IRAA Awards Introduce New Awards for Regional Musicians

2016 saw Dhruv Ghanekar receive the award for ‘Music Producer of the Year ”“ Non-Film’ for the album ‘Dhruv Voyage’ from Rajkumar Barjatya. Also in the photo (left to right): Anil Chopra, Achille Forler and Ishan Naik.

Set to take place on June 3^rd at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai as part of the PALM Expo 2017, the 11^th Indian Recording Arts Academy Awards will see its most inclusive edition yet. With 31 awards divided across five categories, the IRAA Awards celebrate technical achievements and expertise in music recording and production each year. Although the ceremony has remained largely Bollywood and Hindi music-centric (most winners from the 2016 edition remained linked to Bollywood films) the IRAA is determined to bring in diversity this year.

The upcoming edition of the IRAA will present more opportunities to regional producers. Each award category will henceforth feature an award for works in Hindi and an award for work in a regional language, opening the gates for the inclusion of more artists and compositions from vernacular films.

Also new this year is the Audio Post Production category which will feature 10 new awards, including ”˜Dubbing Engineer for Film,’ ”˜Sound Editor (Effects & Ambience),’ ”˜Foley Artist,’ ”˜Broadcast Mixing (Dialogue Oriented)’ and ”˜Broadcast Mixing (Music Oriented).’ The Recording Facility category has also been expanded with three new awards that include awards for ”˜Studio (Dialogue & Dubbing),’ ”˜Foley Studio’ and ”˜Surround Mix Studio.’ The IRAA also celebrates education and will include the ”˜Dronacharya Award for Teachers in Audio Education’ and ”˜Best Audio Education Programme.’  Other coveted IRAA awards include the ”˜Lifetime Contribution to Audio Engineering,’ ”˜The Mahaguru Award for Contribution in Music Education’ and the award for ”˜Lifetime Contribution to Music.’   

The 2017 IRAA awards director will be sound engineer Pramod Chandorkar, well-known for his experience in music recording, film sound design, in-studio design and live concert sound design for Bollywood singers Sonu Nigam and Asha Bhosle. “I do believe under his guidance and intense supervision, the 2017 IRAA awards will be the best ever,” says Anil Chopra, founder and chairman of the IRAA, about Chandorkar.  Previous recipients of IRAA Awards include celebrated composer A. R. Rahman, music producers Dhruv Ghanekar and Ram Sampath, Bollywood playback singers Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal, among others.

The IRAA Awards 2017 nominations are open to music producers and recording professionals across India and can be entered online via www.iraa.in. All nominees must present audio files with their submissions and entries will close on Sunday, April 30^th. The five award categories are Audio Engineering, Audio Post Production, Music Production, Recording Facility and Education Awards.