European Union Award for Contemporary Music/The European Border Breakers Awards (EBBAs)
2011 Awards
The eighth edition of the EBBAs took place on 12 January 2011 in Groningen’s Oosterpoort Theatre, in the Netherlands. The live show marked the opening night of the Eurosonic/Noorderslag festival, which celebrated its 25th anniversary on this occasion.
The winners of the 2011 edition are
Saint Lu (Austria), Stromae (Belgium), Aura Dione (Denmark, ZAZ (France), The Baseballs (Germany), Caro Emerald (Netherlands), Donkeyboy (Norway), Inna (Romania), Miike Snow (Sweden), Mumford & Sons (UK).
The ceremony was be hosted by British musician and broadcaster Jools Holland. Katie Melua, award winner in 2005, five of the current winners and Jools Holland all performed at the show.
The ceremony was recorded and broadcast by the Dutch National Television (NOS/NTR) and also receives European coverage through TV channels and radio stations associated with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and others. The winners were announced by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth in November 2010.
The awards recognize the success of emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album.
The Public Choice Award
Since 2010, an online vote takes place to choose which EBBA winner will receive the Public Choice Award, on top of the "regular" award.
The online voting takes place on the website of the prize: http://www.europeanborderbreakersawards.eu/
The winners of the 2011 Public Choice Award are The Baseballs from Germany.
About the EBBAs
Europeans enjoy modern popular music and the repertoire of emerging European artists showcases Europe's rich cultural diversity. The circulation of new repertoire is important for people's access to it and the European Border Breakers Awards aim to stimulate the cross-border circulation of new music. Access to new music and its circulation are crucial for artists' capacity to build up relations with the wider European public. The European Commission acknowledges that the European music sector contributes significantly to our economy, together with our other creative industries.
In their home country, artists enjoy the support of their fans, who buy their CDs and go to their concerts. However, it is difficult for emerging talents to break the borders between them and foreign audiences and to generate sales in other EU countries. The EBBAs reward emerging artists or groups successful in this field.
The artists or groups are selected on the basis of the following criteria:
- First album released outside the home territory of an artist or group from the 34 countries participating in the EU Culture Programme;
- Sales in EU Member States outside the country of production during the last year;
- Radio airplay information;
- The artist's ability to perform live, touring capacity and success at European festivals outside of his/her home country.
The data for the selection process is compiled by the European Music Office (EMO) in cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Billboard Information Group and the European Talent Exchange Programme (ETEP).
The Eurosonic/Noorderslag Festival is in charge of organising the selection and the award ceremony of the EBBAs. The Eurosonic/Noorderslag Festival was selected in 2009 on the basis of an open call for proposals as part of the "Special action" of the Culture Programme.
Website EBBA: www.europeanborderbreakersawards.eu
