The 21-year-old singer won double accolades including the UK Independent Breakthrough award in association with YouTube and Best Independent Album in association with Spotify for Collapsed in Sunbeams, her debut release. The “Black Dog” singer also won at last year’s ceremony; Parks took away the One to Watch award during the 2020 event. The artist is no stranger to accolades and acclaim, during this year’s Brit Awards Park won the Best New Artist award. in 2020 she also won the BBC Introducing Artist of the Year and was shortlisted for the Hottest Record of the Year for “Black Dog”.

Parks had this to say concerning her multiple wins at the 2021 AIM Independent Music Award event. The singer describes her gratitude to her fans and expresses joy for her music’s importance during these recent uncertain times. “I want to say a big big thank you to my fans, to my team, I’m grateful to be growing every day as an independent artist and this period has been so difficult, so chaotic and so confusing, so to be able to bring people light in this time of need has been really special.”

Parks was not the only artist to win two awards at this year’s ceremony, ENNY also won more than one award. The multitalented English artist took home the Best Independent Track award in association with Facebook for her 2020 single “Peng Black Girls” and the One to Watch prize in association with BBC Music Introducing. The 26-year-old singer has also spoken about her double win. “Very very very unexpected, especially how early on everything has started happening, so I’m just really filled with a lot of gratitude. Wanna big up my team and everyone that’s been a part of this journey so far. Thank you!”

Other winners from this year’s event include Jayda G who won International Breakthrough in association with Deezer, Fontaines D.C. who won Best (Difficult) Second Album in association with BBC Radio 6 music for their album A Hero’s Death. The Best Independent Remix in association with Soundcloud was awarded to the Eikka Remix of the Ela Minus track “megapunk“, the Best Independent Video in association with Vevo was prized to Wesley Joseph for 2021 track “Thrilla”, the UK indie label Forever Living Originals won the Best Independent Label award in association with Integral, another UK label Strut Records also won at this year’s event, they won the Best Small Label award in association with Believe. The quintet Working Men’s Club won the Best Creative Packaging award for their release Working Men’s Club, the PPL Award for most played new independent artist was bestowed to singer and producer Lauv, multi-talented artist Ben Böhmer took home the Best Live (Streamed) Act in association with On Air.

The award ceremonies do not just celebrate new talent but also honour influential artists, British producer and rapper Tricky scored the prestigious Pioneer Award in association with Fuga, legendary dub producer Adrian Sherwood was awarded the Innovator Award in association with Amazon Music and the Outstanding Contribution to Music in association with Merlin was taken home by Joan Armatrading CBE, Armatrading is a triple Grammy award nominee and highly acclaimed artist with a career spanning over 50 years. The Indie Champion award in association with MCPS was given to industry favourites Love Record Stores and Bandcamp and lastly, the Diversity Champion prize was given to Paulette Long OBE, an iconic figure within the music industry known for her work within musical education.

Arlo Parks will be returning to an awards stage next month for the Mercury Prize ceremony, Parks is nominated for her debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams. The singer will be performing at this year’s event alongside the ceremony’s other nominees, Parks will perform one of the shortlisted album’s tracks within the ceremony which will be broadcasted on various BBC channels.

London singer-songwriter Arlo Parks is ahead of the group with four nominations in total, for Best Independent Track in association with Facebook, Best Independent Album in association with Spotify, and Best Independent Track in association with Facebook, Best Independent Video in association with Vevo and UK Independent Breakthrough in association with YouTube Music. Parks is closely followed by Yorkshire band Working Men’s Club, who are also nominated for UK Independent Breakthrough and Best Independent Album; the indie band has also picked up a nomination for Best Creative Packaging.

Meanwhile, critically acclaimed North London rapper AJ Tracey is up for Best (Difficult) Second Album for his record “Flu Game.” Fellow rapper and rising star Enny has also been at the forefront of nominations, including for BBC Music Introducing’s One To Watch and for her track “Peng Black Girls ft. Amia,” she said on her nominations: “Such an honour to be nominated for one award let alone two, it’s exciting to see your art getting recognition especially so early on!’”

 

 

 

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Hosted by Radio 1 Xtra’s Tiffany Calver and Jamz Supernova, this year’s AIM Independent Music Awards will take place virtually on 25 August 2021. Calver said: “To be able to celebrate the innovators and independent artists that flourished through such a challenging period is a true honour. I’m so excited to be co-hosting alongside Jamz this time, and continuing to champion great music as we have both done on a weekly basis with our individual shows and channels.”

Paul Pacifico, AIM CEO, commented on the highly anticipated awards ceremony: “Every year I find myself saying how exciting and diverse the list of nominees is at the AIM Independent Music Awards, and 2021 is no exception. These awards genuinely represent the incredible array of talent and breadth of success in our community.” He continued: “The artists and creative entrepreneurs we recognise are innovators at the cutting edge of culture. Building on our first ever virtual event last year, we’ve got some very special plans for the show in August and look forward to delivering a dynamic and spectacular interactive show.”

Two winners have already been announced for the Indie Champion Award in association with MCPS. AIM wrote on their official Instagram page: “Due to their amazing support for artists, labels and record stores during a difficult year, for the first time ever we have two winners of Indie Champion in association with MCPS! Congratulations to both! @bandcamp@loverecordstores.” 

The AIM Independent Music Awards 2021 will be free to watch this year via On Air, YouTube and Facebook.

Votes are also currently open now up until 5 July 2021 for Best Live (Streamed) Act in association with On Air.

Full List of Nominees

UK Independent Breakthrough in association with YouTube Music

Arlo Parks (Transgressive Records)
Conducta (Kiwi Rekords)
India Jordan (Ninja Tune)
Rina Sawayama (Dirty Hit)
Working Men’s Club  (Heavenly Recordings)

International Breakthrough in association with Deezer
Bicep (Ninja Tune)
Fontaines D.C. (Partisan Records)
Jayda G (Ninja Tune)
박혜진 Park Hye Jin (Ninja Tune)
Tkay Maidza (4AD)

Best Independent Track in association with Facebook
Arlo Parks – Hope (Transgressive Records)
Bonobo & Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Heartbreak (OUTLIER – Ninja Tune)
ENNY – Peng Black Girls ft. Amia Brave (FAMM)
Katy J Pearson – Take Back The Radio (Heavenly Recordings)
Lava La Rue – Magpie (Marathon Artists)
Mustafa – Air Forces (Young)
serpentwithfeet – Fellowship (Secretly Canadian)
Shygirl – TASTY (Because Music)
Squid – Narrator ft. Martha Skye Murphy (Warp Records)
Tkay Maidza – Shook (4AD)

Best Independent Album in association with Spotify
Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams (Transgressive Records)
Che Lingo – The Worst Generation  (7Wallace Music)
Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg (4AD)
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
Krust – The Edge of Everything (Crosstown Rebels)
Moses Sumney – græ (Jagjaguwar)
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)
Speaker Music – Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry (Planet Mu)
Rian Treanor – File Under UK Metaplasm (Planet Mu)
Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club (Heavenly Recordings)

Best [Difficult] Second Album in association with BBC Radio 6 Music
AJ Tracey – Flu Game (Revenge Records)
Bicep – Isles (Ninja Tune)
Dream Wife – So When You Gonna… (Lucky Number)
Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death (Partisan Records)
Leon Vynehall – Rare, Forever (Ninja Tune)

Best Independent Remix in association with SoundCloud
Bon Bon (Mike Lindsay Remix) – Songhoy Blues (Transgressive Records)
Fair Chance ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Lil B (Floating Points Remix) – Thundercat (Brainfeeder)
megapunk (Elkka Remix) – Ela Minus (Domino)
soulboy (IZCO Remix) – p-rallel, Greentea Peng (Different Recordings)
Sweat ft. LIZ (SOPHIE Remix) – Sonikku (Bella Union)

One To Watch in association with BBC Music Introducing
Che Lingo (7Wallace Music)
ENNY (FAMM)
Lava La Rue (Marathon Artists)
Nova Twins (Nova Twins Ltd)
TSHA (Ninja Tune)

Best Creative Packaging
AJ Tracey – Flu Game (Special Edition) (Revenge Records)
Figaro de Montmartre – Emotion Soap (Figaro de Montmartre)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Eco Wax Editions (Heavenly Recordings and Flightless Records)
Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs (Rough Trade Records)
Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club (RAW Edition) (Heavenly Recordings)

Best Independent Video in association with Vevo
Arlo Parks – Hope (Transgressive Records)
Julien Baker – Hardline (Matador Records)
Kojaque – No Hands (Different Recordings)
Novo Amor – If We’re Being Honest (AllPoints)
Wesley Joseph – Thrilla (EEVILTWINN)

Best Independent Label in association with [Integral]
4AD
Dead Oceans
Forever Living Originals
Partisan Records
Transgressive Records

Best Small Label in association with Believe
Athens of the North
Finesse Foreva
Killing Moon
Sonic Cathedral
Strut Records

Indie Champion in association with MCPS
Bandcamp
Love Record Stores

Diversity Champion
Paulette Long