TORONTO, April 21, 2021 /CNW/ – The votes have been counted from Canadians coast-to-coast as well as the CIMVA judges and the winners of the best Canadian Independent Music Video Awards have officially been announced. The winners were announced in a private Livestream awards celebration on March 13, 2021. This year’s grand prize for Best Canadian Independent Music Video has been awarded to Ojibway/Irish Hip-Hop/Electronic artist Cody Coyote, who will receive a $500 cash prize provided by Toronto digital marketing agency Toronto Creatives, a year’s worth of loose leaf tea provided by Canadian tea company Tea Squared, a year’s worth of beer from Steamwhistle Brewery, a $100 gift certificate to Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, and a 1-year subscription to Sonicbids. All category winners will receive an award statue for their category as well as a gift pack including prizes from this year’s award sponsors Tea Squared, SonicBids, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments & Steamwhistle Brewery.
The awards saw over 50,000 visitors to the Dropout Entertainment website from around the world and over 30,000 voters from across Canada participated in the voting process. The awards were presented at a private Livestream event on March 13, 2021, via the Dropout Entertainment website and welcomed over 400 attendees. The performances from the awards will be released on the Dropout Entertainment YouTube page.
This is the third annual iteration of the awards and the first year that featured a virtual awards ceremony. At the beginning of the year the team at Dropout Entertainment didn’t know what to expect from Canadian artists with the on-set of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with the incredible videos submitted and the participation from Canadians the event fostered a greater sense of community within the Canadian music scene; and couldn’t have been a bigger success.
Jesse Read, Dropout Entertainment’s Founder had this to say about the Third Annual CIMVA Event, “It was weird to do the whole thing without a live audience but it was a blast filming the performances beforehand and getting an idea of what the whole night was going to look like a bit early” Read continued “I think one of the best parts was having artists provide remote acceptance speeches and performances from across the country, it gave the whole thing a bigger sense of community.”
The awards Livestream featured original performances by Moscow Apartment, Alex Leggett, Apricity, Trick Casket, produced by the Dropout Entertainment team at Toronto’s Rehearsal Factory, as well as remote performances sent in by Mountain Head, Queens & Kings, PINEO & LOEB and SHOOK PLANET.
The award winners this year include The Saydes video for ‘Nightmare’ which took home Best Rock Video; ‘Mysterious Vibes’ by AllMillz who took home Best Hip-Hop Video; ‘Soul Stain’ by Mountain Head who won for best Indie Music Video; ‘Real Deadly’ by Snotty Nose Rez Kids won for Best Indigenous Video; Noah Malcolm took home Best Folk Video for his video for ‘If Not’; Justin Fancy won the CIMVA for Best Country Video for his video ‘Sure Beats A Good Time’; Dani Kristina took home Best Pop Video for ‘Drift Away’; Judgement won Best Metal Video for ‘Terra Firma’; and Emilie Landry won the Best Lockdown Video for her video, ‘Bouillir d’la Misère’.
The winner of the overall award for Best Canadian Independent Music Video released in 2020 went to Cody Coyote for the video for his song ‘Manidoo Dewe’igan’. The video by Ajax Creative from Ottawa ON, tells the story of the artist’s struggle with racism, gang violence and finding himself. A Canadian story that is all too familiar to some and overlooked by so many others. Beyond the important story the video tells, the video itself is impeccably directed and stunning to take-in.
Interviews with the winners of the Third Annual CIMVAs will be published on Dropout Entertainment’s website in the coming weeks. Nominations are now open for the Fourth annual CIMVAs scheduled to take place in January of 2022. For more information or to nominate a Canadian music video released in 2021 for a CIMVA visit independentmusicvideoawards.com.
Dropout Entertainment is the newest voice in Canadian Music. Founded by Canadian musician and content creator Jesse Read, Dropout Entertainment has grown and gone on to interview many incredible Canadian artists and entertainers. Dropout is on a mission to shine a light on real Canadian Music, featuring live performances, photography, mini-docs, reviews and interviews with artists of all genres. In early 2020 Dropout Entertainment launched Dropout Radio, an Internet radio station that streams the best in independent Canadian music 24/7.
SOURCE Dropout Entertainment
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