The Boston Music Awards and official partners are proud to announce the 2021 nominees.
Winners will be announced on December 8 at Brighton Music Hall.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Anjimile
BIA
Clairo
Frances Forever
Joyner Lucas
Lake Street Dive
Millyz
PVRIS
Squirrel Flower
Van Buren Records


NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

$hayBand$
Brandon Tory
Connis
Gatch
Izzy Heltai
Layzi
Neemz
Senseless Optimism
The Q-Tip Bandits
Zola Simone


ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR (1 million+ streams)

BIA - 'For Certain'
Clairo - 'Sling'
Darlingside - 'Fish Pond Fish'
Dinosaur Jr. - 'Sweep It Into Space'
Fiddlehead - 'Between The Richness'
Frances Forever - 'paranoia party'
Lake Street Dive - 'Obviously'
Millyz - 'Blanco IV'
Squirrel Flower - 'Planet (i)'
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - 'When God Was Great'


ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR

Future Teens - 'Deliberately Alive'
GA-20 - 'Live Vol. 1'
House of Harm - 'Vicious Pastimes'
Izzy Heltai - 'Day Plan'
Kaiti Jones - 'Tossed'
Latrell James - 'Under'
Really From - 'Really From'
shallow pools - 'headspace'
Van Buren Records & AzizTheShake - 'Black Wall Street'
Zola Simone - 'Now You See Me'


SONG OF THE YEAR (1 million+ streams)

BIA ft. Nicki Minaj - 'Whole Lotta Money'
Clairo - 'Amoeba'
Darlingside - 'Ocean Bed'
Dinosaur Jr. - 'I Ran Away'
Fiddlehead - 'Million Times'
Frances Forever ft. Chloe Moriondo - 'space girl'
Joyner Lucas - 'Ramen & OJ'
Lake Street Dive - 'Hypotheticals'
Millyz - Emotions
PVRIS - 'Monster'


SONG OF THE YEAR

Anjimile - 'In Your Eyes (Reflection)'
Future Teens - 'Guest Room'
Izzy Heltai - 'Day Plan'
Kaiti Jones - 'Light On'
Layzi - 'Shoes'
Neemz - 'Awake'
shallow pools - 'ice water'
Squirrel Flower - 'Hurt A Fly'
Van Buren Records & AzizTheShake - 'Cult'
Zola Simone - 'Easy'


VIDEO OF THE YEAR

BIA - 'Whole Lotta Money'
Fiddlehead - 'Million Times'
Frances Forever - 'Space Girl'
Joyner Lucas - 'Zim Zimma'
Millyz - 'Himalayas'
Oompa - 'Lebron'
PVRIS - 'Monster'
Red Shaydez - 'Lemme Go Talk My Sh**'
Token - 'Dentures'
Van Buren Records, AzizTheShake ft. Jazz Cartier - 'CULT'


ALT/INDIE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Anjimile
Bent Knee
Blue Light Bandits
Colleen Green
Coral Moons
Future Teens
House of Harm
Juniper
Squirrel Flower
Weakened Friends


AMERICANA ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Airport
Alice Howe
Jake Swamp and the Pine
Jesse Ahern
Lenny Lashley
Lula Wiles
Mark Erelli
Session Americana
Town Meeting
Twisted Pine


BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ali McGuirk
Anthony Geraci
Danielle Miraglia
Dwight and Nicole
Erin Harpe
GA-20
Peter Parcek
Roomful of Blues
Sonya Rae Taylor
Veronica Lewis


COUNTRY ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Annie Brobst
Chris Moreno
Dalton & The Sheriffs
Elisa Smith
Grace Morrison
Houston Bernard
Kristian Montgomery & The Winterkill Band
Lyssa Coulter
Morgan Johnston
Ward Hayden and the Outliers


DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Amadeezy
Entangled Mind
Ex-Hyena
Freezepop
Honeycomb
lavagxrl
Lightfoot
Rilla Force
The Breakbomb Project
Zebbler Encanti Experience


DJ OF THE YEAR

Baby Indiglo
DJ Knife
DJ Papadon
DJ Real P
DJ Slick Vick
DJ Snax
DJ Stamz
DJ Towfu
DJ WhySham
SuperSmashBroz


FOLK ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Anjimile
Darlingside
Grace Givertz
Honest Mechanik
Honeysuckle
Izzy Heltai
Kaiti Jones
Tall Heights
The Ballroom Thieves
The Wolff Sisters


HIP-HOP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

BIA
Billy Dean Thomas
Cousin Stizz
Joyner Lucas
Latrell James
Millyz
Oompa
Slaine
Token
Van Buren Records


JAZZ ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Carlos Odria Trio
Couch
Ezra Platt
Grace Kelly
Jerry Bergonzi
Lake Street Dive
Really From
Terri Lyne Carrington
Tom Dowd Group
Yoko Miwa Trio


METAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Blood Lightning
Cortez
Glacier
Inverter
KIND
SEA
SEED
Seven Spires
Severed Boy
Vaulted


POP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Clairo
Frances Forever
Kaylee Federmann
Layzi
Leo The Kind
PVRIS
Ripe
shallow pools
Yavin
Zola Simone


PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

BEDTIMEMAGIC
Bicycle Inn
Evan Greer
Fiddlehead
Knock Over City
Linnea's Garden
Oh The Humanity!
Old Moon
SkyTigers
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones


R&B ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Alejandro Blanco
Amandi Music
CD Rose
Destiny Claymore
Miranda Rae
Najee Janey
Notebook P
Onbloom
Shaya
Teamarrr


ROCK ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Carissa Johnson
Circus Trees
Dinosaur Jr.
Dutch Tulips
Exit 18
Fiddlehead
Motel Black
Pile
Salem Wolves
The Freqs


SINGER-SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Adi Sun
Clairo
Frances Forever
Izzy Heltai
Liz Bills
Marissa Nadler
Naomi Westwater
Senseless Optimism
Squirrel Flower
Will Dailey


VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Aaron Garcia (Pillbook)
Ali McGuirk
Carlheb Cemesca (MyCompiledThoughts)
Destiny Claymore
Ella O’Connor Williams (Squirrel Flower)
Jill McCracken
Julie Rhodes
Lynn Gunn (PVRIS)
Natalie Joly
Walter Alice Sickert


SESSION MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

Chris Anzalone
Chuck Ferreira
Cody Nilsen
Duke Levine
Erica Mantone
Joe McMahon
Jonathan Ulman
Kevin Barry
Marco Marcel
Tim Hall


Live Music Venue of the Year (250+ cap)

Big Night Live
Brighton Music Hall
City Winery
House Of Blues
Leader Bank Pavilion
ONCE Somerville at Boynton Yards
Paradise Rock Club
Royale
The Middle East Downstairs
The Sinclair


Live Music Venue of the Year (-250 cap)

Club Passim
Dorchester Art project
Midway Cafe
O'Brien's Pub
Starlight Square
The Burren
The Jungle Community Music Club
The Lilypad
The Middle East Upstairs
Thirsty First


TALENT BUYER OF THE YEAR

Aaron Gray
Alex Pickert
Dustin Labbe
Heather Timmons
Jared Dobson
Josh Bhatti
Josh Smith
Justine Faucher
Matt Smith
Ryan Vangel


MUSIC PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

24 Hour Concerts
BAMS Fest
Big Night Entertainment
Bowery Presents Boston
Crossroads Presents
Grayskull Booking
Indie Rock Ranger
Leedz Edutainment
Showoff Marketing
Vasjan Presents


Production Manager/Live Engineer of the Year

Brittany Sirois
Chris Johnson
Dana Filloon
Ian Nault
Jesse Vengrove
Joyce In
Mike Green
Ryan Ainsworth
Salim Akram
William Powell


RECORDING STUDIO OF THE YEAR

37' Productions
Henley Row
Mad Oak Studios
New Alliance
Q Division
The Bridge Sound & Stage
The Record Co.
Ugly Duck
Wooly Mammoth Studio
Zippah Recording


STUDIO PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

AzizTheShake
Benny Grotto
Brian Charles
Dephrase
Ed Valauskas
IAmTash
Jay Maas
Jon Glass
Sean McLaughlin
The Arcitype


LIVE MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Adam Parshall
Angel “Hal” Ocasio
Ben Stas
Bryan Lasky
Corwin Wickersham
Emily Gardner
Greg Wong
Matthew Shelter
Omari Spears
Yazi Ferrufino


MUSIC VIDEOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Ben Proulx
Colin Pagnoni
Dom “Tanj” Bruno
Mitchell Jean-Louis
Jay Hunt
Katherine Otuechere
Matt Arnold
Myster DL
Ramón Golden
Reko M


MUSIC PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR

Allston Pudding
Boston Compass
Boston Hassle
DigBoston
Lowell Spin
Second Society Report
Sound of Boston
The ARTery
The MUSEUM TV
Vanyaland


MUSIC JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR

Amelia Mason
Candace McDuffie
Harry Gustafson
Jed Gottlieb
Karen Muller
Lillian "Lilz" Martin
Michael Marotta
Rob Duguay
Victor Infante
Victoria Wasylak


MUSIC PODCAST/RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR

Above The Basement - Boston Music and Conversation
Allston Pudding's The Puddcast
Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood
Bumble Bee Brunch
CWTFB Radio
Everything You Know is Wrong
ItsLitBoston Podcast
LFOD Radio
On The Town With Mikey Dee
Pipeline!


617Sessions Song of the Year

ANSON RAP$ - Value
DATCHA - Still Learning
Jake Swamp & The Pine - Hard To Spot A Fish
Juniper Youth - Chaos Engine
King Fiya - Game Room
Mallcops - IDLY
Michael Minelli - Somebody Else
Salem Wolves - Paraffin
Senseless Optimism - Yesterdayz
The Wolff Sisters - I Used To Be The One