The organizers of The New England Music Awards would like to issue an apology. A few years ago, several genre award categories were removed from our process. Some of these categories, most notably Hip Hop, Blues, Soul/R&B and Jazz, are genres that we realize have been traditionally associated with artists of color. Last year those genre awards were reinstated, but as an organization, NEMA had not yet addressed the issue formally. It was never the intention of the organizers of NEMA to exclude or offend anyone, but we have heard the voices of many in the New England music community who truly felt offended and excluded by our decision. For that we, the organizers of The New England Music Awards, are truly sorry.

The New England Music Awards were created to Recognize, Celebrate, Empower and Inspire the independent musicians and music business professionals of ALL of New England. Through our submission, nomination, voting and awards process, NEMA seeks to shine a light on artists that have distinguished themselves as deserving of wider recognition. To truly do that, we have to represent everyone. We haven’t done enough to represent all of the artists in New England, and we feel that we can to better. Quite honestly, we must do better.

Let this be, along with a formal apology, a call to arms. We are continually looking to further expand our nominating committee, to create an ever more inclusive and vital network for the independent musicians and music business professionals of New England to utilize. To this end we pledge to revamp our website with more information on how to join the NEMA nominating committee and what the commitment entails. NEMA nominating committee members have a great deal of influence over the NEMA process, and we encourage all of the independent music business professionals of New England to become involved. The organizers of NEMA have never sought to be the arbiters of taste. NEMA relies on artists and their fans for submissions and NEMA relies on our nominating committee members for our nominations. We will also encourage our existing nominating committee members to be conscious of bringing a diverse group of performers into the awards process. We would like NEMA to fully represent the immense beauty and diversity that is the New England music scene.

It is our sincere hope that together we can take more strides towards inclusion, diversity and togetherness for these are the principles that have truly guided NEMA from it’s inception. With the help and support of the music community of New England, we believe we can continue to evolve to more fully Recognize, Celebrate, Empower and Inspire the most diverse and robust music scene in the country. Thank you.