This year’s International Dance Music Awards (IDMA) winners were announced online, as the Winter Music Conference in Miami had been canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. For the second year in a row, the IDMA committee worked on the nominations together with music-tech company Viberate to pick the nominees, based on their social media and streaming metrics, thus ensuring objectivity in the artist selection.
Vasja Veber, Viberate’s co-founder, explains: “Music awards are often criticized for being biased. Sometimes you can play the system and pay for votes. The IDMA nominee selection does not work like that. We use data from big networks (streaming services, social networks, ticket vendors etc.) to see who really deserves a nomination, and in my opinion, these numbers reflect the actual popularity of an artist in the most unbiased way possible. Working on their fan interaction should be every artist’s main promotional focus, and not just the winners, but also the nominees master this art.”
With the Covid-19 pandemic bringing live music events to a standstill, artists have to turn to the internet to keep in touch with their fans. Boosting engagement, gaining traction, and other online activities are now more important than ever, and they also result in higher popularity ratings on Viberate. “Because of this, it will be very interesting to see who gets picked next year,” Veber adds.
2020 Artist Categories
Nominations powered by Viberate
BEST MALE ARTIST (DANCE/ELECTRONIC)
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (DANCE/ELECTRONIC)
NERVO
BEST MALE ARTIST (TECHNO)
Carl Cox
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (TECHNO)
Charlotte de Witte
BEST MALE ARTIST (HOUSE)
FISHER
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (HOUSE)
Nora En Pure
BEST MALE ARTIST (TRANCE)
Armin Van Buuren
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (TRANCE)
Christina Novelli
BEST MALE ARTIST (BASS)
Skrillex
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (BASS)
Alison Wonderland
BEST MALE ARTIST (DRUM & BASS)
Chase & Status
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (DRUM & BASS)
DJ Storm
BEST MALE ARTIST (HARDSTYLE)
Headhunterz
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (HARDSTYLE)
MANDY
BEST MALE ARTIST (DOWNTEMPO)
Petit Biscuit
BEST FEMALE ARTIST (DOWNTEMPO)
TOKiMONSTA
2020 Industry Categories
Nominations Powered by The IDMA Advisory Board
BEST ALBUM
Avicii “TIM”
BEST SONG (ELECTRONIC)
Follow The Fish – You Little Beauty
BEST SONG (DANCE)
Meduza feat. Goodboys – Piece of Your Heart
BEST REMIX
Meduza, Goodboys – Piece of Your Heart (Alok Remix)
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST
Meduza
BEST LABEL
Spinnin’ Records
BEST CLUB
Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel
BEST FESTIVAL
Tomorrowland
BEST STREAMING SERVICE
Spotify
BEST YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Spinnin’ TV
BEST RADIO STATION
BBC Radio 1
BEST RADIO SHOW
A State Of Trance by Armin van Buuren
BEST DAW
FL Studio
BEST DJ EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER
Pioneer DJ
