It’s hard to believe that 2013 is more than half way gone. With that being said, it’s our time to reflect about where we are musically across formats. For us here at New Music Weekly, we are already taking a good hard look at contenders for this year’s New Music Award nominations. This issue will focus on that with some of the artists highlighted in this issue may deserve a little extra attention. Many award shows tend to put the focus on the last few months of what is going on in music but here at NMW we take a look at what has been going on the entire year. That way if artists and bands had most of their solid activity in the first few quarters, they will not be ignored in the process.

It is critical that artist and bands continue to make smart choices when it comes to the songs they release and the campaigns they implement. Choosing wisely may mean picking the rich track to take out to radio during the Summer and one that will fit the vide of what is going on. There are recording artists that are already thinking ahead to the Holiday’s and that is also a smart move. We can recall that Nat King Cole recorded his infamous “Christmas Song” during one of the hottest days of the Summer. Planning, smart choices and a strategy will most always put you ahead of the pack when it comes to radio.

Taylor Swift continues to make smart choices and it’s been paying off big time for her. Over the past months she teamed up with her idol Tim McGraw for the song “Highway Don’t Care”. That single worked its way to the #1 spot at Country and was never even worked at Mainstream radio. On the pop side of things, the young and bright Taylor has now teamed up with Ed Sheeran for a single entitled “Everything Has Changed” and that too appears to be working for her in formats outside of the Country genre. We can’t all be Taylor Swift but we most certainly can take some lessons in smart moves and strategy.

One can never predict this early about how this year’s award show season with go but you will have to consider artists on the pop arena such as Robin Thicke thanks to his #1 single “Blurred Lines”. Daft Punk may hit some nods thanks to their huge “Get Lucky” and one would have to imagine that Justin Timberlake will be on many lists due to a numbers of strong singles already in 2013. In Country you would have to expect the names of Luke Bryant, Blake Shelton and newcomers Hunter Hayes & Florida Georgia Line for what they have accomplished already in 2013. But there have been so many in Country already that the list will no doubt be a long one when it comes to that award show time of year.

There has also been quite a lot going on in the independent arena as well. We noted last month about the current Russian Invasion with the indie band Pompeya from Moscow leading the charge. Their debut single “YAHTBMF” started right here on the New Music Weekly pop charts, a huge accomplishment for any Indie band. Russian beauty Alina Artts is also following the same successful path with her debut single “Hit The Red Light”. Her story is building fast.

Indie Country is also alive and well with artists such as the Coleman Brothers, Taylor Made and newcomer Tracy Newman to name just a few. We are also looking at smart “ground games” as well. Leading that arena is the talented Kelly Parkes who made her presence known during the recent CMA Festival and as a smart artist, Kelly is also planning ahead with a Christmas album that will also involve a new original book. Smart moves, intelligent planning and hard work can take an artist quite a long way in this industry. Please take note in this issue of the many artists that deserve some early recognition. There is still plenty of time left and we’ll see how this all unfolds at the end of this year.