The winners of Mixcloud’s 2017 Online Radio Awards have been announced, with winners including Brooklyn Radio, 2 Dope Queens, Seoul Community Radio and Ear Hustle picking up awards across 30 separate categories.
Founded in 2014, the Online Radio Awards are the world’s biggest celebration of online radio, with more than 10,000 entries submitted this year — making it the awards’ biggest year yet. The entries were whittled down to a series of shortlists before an expert panel of industry judges selected the winners.
Now in their fourth year, the awards provide an important platform for DJs, podcasters, and radio stations from all over the world, focusing on independent shows and stations whose primary means of distribution is via the internet.
“It goes without saying that now is a truly exciting time to be involved in online radio and audio,” said Nikhil Shah, Mixcloud co-founder. “ We launched the Online Radio Awards four years ago because these communities deserve to be celebrated, so it was brilliant to see so many strong contenders for 2017 — a year when Podcast and DJ cultures and the communities within them are thriving more than ever.”
Split across four groups, the awards included categories for Best Online Music Show, Best Online Radio Show, Best Online Radio Personality, and Best Online Talk Show. The winners were announced in a series of Facebook Live videos broadcasted from the Mixcloud Facebook page.
This year’s music categories included winners from no less than seven countries, including “Motellacast” by DJ MoCity in India, “The Eclectic Ladyland Liveshow” in Belgium, Gabrielle Kwarteng on The Lot Radio in the US and “Les Garçons Bien Élevés” in France.
With podcasts as popular as ever, the breadth of outstanding shows in this year’s talk show categories was enormous, including “2 Dope Queens,” “How I Built This,” “Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People,” “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” and “Freakonomics.”
Meanwhile, online radio stations have become instrumental in supporting communities of DJs and music lovers from Europe to the Asia Pacific and everywhere in between. Online radio has effectively grown to replace pirate radio with a legit and cost-effective means to broadcast music to the masses, and this year’s winners for Best Online Radio Station included Rinse France, Radio La Bici, Brooklyn Radio, and Seoul Community Radio.
Last but not least, the winners in this year’s Best Online Radio Personality categories included Andrew Weatherall for his monthly NTS show “Music’s Not For Everyone” and Snoochie Shy for her breakfast show on London’s Radar Radio.
A new addition to the 2017 Online Radio Awards was a series of categories to celebrate the up-and-coming stars of online radio, otherwise known as the “Rising Stars,” which were won by Natasha Maximova for her “Into Continental” show on Reform Radio, Hong Kong Community Radio, and Ear Hustle.
Mixcloud teamed up with 11 partners to present this year’s awards, representing some of the key players in audio culture. The partners included Cómeme, Dimensions Festival, Discogs, Good Hope FM, Kiss FM Australia, Livescape, Music Is My Sanctuary, Resident Advisor, SXSW FM, The Find Mag, and Wonderfruit, each of whom offered guidance and support during the awards.
Learn more about the winners and nominees at theonlineradioawards.com
Full list of winners
Best Online Music Show
Motellacast by DJ MoCity (Hip Hop / RnB / Afrobeats)
The Eclectic Ladyland Liveshow (Jazz)
Gabrielle Kwarteng on The Lot Radio (Eclectic)
The Hospital Podcast by Hospital Records (Bass / Dubstep / DnB)
The Wonky Sensitive Mixtape (Pop)
Les Garçons Bien Élevés (Rock / Alternative)
New Age Rage on Berlin Community Radio (Ambient / Chillout)
GHETTOBLASTERSHOW by GonesTheDJ (Funk / Soul)
Dekmantel Podcast (Dance / Electronic)
The Cookout (EDM / Big Room)
Ras Kwame’s Reggae Recipe (Reggae / Dancehall)
Awesome Tapes From Africa on Dublab (World Music)
Thistle Radio by NPR (Country / Folk / Blues)
Natasha Maximova’s Into Continental on Reform Radio (Rising Star)
Best Online Radio Station
Rinse France (Europe)
Radio La Bici (Central & South America)
Brooklyn Radio (North America & Canada)
Seoul Community Radio (Asia Pacific / M.E. / Africa)
Hong Kong Community Radio (Rising Star)
Best Online Talk Show
2 Dope Queens (Comedy)
How I Built This (Business)
The Allusionist (Education)
Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People (Culture)
The Bill Simmons Podcast (Sports)
Melanin Millennials (Lifestyle / Health)
Reveal (News / Politics)
Freakonomics (Science / Technology)
Ear Hustle (Rising Star)
Best Online Radio Personality
Andrew Weatherall on NTS (Male)
Snoochie Shy on Radar Radio (Female)