KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — The Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) was one of, if not THE most prestigious awards events in Malaysia that celebrated excellence in the local music industry.

Introduced in 1993 by the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM), it has celebrated music industry players of through the years.

It remains the the only local music award show that doles out recognition to almost every discipline of the Malaysian music industry — but AIM still struggles monetarily to hold its awards show annually.

This is evident from AIM's five-year hiatus between 2016 to 2021.

While it staged a comeback of sorts in 2022, its inconsistent organisation leave much to be desired, and raises questions of its relevance after missing out on so much changes within the industry in its absence.

Malay Mail sat down with industry players to listen to their views on AIM, and whether it remains important and relevant today.

Dealing with inconsistencies is a priority

To date, three quarters of the 23 AIMs organised through the years have been run by Persatuan Akademi Industri Muzik Malaysia (PAIMM), whose task was solely to focus on AIM — from securing sponsors and broadcasters to handling all the entries and judges.

It wasn’t until the 18th AIM in 2011 that RIM decided to take over the organisation tasks of the award show from PAIMM.

Former PAIMM general manager Jennifer Thompson said that it is extremely important for AIM to maintain its consistency as not only it affects the brand's image, it only makes it harder to secure sponsorship and broadcast deals otherwise.

"The other problem is of course, you lose artists in between, who come out during that (the awards' hiatus) period.

"Not only have they put out quality materials, but some made an impact in the business which should have and would have been celebrated,” Thompson said.

Having been in the local music industry for the past four decades, she pointed out that scaling down the event is a solution worth considering, including to smaller venues.

The concert director however added that AIM or any other awards show that celebrates local talents will always remain relevant no matter what.

"Because we have so much talent here, we need to celebrate them.

"But how you do it and what percentage of that award you decide to give to newer talents (as a platform) is something you should think about,” she said.

The impact of AIM

Indie synth-pop band Late Night Frequencies' 2021 debut single Fun Lust Love won the Best Electronic Pop/Dance song at the 23rd AIM in 2022.

According to frontman Moja or his real name Dr. Ahmad Mujahid Husni Salim, the win definitely helped.

The recognition made them realise that they were moving in the right direction as a band, which motivated them.

"Even though there was no monetary gain from winning the award, it's the recognition by the industry professionals that's important for us, as it helps us level up our band on paper.

"It opened up more opportunities for us, coming from brand sponsors, film productions, event organisers etc.

"The win turned many heads and opened their eyes and ears to our band, and the endless potential of us working with other people,” Moja said.

He admitted winning an award at a relatively early stage of their band's career sometimes felt like a double-edged sword.

"In terms of shows, our number of shows actually declined since winning the AIM award, but also at the same time, for the small number of shows we do get, the quality of the shows are much higher in terms of the production value,” he said.

Moja is confident that AIM will remain a valuable platform, especially for independent musicians to be recognised.

He hopes that industry players and the government will give their support for the awards show to go on.

For Ze, the frontman of Klang Valley gender-fluid band, Spooky Wet Dreams which was formed back in 2014 with his twin sister Nani, he is unconvinced of AIM's relevance.

"Is it necessary? That’s subjective. For the industry, yes, it is. Because musicians do want to feel valued for the work they’ve done and it's essential for their growth,” he said.

For Ze or his real name Syazwan Zulkiffli, as a band, winning awards was never been their main goal as they just want to make music.

"I think it goes back to why you make music. For me, it is solely to make art and entertain.

"For some, it's to cari makan (sustain their livelihood) and there’s no wrong in that. If winning an AIM trophy can help them justify the price of their services and that’s cool,” he said.

He however admitted that he is no stranger to AIM and past winners such as Datuk Stiti Nurhaliza, Spider and his personal favourite, Datuk M.Nasir.

Ze however feels that for AIM to remain relevant in the digital age, the awards show needed to keep up with the times.

Including giving more chances to relevant artists and appealing to the younger generation.

"They need to be featuring the right artists, through the right channels.

"Yes, it shouldn’t be a popularity contest, but the conversations, curations need to be discussed in a more exciting manner.

"You can be prestigious and be relatable at the same time. The Oscars and the Emmys have shown that,” he said.

For Anugerah Lagu Indie (ALI) co-founder Loy Ekzan, the hiatus of AIM was the very reason for the birth of ALI in 2020.

"AIM has it all, they managed to bring together both popular commercial artists as well as indie talents.

"It gave a different flavour to the music scene if we were to compare it to other awards shows such as Anugerah Juara Lagu where all the songs are almost from the same genres.

"But AIM was open to more types of music and I think that’s where people know that Malaysia has a lot of talents in different genres, from punk rock, hardcore, pop as well as hip hop,” he said.

Although ALI has managed to be held consistently for four years in a row so far, Loy said that their audience was still considered niche compared to AIM.

AIM is already established, and that's why he said it will remain relevant — provided they address the issue of the consistency of its organisation.