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Why I ( Successfully ) Campaigned for an Underground Dance Category at The Juno Awards
By Joanne Hill ( a . k . a . Sydney Blu )
Electronic music is one of the most quickly-evolving styles of music in the world right now . What was once an underground grassroots movement has penetrated all aspects of our daily lives , including nightclubs , radio , concerts , and music festivals . I have dedicated my life to electronic music . After touring the world and living in the United States for six years , I returned to Toronto in 2015 to reconnect with my musical roots . The underground dance scene was thriving in Toronto at this time . Due to my expertise and commitment in dance music , I was asked to be on the committee for the Dance Recording of the Year category at the Juno Awards .
I have been working in dance music for over 20 years . For a short period of time , my music was what an electronic music expert would call “ commercial ,” but for the majority of my career , my music would be considered authentic underground .
Underground dance music focuses on keeping the traditional roots of electronic music . It largely began in marginalized communities by LGBTQ + and people of colour in the 1970s and ‘ 80s . This kind of electronic music often has no vocals at all , or if some vocals , very minimal . The track is focused on the low-end of the song such as the bassline , drums , and the kick drum and can be often repetitive and hypnotic . Underground dance songs are often longer in length because they take you on a journey and they have slow builds .
Then 2010 was the beginning of what was known as the “ EDM bubble .” Some electronic artists started making music that was more heavily pop-driven . The masses caught on and a new style of electronic music was invented called “ EDM ” that turned dance music into a mainstream style of music . While electronic music was monetized and many would say exploited , underground dance artists stayed true to their initial form and continued their careers separate from the EDM boom . This led to a complete bifurcation of the electronic music industry .
After three years of being on the Juno ’ s committee for Dance Recording of the Year , I noticed that there were no artists in underground getting nominated . It became evident that the music in both the Dance and Electronic categories were resoundingly dominated by the commercial element of electronic music . Myself and several other people on the committee became curious as to why there was a lack of nominees from our community .
I learned that the people voting for the nominees were people who work for mainstream radio and major record labels . I quickly realized that due to the evolving nature of electronic music , there needed to be better representation on the panel of judges who understand the underground sound .
Similarly , dance music festivals have underground stages that are separate from EDM stages , so I questioned why the Junos couldn ’ t have the same distinction ? I felt that it made sense for Juno categories to follow suit and aim to be more inclusive by incorporating the genre of underground into the show . In 2017 , myself and other underground dance artists reached out to our community to ask if there was interest in proposing a new category at the Junos . The response was overwhelmingly positive . From then on , I began advocating for the creation of a new category , Underground Dance Single of the Year , to be introduced .
Following our first proposal in 2019 , The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences ( CARAS ) requested a study highlighting the submissions for the past three years of both the Dance and Electronic categories . The study pointed out that there was a lack of submissions from the underground community . We also discovered that when underground artists did submit , they did not receive any nominations . This in turn discouraged many from submitting in subsequent years . This made me really disappointed because underground music is a substantial creative force in Canada with full-time artists that chart , sell records , tour the world , headline festivals , and are pushing boundaries . I wanted this to change .
I teamed up with several people from the underground dance industry to create a proposal and we presented the final outline in April 2021 . The proposal included 12 Juno winners and nominees and 174 letters of support . We also submitted examples of 602 songs that were released over the last few years that would have been eligible for the new category .
After four years of fighting for our music , I am thrilled to announce that a new category has been accepted and will be introduced at the 2022 Juno Awards !
I am so touched by the passion and determination of the underground dance community to make this new category possible and I ’ m grateful to the Juno Awards for listening and welcoming our new category to next year ’ s show .
Sydney Blu ( Joanne Hill ) has created a household name for herself in the electronic music world . Beginning her career in 2000 , she has performed at more than 40 Toronto nightclubs and held residencies at 15 , including The Guvernment , CODA , The Comfort Zone , and more . She has also performed and hosted at Toronto Pride Central stage several times . In addition , she has performed for thousands of major events and music festivals around the world , working closely with DeadMau5 , Hot Since 82 , Kevin Saunderson , Roger Sanchez , Carlo Lio , and Nathan Barato . www . sydneyblu . com .
CANADIAN MUSICIAN 27
PHOTO : SASHA NIVEOLE