Buzz Blog

It's almost time for Best of Utah Music. Yes, you read that correctly. What used to be the City Weekly Music Awards—Salt Lake City Weekly's annual music awards that showcase the best of local music—is now called Best of Utah Music. But the change only goes as far as the name; the typical format of the awards is staying the same, and they're still happening over two weeks in February, with the winners from each category (Best Band, Best Rapper, Best DJ) being revealed in March. And most importantly, Best of Utah Music is still designed to highlight and support the musicians in Utah's music scene.

In December, we began accepting nominations for contestants from local music writers, past Best of Utah Music winners, venue owners, radio personalities and more. These music-scene experts will help decide which 20 bands, DJs and rappers will be included on the preliminary poll, which will go live on CityWeekly.net in January. Readers will then cast votes to decide which 10 acts in each category will perform at the concert showcases, which will take place at the end of February.

There is no way to "enter" or apply for Best of Utah Music. Bands/rappers/DJs who are chosen for that first poll are nominated by people involved in the local music scene, who have witnessed what those musicians can do first-hand and are familiar with their work. After all those nominations are turned in, we whittle the list down to 20 in each category, depending on who received the most nominations and who meets the requirements of Best of Utah Music (see below).

But in order for musicians to make that preliminary poll, we need to know about you. Because by the time the Best of Utah Music showcases are in full swing, it's too late for musicians to jump in. So, if you are an active musician of any kind, a DJ or a rapper, City Weekly wants to hear from you now. And even if you don't make the final cut for the poll, it's always a good idea to let us know who you are and what you're about. City Weekly is dedicated to supporting the people who make our local music scene great, and we feature local artists in the paper almost every week.

Here are the requirements you need to meet to be considered for Best of Utah Music, and information about submitting your music to City Weekly:

Bands & Rappers
We require that all bands/rappers who are nominated for the poll must have released an album or gone on a tour outside of Utah since February 2014 (the month of the previous awards showcases). Bands/rappers must also have a strong online and real-life presence in the music scene; in other words, people need to know about you and be able to see you play at a live show. If you want to be considered for a nomination and have released an album since February, please send a stream or physical copy (no downloads) to City Weekly Music Editor Kolbie Stonehocker (contact info below), along with some background information about your band, your involvement in the local scene and highlights of what your band has accomplished in the past year, as well as a link to your website. Submitting your music will NOT guarantee that you get into Best of Utah Music, but if a band recently released a significant local album that might have slipped past us, we want to know about it.

DJs
Every DJ who is nominated for the poll needs to be deeply involved in the local music scene. It's not required that you have a residency, but you need to be doing regular gigs and have a strong online and real-life presence. If you want to be considered for a nomination, please e-mail some background information about yourself, your involvement in the local music scene and highlights of what you've accomplished in the past year, as well as a link to your website to City Weekly Music Editor Kolbie Stonehocker (contact info below). E-mailing us your information won't guarantee that you get into Best of Utah Music, but we will review all submitted material carefully.

Stay tuned for more information about Best of Utah Music, and send all materials to:

Kolbie Stonehocker
Music Editor
Salt Lake City Weekly
248 S. Main
Salt Lake City, UT, 84101

kstone@cityweekly.net