Music Business Association to Honor ‘Hamilton Original Cast Recording’ and ‘Hamilton Mixtape’ with Outstanding Achievement Award at Music Biz 2017
April 4, 2017 – The Music Business Association will celebrate the massive success of the Hamilton Original Cast Recording and the Hamilton Mixtape albums with an Outstanding Achievement Award on May 18 at 12:30 p.m. CT during the Music Biz 2017 convention’s Awards Luncheon at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel in Nashville.
The Hamilton Original Cast Recording, which has been certified 3x-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), scored the highest Billboard 200 debut week for a cast recording in over half a century at #12, became the first-ever Broadway cast album to reach #1 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart, and was the best-selling Broadway cast album of both 2015 and 2016. It earned a GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theater Album and was nominated for a 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo, Group, or Collaboration.
The Hamilton Mixtape — produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots and featuring Busta Rhymes, Nas, Usher, Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Wiz Khalifa, John Legend, Common, Chance The Rapper, and more — posted the largest first-week sales for a compilation album since 2012, becoming the first compilation to top the Billboard 200 chart in two years. The album also debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Rap Albums, Top Current Albums, R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and Current Digital Albums charts and was named one of Billboard’s “50 Best Albums of 2016.”
“In addition to launching a revolution in the theater world, Hamilton has been a major presence among the music industry’s best-sellers with its Original Cast Recording and unprecedented Mixtape album, featuring some of the biggest names in R&B and Hip-Hop performing the musical’s songs,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “The music of Hamilton has clearly touched a nerve in popular culture, and we are thrilled to honor its accomplishments with our Outstanding Achievement Award.”
The Outstanding Achievement Award commemorates notable milestones and extraordinary achievements in the music industry, with past awards honoring the success of the Frozen soundtrack, the 50th anniversary of The Monkees, the 50th anniversary of The Who, and the 10th anniversary of American Idol.
Reaching Broadway in August 2015, Hamilton is a Hip-Hop-inspired musical based on the life of U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton. Written by original star Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show has taken the theater world by storm, winning 11 Tony Awards in 2016, including Best Musical, as well as the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is also a Washington Book Prize winner, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner, and the recipient of 26 nominations for the 2016 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards, the most ever for a show, winning 11. The show began its first U.S. tour in March 2017 in San Francisco and will hit theaters in Los Angeles; San Diego; Tempe, AZ; Denver; St. Louis; Houston; Atlanta; Washington D.C.; and Boston. A second tour will launch in February 2018 hitting Seattle; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City; Costa Mesa, CA; Las Vegas; Des Moines; Cleveland; and Minneapolis.
Music Biz 2017, which will return to Nashville from May 15-18, is the music industry’s premier event, giving the commerce and content sectors a place to meet with trading partners, network with new companies, and learn about new trends and products impacting the music business. This year’s event will feature keynotes from Atlantic Records Group Chairman and COO Julie Greenwald, Spotify’s Global Head of Creator Services Troy Carter, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Music Agents Jeff Krones and Hunter Williams, Cracker Barrel’s VP of Marketing Don Hoffman, Universal Music Group’s Exec. VP of Content Strategy and Operations Barak Moffitt, and more to be announced. A special line-up of Digital Service Workshops from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Soundcloud, Spotify, and YouTube/Google Play will mark an unprecedented first for the music industry as Music Biz will bring these companies together in one place for one day packed with information about how to leverage the tools and products that these companies offer to maximize value for artists, labels, managers, creators, and the industry at large.
The eclectic Music Biz 2017 program will also cover topics including Touring, Live Streaming, Vinyl, Messaging, International, D2F, Crowdfunding, Tweens & Tech, e-Commerce, Playlisting, A&R, Social Media, Licensing, Publishing, Hi-Res, VR, Management, and Professional Development. Returning favorite sessions will include the Metadata Summit, Brand & Strategic Partnership Summit, and Entertainment & Technology Law Conference, as well as an encore for Music’s Leading Ladies Speak Out and various special interest programs and breakout sessions. Music Biz will celebrate executive and artist achievements with Music Biz awards being bestowed to UMG Nashville’s Mike Dungan, Music Millennium’s Terry Currier, Adele, Paula Abdul, Lukas Graham, Maren Morris, and others to be announced. Registration is now open at www.musicbiz2017.com, and for a full list of currently confirmed programming, visit https://musicbiz2017.sched.org.
About the Music Business Association
The Music Business Association (Music Biz) is a membership organization that advances and promotes music commerce — a community committed to the full spectrum of monetization models in the industry. It provides common ground by offering thought leadership, resources and unparalleled networking opportunities, all geared to the specific needs of its membership. Music Biz brings a unique perspective and valuable insight into the trends and changes that innovation brings. Today, we put our collective experience to work across all delivery models: physical, digital, mobile, and more. Music Biz and its members are committed to building the future of music commerce — together.
Music Biz Media Contact
Laurie Jakobsen, Jaybird Communications — laurie@jaybirdcom.com, 646.484.6764
