MIDI TV Presents 2nd Devon Music Awards To Celebrate South West Music Community
Community arts enterprise the Music in Devon Initiative CIC (MIDI) are delighted to announce that nominations are open for the 2nd “MIDI TV Presents Devon Music Awards”, which will be held at Bomba in Exeter on Friday January 31st 2025.
The Devon Music Awards will once again recognise and celebrate the copious musical talent in Devon, with the public voting for their favourite acts. In its first year, there were 2,000 nominations and 4 finalists were nominated in 10 categories. This gave invaluable encouragement, promotion and visibility to a vibrant and often-ignored community and contributed to MIDI helping artists to reach an audience of 16,000 (Source, MIDI Social Impact Report).
A truly unmissable event, the sold-out first “MIDI TV Presents Devon Music Awards” was an effective platform for the often-ignored South West musical community to showcase their work. As well as creating awareness, the awards create networking opportunities, linking musicians with a range of opportunities including BBC Introducing and a range of venues and key industry people from promoters, to recording and mixing engineers, photographers, film-makers and more.
This year’s theme is "Serious Business”. This plays with the idea that local music is both epic and chaotic, glamorous but casual, important but laid-back. It’s a nod to how Devon’s artists are legends in the making but are still down-to-earth and relatable. They take their music seriously, but not too seriously.
The awards also celebrate the resilience of the South West music scene. This is thriving during challenging economic and political times, despite the distance from the main music hubs in big cities like London and Manchester.
The event is also a great chance for people interested in other aspects of the music industry to gain work experience on everything from social media, to photography to sound and lighting and to network with music professionals.
Nominations across 10 categories are now open and the public can vote for their favourite acts here https://forms.gle/Vi79Ki4cBWpm3ftR9. Nominations close on December 13th and, once all nominations have been reviewed, a shortlist of 4 acts per category will picked by patrons of the awards made up of industry experts. The winners will be chosen by public vote and will be announced at the awards ceremony on 31st January. The categories for nomination are;
- Best Live Act
- Best DJ
- Best New Artist
- Best Album
- Best Song
- Best Music Video
- Best Band
- Best Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Artist or Band
- Best Producer
- Legend/ Special Recognition Award
Some of the best Devon bands and DJs will be performing alongside the awards and at the after party. These acts will be announced in due course and comedian Marina O’Shea will host the event.
This year, four core sponsors and ten awards sponsors will be supporting the awards. These include Hilton Ames Chauffeurs, who provide high-quality transport for touring bands. Exeter’s Involving Music, who are building the ultimate guide to Devon’s vibrant, pulse-pounding music scene are also sponsoring the awards. Project Music, one of Exeter’s leading musical instrument stores and Creative UK, who finance creative start-ups, have also come on board as sponsors. More sponsorship packages are still available and anyone interested in supporting the awards should contact the organisers.
MIDI’s online TV Station “MIDI TV”, akin to MTV for Devon, are providing presenters and film-makers. They will capture the performances and announcements and interview the winners. They filmed last year’s awards and are now sharing their footage on the MIDI TV You Tube channel every Xmas Eve as an annual musical gift for anyone that likes music.
“Following the runaway success of the first Devon Music Awards, which sold out, MIDI TV are delighted to be back with an all-new, bigger and better awards show for 2025. The Devon music scene includes a wealth of hugely talented musicians as the 2,000 nominations for acts into last year’s contest show. This is despite far fewer opportunities for musicians playing their own music than in, say London, Birmingham and Manchester. We believe this demonstrates the determination to overcome the limitations of geography and distance that South West musicians face.” says Drea Paizs, Director of MIDI TV and organiser of the awards.
“Our “Serious Business” theme for the awards is our way of showing what sets Devon’s artists apart. Although they are icons in the making, they are still down-to-earth and relatable. We have asked the public to help us pick the nominees and let us know which local legends deserve the spotlight. Get ready to see the public’s favourites and to see Devon's music scene shine!” continues Drea.
Tickets for the Awards Ceremony are £20 and now available here. Doors are at 7.30pm for the awards, followed by an after party and a 2am close.
