Not only is this our first “official” printed issue of 2012, it’s also our Nomination issue for the annual New Music Awards. We could not be more thrilled about both of these events and to all of our nominees a big “congratulations”. The nominations are a culmination of a lot of hard work from recording artists, bands, promoters, labels and publicists. The final outcome was also up to the fans and friends of artists that voted for their favorites on our website over the past few months. We had a record number of votes this year and this told us that the word went out to the entire music industry about participating in something that was very special and important.

Regardless of the final outcome for the New Music Awards, all of the nominees can consider themselves “winners”. We are now in the process of tabulating just who will make the final list and there are a number of factors at work here. We value the opinions of many of our music and program directors and that’s why we rallied so hard for bands and artists to participate in this issue. There are a number of artists that took the time and care to run something in this issue to show their appreciation to radio and that will be considered.

This would also be the time to rally your fans and friends. For the next four to six weeks the world will have an opportunity to get involved by voting for their favorites by going to the New Music Weekly website. In some of the tighter races this will be pivotal. Spread the word out there and get your teams “fired up” as that could make all the difference in going from nominee to New Music Award “winner”. All of these artists have had a good run on our charts recently and that’s why they have made the list. The rest is up to you.

Not only are we honoring artists and bands from both the major and independent arena. This is also a time to pay tribute to the radio stations along with their music and program directors. On our nomination list are some of the finest and all of them have been very supportive to many of you out there. What better way to say “thank you” then to help them become an NMA winner. In addition, there are categories for record labels both major and independent, Internet radio stations & record promotion people. All of them are part of the story for all artists and again this is the time to tell them just how much we appreciate all that they do for us.

As of this writing we have not solidified our event for the final announcement. We will notify all of you via email and through the press as soon as that information becomes available. As an artist or band, if you did not get the chance to participate in this issue, you can still run a little something in our next CRS issue that will be made available to the crowds in Nashville and to all of our subscribers, radio stations and industry executives. Again congratulations to all of our nominees. They will be listed in this issue and we look forward to crowning our winners for this year’s New Music Awards in the coming month.