to the categories, which quite certainly threatened to take the stage to someone from the raucous world of hip-hop. The organizers were also lucky that the “microphone” in this nomination went to “Bermuda Triangle” with “Roundabout”, and they just have to put a candle of hope so that this year they will be, for example, “Singapore Satin” and not something much more threatening to the industry and especially to live TV .
This year, on the other hand, the strange activities of the organizers of “ZM” on social network platforms caused even more confusion – playing in “stories” with the supposedly hacked and stolen account of “TikTok” for such a serious event with its producer Elita Mīlgravi at the head looked, to put it mildly, stupid…
The suddenly changed venue of the “ZM” ceremony
A couple of weeks ago, the organizers of “Zelta Mikrofona ’24” unexpectedly announced the change of the venue of the ceremony: the already announced February 14 and Ķīpsala Hall became March 8 and “ATTA Center” on Krasta Street. “ZM” in its flow of events seemed stable and unshakable like a Swedish bank, and at one time the ceremony had an almost or stationary home (Dailes Theater), but here such a “jump”… The reason mentioned is “taking into account the economic situation and its influence on the financing of the event “. Of course, everyone who had already bought tickets to the Ķīpsala hall can attend the event at the “ATTA” center or return the tickets and get the money back, but this is not good for the reputation.
“This has been a difficult year for almost everyone – after a careful evaluation of the circumstances, we decided to change the venue of “Golden Microphone ’24” to smaller premises. Sometimes a timely step back means a big leap forward in the future,” emphasizes the long-time producer of “Zelta Mikrofona” Elita Mīlgrave.
2023-12-30 03:15:26
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