SUISA and the Swiss Music Awards to honour songwriters for the first time
For the first time in the history of the Swiss Music Awards, songwriters will be honoured this year. The songwriter prize will be awarded in SUISA's name in the "Best Hit" category. The composers and lyricists of the Best Hit will thus also receive a Swiss Music Award. The prize will be awarded at the 9th edition of the Swiss Music Awards, to be held in Zurich at the Hallenstadion on 12 February 2016, under the motto "Music to Life". (Photo: SMA)
Zurich, 20.01.2016 - No composer, no song; no author, no lyrics. At the 2016 Swiss Music Awards, authors - i.e. the creators back-stage - will step into the limelight for the first time alongside the performers. The composers and lyricists of the Best Hit will be awarded a prize for their work. The nominees are the songwriters of "Hippie-Bus", "La Bambele" and "Waiting". These are the three songs in the running for Best Swiss Hit. The new award for songwriters was made possible thanks to SUISA, the Swiss Cooperative Society for Authors and Publishers of Music. The prize will be awarded in SUISA's name to the composers and lyricists of the winning song in the Best Hit category on 12 February 2016 at the Swiss Music Awards ceremony in the Zurich Hallenstadion.
This year, the following composers and lyricists are the nominees alongside the performers in the Best Hit category:
Dodo: «Hippie-Bus»
Composers / Lyricists: Dominik Baumgartner, Michele Bochicchio, Marco Jeger, Dominik Jud (Dodo), Florian Reichle
Nickless: «Waiting»
Composers / Lyricists: Thomas Fessler, Nicola Kneringer (Nickless)
Müslüm: «La Bambele»
Composers / Lyricists: Raphael Jakob, Benjamin Mühlethaler, Semih Yavsaner (Müslüm)
Honouring the creative work of songwriters
By awarding the new prize in the Best Hit category, SUISA and the organisers of the Swiss Music Awards intend to honour the creative work of the songwriters. Composers and lyricists often take backstage to show acts and performers. But without their music and lyrics, there would be no songs and no performers.
"We are pleased to be able to honour the composers and lyricists of the Best Hit for the first time at the 2016 Swiss Music Awards. This is extremely important for us", says Andreas Wegelin, CEO of SUISA. "It shows that a lot of creative work goes into composing a song and writing the lyrics. This work also deserves to be honoured at a Swiss prize-giving for music".
SUISA defends the rights of authors and publishers of music. The Cooperative Society is committed to ensuring fair remuneration for music creators, thus fostering the creation of new music. The Society is a supporting partner of the 2016 Swiss Music Awards.
Further information:
For English- and German-language media:
Giorgio Tebaldi
Head of Communications SUISA
Tel. +41 44 485 65 03
E-mail: giorgio.tebaldi@suisa.ch
For French-language media:
Nicolas Pont
SUISA Legal Department
Tel. +41 21 614 32 26
E-mail: nicolas.pont@suisa.ch
About SUISA
SUISA is the cooperative society for composers, lyricists and music publishers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Its 34,000 members include music professionals from all disciplines. In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, SUISA represents the music repertoire of two million authors and publishers worldwide. It grants licences to use this repertoire to more than 90,000 customers.
With approximately 200 employees in Zurich, Lausanne and Lugano, SUISA generates a turnover of some CHF 152 million. As a non-profit organisation, it distributes the proceeds from licences to music authors and publishers after deducting the administrative costs. www.suisa.ch | www.suisablog.ch