The seventh annual Miami Music Awards show, originally scheduled to take place Friday night at the James L. Knight Center, has been postponed until September as a result of a last-minute sponsorship deal with radio station Power 96. The companies that produce the urban music award show, concert promoting company Dreammakers Events and event marketing and production firm Creativas Group Branding, Public Relations & Events, decided to delay it in order to take advantage of the radio station’s relationships with national talent.
“Power 96 is the leading radio station the hip-hop and urban music in the city and they have great relationships with artists,” said Creativas president Liza Santana, adding that Power 96 signed on as the presenting sponsor last month. “Everyone in the genre, like T-Pain, T.I., and Lil Wayne, really wants to work with them.”
Power 96 had a concert-style event scheduled for September, but details had yet to be finalized when the opportunity to sponsor the award show arose. After meeting with Dreammakers and Creativas to discuss the partnership, the station’s execs decided to allocate resources for the September event—including funds, manpower, and artist and nightclub relationships—toward presenting the Miami Music Awards on a larger scale with more talent, after-parties, and additional promotional efforts via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites that could drive traffic to the event’s Web site.
In addition to reeling in local hip-hop artists and DJs such as Pitbull and DJ Khaled, the show (which is still scheduled to take place at the Knight Center) is now confirming more well-known talent such as Flo Rida, T-Pain, Jamie Foxx, and Lil Wayne, some of whom will also perform.
A new component being added this year is an online contest that gives one winner and 20 friends seats at the show, private car service to the event, and passes to the after-parties at Miami Beach's nightclubs. For the first time, the event is adding a charitable element and partnering with the Lupus Foundation of America. Rapper Trick Daddy announced three months ago that he has battled the disease for years, prompting organizers to donate a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to the foundation. Additionally, college scholarships are being created to benefit students at music school SAE Institute-Miami.
Created by Abebe Lewis of Circle House Studios in 2003, the award ceremony honors influential DJs, philanthropists, dancers, and artists in the hip-hop and urban music community of Miami. The award categories and winners are chosen by fan votes gathered via the event's Web site.
