This year, 156 albums have been submitted for the ‘Zelta Mikrofons’ award, Latvian Music Recording of the Year, which will be judged by a 44-person judging panel this month. The nominees for “Zelta Mikrofona” will be announced during a festive event on January 12th.
“Zelta Mikrofons ’23” albums will be judged in 11 genre categories, but debut, album design and songs are separated separately. The jury also evaluates the audiovisual performance in the video and concert recording categories. The leaders of all categories are voted for “Album of the Year”, the most listened song in radio stations will receive an award in the category “Radio hits”, while in the new nomination “Most listened record with Elektrum” the most listened song or the composition on music streaming sites will be rewarded. Audience members can give their musical favorites a crush award by participating in the “Elvi Song of the Year” vote, which will close during the ceremony.
“Although this year the number of applications for the “Zelta Mikrofons” award for music recording of the year is slightly lower than last year, in general the submitted recordings give an objective picture of musical life in Latvia in 2022″, says the musician, music critic and journalist Jānis Žilde, elected to the presidency of the jury for the first time this year.
Jānis Žilde also outlines the biggest challenges of the jury’s work: “Like every year, a big test for the jury is to put all the submitted works into shelves or categories, the number of which is limited. For example, jazz is again combined with funk, rock to metal, because there is not always enough voices in each genre, and the “Golden Microphone” ceremony must fit the compact requirements of a live television broadcast.Traditionally, the category “Debut” must be adequate, because already well-known and experienced musicians with ten, fifteen and even more years of experience in the music industry still want to see their works in this nomination, which is not in line with the philosophical setting expressed in the rules of the award, i.e. the “categories” The “debut” priority is the evaluation of new talent. This year, the jury also followed the changes in the global music industry, in which for several years there has been an increasing trend quote: compositions, as well as EPs and full albums, are getting shorter. Therefore, in order to keep up with the spirit of the times, as well as to show hospitality to individual musicians, intense discussions are underway about changes in the award rules regarding the timing of EPs.”
It should be mentioned that the award ceremony of the “Zelta Mikrofons ’23” award for Latvian music recordings of the year will take place on February 18, 2023 at the International Exhibition Center in Ķīpsala, in the presence of the public.
