listen to berlin: Awards – Shortlist of nominees 2021

Berlin, September 15, 2021 – The shortlist of nominees for the listen to berlin: Awards 2021 have been announced today. The sixth edition of the music awards will be presented on October 26th, 2021, when the Berlin Music Commission (BMC) will honor artists, individuals and initiatives of the Berlin music industry for outstanding social commitment, artistic achievements, and innovative ideas.  The awards will celebrate these achievements in eight categories, including music journalism, attitude, sustainability, and business at the Kesselhaus in Berlin’s historic Kulturbrauerei. 

“The listen to berlin: Awards celebrate the musical creativity of our city and stand in 2021 for a vibrant artistic scene that defies challenges and starts with new strength into the future. My thanks go to the artists who courageously continue and to the Berlin Music Commission, which creates the framework conditions for this,” says Senator for Culture and patron of the event Klaus Lederer.

The shortlist represents a broad spectrum of people and initiatives in Berlin’s music industry. Nominees include the collective Freak de l’Afrique, the deutschrapmetoo (German rap #MeToo) movement, the event location Max-Schmeling-Halle, journalist Miriam Davoudvandi, and DJ, producer and radio host Anja Schneider. Despite their very different activities, they all have one thing in common: in the jury’s view, they have a special influence on Berlin’s music industry – whether through sustainable action, strengthening economic power or representing and promoting marginalized groups.

The nominees in seven of the eight categories were selected by a ten-member jury of experts – that consisted of: radioeins music director Anja Caspary, Get Physical Music CEO Peter Hayo, head of Riverside Studios Ima Johnen, musician, producer and community co-founder of Soul Sisters Berlin Sera Kalo, producer and part of the Tropical Bass collective La By’le Cara Muru, Mobilee Records co-founder and artist manager Ralf Kollmann, BMC board member Olaf Kretschmar, cultural mediator and organizer Mahide Lein, cultural manager and chair of the BMC board of trustees Nina Lütjens, and sales manager for media and creative industries at Berliner Sparkasse Petra Sachse. 

“The listen to berlin: Awards jury is a really unusual body: completely different people with starkly different perspectives and views come together here. It’s great to see what great fun diversity can be when it doesn’t come across as sectarian or dogmatic, but when everyone makes an effort to explain and connect. I learn to see the city in a new way every time I exchange ideas with my colleagues,” says Olaf Kretschmar, chairman of the Berlin Music Commission and member of the jury.

A separate jury of experts will decide on the “listen to berlin: Jury Prize”. Nominated in this category are the 26 artists selected for this year’s listen to berlin Compilation by the Berlin Music Commission. The shortlist will be announced here soon: listen-to-berlin-awards.de

The winners will be announced on October 26th at a festive awards show in the Kesselhaus in the Kulturbrauerei. The award ceremony, which traditionally takes place at the start of the music business conference Most Wanted: Music,  can once again be attended in person by an invited audience after being held as a digital-only event in 2020 due to the pandemic. The event will also be livestreamed and Berlin-based musician Malonda and Fritz Unsigned host Christoph Schrag will host the evening. 

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This is the shortlist of nominees: