Sound of the Year Awards 2020
Posted on: Wednesday 18th of November 2020
The inaugural Sound of the Year Awards 2020 is a newly launched celebration of everyday sound (not music) in all its forms presented by The Museum Of Sound in partnership with The New BBC Radiophonic Workshop and others. It is a UK-based awards ceremony this year but submissions are encouraged from around the world. Anyone over the age of 16 can enter.
The awards aim to highlight the rapidly-growing international community of sound professionals and enthusiasts. During lockdown there has been a chance to hear the world differently, cities in particular have been transformed as they’ve emptied. Sound, listening and a healthy sonic environment are becoming recognised as a vital part of our daily lives. Where there are many awards shows for everything associated with moving images, we think the time is right to acknowledge and support those working hard to build and share their knowledge and recordings of moving audio in this new age of sound. There will be an awards ceremony in early 2021
Judges
Cheryl Tipp – The British Library
Alannah Chance – Reduced Listening
Trevor Cox – Professor of acoustic engineering
Tony Gayle – The Audio Cartel
Chris Watson – Natural history sound recordist
Rana Eid – db Studios
Bernie Krause – Wild Sanctuary
Matthew Herbert – Chair of judges, New BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Timeline
18th November – Submissions open
31st January (6pm GMT) – Submission deadline
Winners announced – Feb 26th 2021
Awards event – date TBC
Categories in detail:
Sound of the Year A sound that has been the most extraordinary, revealing, pleasurable or surprising in the past 12 months. It could be a publicly occurring sound, or something nobody has heard before
Worst Sound A sound that should never have been made or that should have been designed better
Best Naturally Occurring SoundA sound that occurs without human input and was captured in the last 12 months
Best Artificial SoundA sound created or manipulated to sound like something it isn’t
Disappearing SoundA sound that is unlikely to be heard in the future, but that is worth saving
Best Sound in a TV show, Film or GameAn excellent individual sound created or recorded for a TV show, film or game that was released in the last 12 months
Best Field Sound RecordistSomeone who has shown excellence in capturing interesting sounds outside of a recording studio this year
Best Studio Sound RecordistSomeone who has shown excellence in capturing or creating interesting sounds in a recording studio this year
Sound Innovator An individual, team or company who have done particularly interesting work this year with sound
Best Sound ToolA bit of technology or tool that has made capturing sound particularly enjoyable and was released this year
Best Listener An award to recognise someone, something or somewhere who does excellent listening.
All submissions must be in by 18.00 hrs on the 31st January 2021.
