| UK Asian Music Awards | |
|---|---|
 UK Asian Music Awards logo | |
| Awarded for | South Asian music |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | B4U Music |
| First award | 2002; 23 years ago (2002) |
| Final award | 2012; 13 years ago (2012) |
| Website | www |
TheUK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviationUK AMA, was an awards show that was held annually in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012. The awards show has been produced and broadcast byB4U Music since 2008.[1] Awards winners were decided by public voting at a website, from a list of nominees presented by the event organizers, except for the special category awards "Outstanding Achievement" and "Commitment to Scene" which are decided by the organizers.[2]Desimag called the event "The most prestigious Asian music awards ceremony in the UK".[3]
The UK Asian Music Awards were founded by Abs Shaid in 2002 as "The Asian DJ and Music Awards". They were held on 6 March 2002 at the Aquarium nightclub inLondon. The event was filmed byBBC2 andZee TV, and was aired on BBC2s Network East.[4]
Following the success of the 2002 event, the UK Asian Music Awards (UKAMA) was formed. In 2003, Abs Shaid teamed with Br-Asian Media, managed by managing director Moiz Vas, to produce the 2003 event.[5] The event took place in London atHammersmith Palais on the 22 October 2003. It was filmed and broadcast byITV, who reported viewing figures of one million in the UK.B4U Music broadcast two exclusive versions during prime time slots in 80 countries over the Christmas period.[6] Other sources give the viewing figures of 2 million in the UK and 500 million worldwide.[4] A 2003 review by Tom Horan in The Telegraph said: "This was a hugely inspiring night for new British music... The freshest most innovative and exciting sounds this year have come from the Asian club world. Here, with the first ever AMAs, the scene celebrated its gate crashing of the pop mainstream... there was something in the event's familial warmth and celebration that spoke of a thousand wedding receptions".[6] Award winners were decided via online, SMS and interactive television voting.[6] The voting process was criticized, claiming that the event turned out to be a popularity contest.[7]
After the show, both parties claimed rights to continuing the show. This resulted in both parties issuing their own announcements for the next event, with Shaid's group keeping the name "UK Asian Music Awards" and Br-Asian's group calling it the British Asian Music Awards (BrAMA).[5]ITV chose to side with BrAMA.[8] and on 7 October 2004 Br-Asian made a launch party, planning for the 23 February 2005 at Ocean in London,[9] which was later changed to 24 March 2005.[10]
The 2005 UKAMA was held on 3 March 2005 at Hammersmith Palais, London, in front of a packed audience.[11] To avoid some of the voting controversy, most awards were decided by a judges panel, out of a short list which was created by public voting. The winners of the Best Asian Radio, Best Asian Publication and Best Asian Website were determined by online and SMS voting.[12]
The 2005 BrAMA were supposed to be held on 24 March 2005 at Cirque, in London. The event was supposed to be broadcast onChannel 4 on 27 March 2005 and shown on B4U Music a week later.[13] However, to avoid confusion with the UKAMA, the event was postponed on 11 March 2005, and tickets were reimbursed.[10] The event never took place, and finally, Br-Asian bowed out.[14]
The 2006 event was held on 6 December 2006 at Hammersmith Palais, London, and was sponsored byAry Digital.[15] Two new categories were introduced, "Best Female Act" and "Best Unsigned Talent".[15] Nominations were announced in November 2006.[16]
2008 marked the big year for the UK Asian Music Awards, as they moved from the Hammersmith Palais to theRoyal Festival Hall and were first presented by B4U Music.[17] Royal Festival Hall for three years (2008 / 2009 / 2010) and moved to the Roundhouse, Camden in March 2011. It has previously been broadcast on ITV, B4U Music and most recently on the BBC red button (2010 and 2011). The UK AMAs celebrated its 10th anniversary on 25 October at Wimbley Arena, with a show headlined by international music star Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and was attended by music producer naughty boy.
The 2003 event was held on the 22 October 2003 atHammersmith Palais,London. Award winners were:[9]
The 2005 event was held on 3 March 2005 atHammersmith Palais,London. The award winners were:[19]
The 2006 event was held on 6 December 2006 atHammersmith Palais,London. The award winners were:[20]
The 2008 event was the first to be presented byB4U Music.[17] Nominees were announced in January 2008,[22] and the event was held on 6 March 2008 at theRoyal Festival Hall,London. The award winners were:[23]
Nominees for the 2009 event were announced in January 2009.[24] The 2009 event was held on 5 March 2009 at theRoyal Festival Hall,London. The award winners were:[25]
Nominees for the 2010 event were announced on 2 February 2010 at the Gatecrasher Nightclub,Birmingham.[2] The event was held on March 11 at theRoyal Festival Hall,London, and was sponsored byLebara Mobile. The award winners were:[26]
The press & media launch party for the 2011 event was held on 25 November 2010 at Club Alto, London.[27] The nomination party took place on 1 February 2011 at the Gatecrasher Nightclub, Birmingham.[28] The event was held on 10 March 2011 atThe Roundhouse, London and was sponsored byLebara Mobile. The award winners were:[29]
The events of the 10th anniversary edition of the award, in 2012, were launched on 6 December 2011 in a voting launch party at the Merah club in London.[30] The event was hosted bySarah-Jane Crawford andTommy Sandhu and included performance byMumzy Stranger, among other. The 2012 event took place atWembley Arena and was headlined by a special performance byRahat Fateh Ali Khan.[31]Award winners were:[32]