Staff Writer: Rena Danho

Email: rdanho@umassd.edu

Every year we watch or see posts about the Grammys, one of the biggest annual awards shows being broadcast today. Where we get the chance to see artists and root for our favorites to win the categories they were nominated for.

But, did you know that Massachusetts has its own equivalent?

The Boston Music Awards is a much smaller-sized award ceremony celebrating Artists from the Massachusetts area. However, it is not a typical awards show. It goes deeper than winning an award, it’s about artists coming together, supporting artists, and celebrating music.

The Boston Music Awards was founded in 1987 and is run annually to give awards to artists in the Massachusetts area.

This year, Boston Music Awards is being presented by Jack Daniels, and being held at Big Night Live on December 14th.

As said before a lot of the categories are ones we see on the Grammys. For instance, there’s Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Album/EP of the Year, and Song of the Year.

However, some are different. There is the regular Song of the Year, but also the Song of the Year for works that have achieved over 1 million streams.

There are even categories for the music venues in Boston, that vary in capacity. So you can vote for TD Garden for the under 1,000+ category, but then also vote for The Sinclair which is under the 250+ category.

Along with being able to go to this event, on their website you are also able to vote and have a say in who you think should win.

However you don’t have to vote, and you are able to just view the categories and nominees for this year.

A lot of the time we all get caught up in the music that is so big we don’t recognize artists, and where they came from. The Boston Music Award is a way to find more local, and even smaller artists in the area.

An example of this phenomenon is the song “Alien Blues” by Vundabar, which blew upon Tik Tok. You would have never known that the band was from Massachusetts and that they are up for Song of the Year (1 Million+ Streams) and Alt/Indie Artist of the Year.

Another good example of a way to find new local artists is by attending Boston Calling.

Boston Calling for those who don’t know is a huge music festival in Cambridge, Massachusetts in late May every year.

This festival often features Massachusetts-based artists, who get to perform on various stages throughout the three days.

Some artists from the lineup, you can actually see nominated for Boston Music Awards, like Oompa and Van Buren Records.

Aside from The Boston Music Awards being a night to celebrate music, it’s also a great way to start networking and meet amazing people.

With musicians, venues, photographers, journalists, videographers, producers, recording studios, and even music publications being up for nominations there are so many different people to meet, and even ways to work your way into the music industry.

Boston, in general, is an amazing hub for music and culture.

With so many venues and diverse cultures, so many different people are brought together. But just one night a year, we get to bring all those people into one place to celebrate and support each other.

This is a night not to be missed.