We’ve Pioneered a New Awards Show For UK Urban Music The Rated Awards

This year our we’ve continued our work building the commercial entity around urban music and culture in the UK.  For the 3rd year working with our client KA we at Disrupt believed that we could push the boundaries for the brand even further with the GRM Daily strategic partnership.

Working around the core principles of being credible and helping champion UK urban music we have put together The Rated Awards, a celebration of authentic urban culture, a brand new music award ceremony to celebrate and recognise the best of British urban talent.

THE IDEA

The idea is simple, to create a new annual music awards, voted for by the fans, to give recognition to one of the UK’s most vibrant music scenes, one that GRM Daily and Disrupt Co-Founder, Matt Thorne, still doesn’t think is given enough credit:

‘We believe artists in the scene deserve to be recognised amongst their peers. The genre is massively underrepresented, people like to associate with the genre for credibility but no one has taken the punt on representing it properly. It’s time for a real credible award for our culture.’

THE AWARDS

All award categories and full nominations were announced on 17^th August, the same day that voting opened. Fans head to www.ratedawards.com and vote for their winners, all entries over 18 also get automatically entered into a competition to win tickets to the star studded event held on September 17^th at a London Venue to be revealed. The awards will see a who’s who of urban music descend into an award show, promising to be one of the most important nights in the urban music calendar.

To celebrate the best of British urban music, KA Drinks were a natural partner for the awards; champions of new talent, the drinks brand has been helping nurture and support new artists with GRM Daily for the last three years.

Adrian Troy, Head of Marketing AG Barr: ‘As a brand we have supported many grass roots artists break onto the scene, providing a platform for new music and a step up in terms of visibility. This year we wanted to expand our involvement, supporting the scene as a whole and rewarding and recognising established talent on a national scale. We felt there was a space for a credible and authentic event recognising the high quality established talent within the genre.’

Already confirmed to perform at the awards, stalwarts of the scene – Kano and Ghetts plus newcomers Fekky and Bonkaz, with a whole host of other artists still be to be released. There’s also set to be special guest appearances, exclusive collaborations, award hosts, and presenters all to be announced in the coming weeks.

KA CAMPAIGNS

Our first strategic partnership with KA and GRM Daily came in their search for new talent in 2013 with the development of the #AAAKA campaign. We partnered them with key music artists within the scene and offer consumers the chance to ‘Get to Know’ upcoming talent and win the chance to be featured in their own music video. The campaign ran throughout 2014, with the focus on finding new grass roots talent and offering a step up within the industry to DIYers, and a gateway to new music for music fans.

In 2015, the campaign was updated to become ‘Get Rated’ and was structured around a new artist competition offering entrants the opportunity to ‘Get Seen, Get Heard and Get Rated.’ Over 500 applicants entered the competition, with six finalists selected – all of whom will be recognised at the awards ceremony.

Disrupt and KA are co-creators of the Rated Awards, with GRM Daily, enabling the brand to affirm its place within urban music. ‘We have always supported the growth of the scene, so to be a part of something that represents a real change within the genre is something, we as a brand, are very proud to be involved with,’ says Adrian Troy.

Stay tuned for more news, check out the categories and nominations at: www.ratedawards.com