This week we’re excited to announce the winners of the 2016 Online Radio awards.
The third edition of the annual awards saw a huge rise in nominations – over 8,000 in total – and was judged by a panel of industry experts including the President of Association of European Radios Stefan Möller, Managing Director of The Radio Academy Roger Cutsforth, Sonar Festival’s Head of Communications Georgia Taglietti, and Mixcloud’s Head of Community Xanthe Fuller.
The focus of the awards is on independent shows and stations, and all nominees are required to broadcast primarily through the Internet, which for many is their only means of distribution.
This year saw a growing trend of local independent stations popping up around the world, from Bondi Beach to São Paulo, often in unconventional locations such as a shipping container in a former parking lot in Brooklyn.
Whilst Internet radio was one of the earliest mediums to exist in the nascent days of the web, pre-dating blogging and social networks, the last few years have seen a global radio renaissance.
“The quality and professionalism of these up-and-coming stations really stems from the passion of their presenters” commented Mixcloud Head of Community Xanthe Fuller, “and a growing number of listeners are recognizing the value in hand crafted curation by a real human enthusiast, over an algorithmically defined playlist or generic mainstream radio”.
The diversity highlighted throughout the various award categories is immediately visible. Some of this years winners include:
Soho Radio – a furiously independent online radio station, broadcasting from the heart of London.
Nicole Moudaber – a Lebanese-Nigerian music producer and DJ.
J.Rocc – a radio presenter and DJ from the LA-based Beat Junkies collective.
The Naked Scientist – a science focused podcast based at Cambridge University.
To celebrate the awards, a selection of the nominees will be sharing their live streams for a 24 hour marathon on Mixcloud’s Facebook page, starting Thursday December 15th at 10am GMT.
With Apple dipping their toes into the streaming radio space last year with Beats 1 Radio, it’s clearly an exciting time for both curators and listeners around the globe.