The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the
Canadian Music Hall of Fame are also inducted as part of the awards ceremonies. The Juno Awards are often referred to as the Canadian equivalent of the
Brit Awards in the United Kingdom or the
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
s given in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.
Members of the
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), or a panel of experts, depending on the award, choose the award winners. However, sales figures are the sole basis for determining the winners of nine of the forty-two categories like Album of the Year or Artist of the Year. CARAS members determine the nominees for Single of the Year, Artist and Group of the Year. A judge vote by experts in the relevant genre, determines the nominees for the remaining categories. The names of the judges remain confidential. The judges represent all facets of the Canadian music industry. They are spread across the country and include men and women, and speakers of both official languages (English and French). No person can judge the same category two years in a row.
History
The Juno Awards are named in honour of
Pierre Juneau
Pierre Juneau, , (October 17, 1922 – February 21, 2012) was a Canadian film and broadcast executive, a one-time member of the Canadian Cabinet, the first chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) an ...
, the first president of the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcast ...
(CRTC) and former president of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...
(CBC).
1970s
In 1964 ''
RPM'' magazine began polling its readers to determine which artists and groups they considered the best in Canada.
''RPM'' announced the results of these polls each December.
There were no formal award ceremonies.
Record label owner
Stan Klees
Stan Klees (born 29 April 1932 at Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian retired music industry businessman. He created the music recording companies Tamarac and Red Leaf Records in the 1960s.
Klees was a presenter at CHUM radio in the late 1940s the ...
met with ''RPM'' founder
Walt Grealis to plan a formal music industry awards ceremony. Instead of merely publishing the award results in ''RPM'', presentations would be made at a physical venue. The first ceremony was the
Gold Leaf Awards which took place on 23 February 1970 in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
.
Later that year ''RPM'' invited its readers to suggest a new name for these awards. The name "Juneau" was submitted, in honour of Pierre Juneau, the first head of the CRTC. Juneau was instrumental in establishing Canadian content regulations for broadcasters to promote Canadian musicians.
That name became shortened to Juno and by 1971, the awards ceremonies were referred to as the "Juno Awards".
From 1970 to 1973, ''RPM'' announced the winners before the awards night. From 1974, the award winners were not made public until the Juno ceremonies. Music industry representatives formed an advisory committee for the Junos in 1974 which became the Canadian Music Awards Association the following year. This organisation assumed full management and operation of the Juno Awards from 1977 and became the
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).
The Junos were first televised across Canada in
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
on
CBC Television.
Primary ceremonies continued to be broadcast on CBC until
2001, moving to
CTV Television Network
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...
(CTV) in
2002. CBC broadcast the
Juno Awards of 2018.
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was introduced in 1978. In 1979 the stauette's name was officially changed from RPM Annual Gold Leaf Award to Juno Award, and Canada's Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau was a presenter.
1980s
Joni Mitchell was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame by Pierre Trudeau in 1982.
Initially, the awards were presented during the early part of each year. In 1984, organisers postponed that year's awards until December. CARAS maintained a late-year scheduling until January 1988 when it noted the declining viewership of the Juno broadcasts and reverted to an early year awards schedule. CARAS postponed that year's Juno Awards until 12 March 1989, so there was no ceremony in the 1988 calendar year.
1990s
In 1991, the awards were hosted in Vancouver, the first time the Juno ceremonies were conducted outside Toronto. That year also marked the introduction of a category for
rap recordings.
For the first time the 1995 Awards, held in Hamilton's
Copps Coliseum, were open to the public. This marked the 25th anniversary of the Junos.
In 1996 the four-CD, 77-song box set ''
Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music'' and a book were released to mark the 25th anniversary of the Juno Awards. The box set featured popular songs by Canadian artists from the 1960s to 1990s sold over one million copies and was certified diamond. In 2001, a second four-CD box set was released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the awards. In 2006, a third box set was released to celebrate the 35th anniversary which was certified platinum in Canada.
2000s
CARAS transferred the broadcast rights to the Juno Awards from CBC to
CTV
CTV may refer to:
Television
* Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet
North America and South America
* CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media
** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
for the 2002 ceremonies. 2006 marked the first time the Junos were broadcast internationally through
MTV2
MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global.
The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programm ...
in the United States and several affiliated MTV channels in other nations. The telecast of the 2006 Juno Awards was available to approximately 250 million people.
The
Allan Waters Humanitarian Award The Humanitarian Award (formerly the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award) is awarded by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to Canadian musicians who have made significant humanitarian efforts. Since 2006, it is given annually e ...
honouring media icon
Allan Waters
Allan Waters (August 11, 1921 – December 3, 2005) was a Canadian businessman and media icon. Waters was one of the founders of CHUM Limited, a Canadian media corporation.
Waters worked in a drug company and quit in 1954 and with partner Jerry G ...
was inaugurated in 2006. The first artist to be given this honour was
Bruce Cockburn.
At the 2007 ceremony, host
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists.
She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired de ...
made Juno history by being the first nominee with multiple nominations to win every award for which she was nominated. These included the two most prestigious honours, Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.
On 18 April 2017, CARAS president Allan Reid announced that the ceremonies would return to CBC for the first time since 2002, for at least the next six years. He said he wanted to collaborate with the CBC to bolster a year-round presence for the Juno Awards as a platform for promoting Canadian music.
The 2020 event was canceled because of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...
, but later replaced by an online ceremony on June 29.
Nomination process
Specific award categories and their descriptions vary from year to year reflecting changes and developments in the music industry. In 1964 there were 16 categories,
and in 2017 there were 42. Judging panels change each year. They include people from different areas of the music industry and regions of the country. An advisory committee oversees each category to ensure that all the submissions meet the required criteria.
The nominations for each year's Junos are based on an eligibility period which lasts for 13 to 14 months, ending on the mid-November prior to the awards ceremony. For example, the eligibility period of the 2010 Juno Awards was from 1 September 2008 to 13 November 2009. Musicians or their representatives submit music released during the eligibility period to CARAS, designated for the appropriate nomination categories. Nominations other than for the
International Album of the Year may only be awarded to Canadians who have lived in Canada during the last six months of the eligibility period, and are deemed Canadian by birth, passport or immigration status.
Following the close of the eligibility period, CARAS conducts an initial vote by its members to establish the list of nominees in most categories. Sales figures determined the nominees for
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
and
International Album of the Year. Sales along with a jury vote determine the
New Artist of the Year,
New Group of the Year,
Rock Album of the Year and
Pop Album of the Year. Sales and a CARAS member vote determine the nominations for
Artist of the Year and
Group of the Year.
After the nominees list is published, another voting round is conducted to determine the winners of most categories. Voting for the
Juno Fan Choice Award is open to the public, while voting on general categories is limited to CARAS members. Winners in genre-specific or specialty categories are determined by specially appointed CARAS juries.
As of 2010, ballots are audited by the major accounting company
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...
.
Trophy
Stan Klees developed the first Juno trophies for the inaugural presentations in 1970. These were constructed from
walnut wood, stood tall and resembled a
metronome.
When CBC televised the ceremonies in 1975, the award was constructed from
acrylic
Acrylic may refer to:
Chemicals and materials
* Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound
* Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity
* Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...
instead of wood while retaining a metronome shape. The trophy was given minor modifications in succeeding years. These included a reduction in size for ease of handling, and changes to the inlay design such as a special 1996 emblem to signify the 25th anniversary.
In 2000 following criticism from producers that the existing award trophy did not have an attractive television appearance, CARAS commissioned a redesigned award from Stoney Creek, Ontario, artist Shirley Elford. After reviewing three designs, two of which were patterned after the existing trophy, a new trophy design was selected featuring a glass human figure surrounded by a nickel-coated spiral symbolic of a
musical staff on an aluminum base.
A few display statuettes were circulated for presentation during the ceremonies. Within months, winners received their personalized and individually made trophies from Elford.
In October 2010, CARAS unveiled a new award design to be used from 2011 on. Elford had developed cancer and was no longer able to produce individual Juno trophies. The new design, manufactured by Crystal Sensations of Markham, ON, featured a solid crystal tower containing a subsurface laser engraving depicting a spiral-wrapped human figure resembling the previous statuette. Elford died in November 2011.
Dates and locations
The Juno Awards events were not conducted outside
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
until 1991. Since then, the ceremonies have been hosted throughout Canada, reaching both coasts. The provinces of
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
,
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
, and the
Territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
, have yet to play host to the Junos. In recent years, the various locations often host a number of supporting events and festivals surrounding the awards.
Live performances
Beginning in 1975 when the CBC began to televise the Junos live performances were featured throughout the show. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame was introduced in 1978. These are the performers who appeared during the show and those who were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of fame.
Juno Week
For several days prior to the weekend award presentations, events are held in the host city as part of a "Juno Week". Local venues host multiple events throughout the week. Events include: Juno Cup, an ice hockey game that pits a team of musicians against a team of
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
players as a fundraiser for
MusiCounts, a charitable music education program operated by CARAS, Juno Fan Fare, a meet and greet where fans can meet their favourite Canadian artists, Juno Songwriters' Circle, a chance for Canada's most talented songwriters to tell their stories and play an intimate set in support of MusiCounts, and JUNOfest, a two-night music celebration that showcases over 100 bands at over a dozen venues in the host city. In 2015, Hamilton hosted the inaugural Juno Awards KickOff Concert.
Juno TV
Launched in January 2013, Juno TV is a digital channel featuring original and archival content specific to the Juno Awards and its nominated artists and Canadian celebrities such as Alanis Morissette, The Weeknd, Lights, and
Rush. Juno TV delivers new content weekly, presenting content on a year-round basis.
Award categories
Award names have changed through the years, most notably the switch in 2003 from the phrase "Best..." to " ... of the year". The previous awards are listed under their present names or the present award that is most similar. As of 2018 there are 43 awards listed below with their category numbers.
Categories for 2018:
*
Adult Alternative Album of the Year (11)
*
Adult Contemporary Album of the Year (42)
*
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
(4)
*
Alternative Album of the Year (12)
*
Artist of the Year (5)
*
Blues Album of the Year (32)
*
Breakthrough Artist of the Year (7)
*
Breakthrough Group of the Year (8)
*
Children's Album of the Year (20)
*
Classical Album of the Year–Solo or Chamber Ensemble (21)
*
Classical Album of the Year–Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment (22)
*
Classical Album of the Year–Vocal or Choral Performance (23)
*
Classical Composition of the Year (24)
*
Comedy Album of the Year (43)
*
Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year (33)
*
Contemporary Roots Album of the Year (30)
*
Country Album of the Year (10)
*
Dance Recording of the Year (26)
*
Electronic Album of the Year (40)
*
Fan Choice Award (1)
*
Francophone Album of the Year (19)
*
Group of the Year (6)
*
Indigenous Music Album of the Year (29)
*
Instrumental Album of the Year (18)
*
International Album of the Year (3)
*
Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
The Juno Award for "Producer of the Year" has been awarded since 1975, as recognition each year for the best record producer in Canada. It was renamed the "Jack Richardson Producer of the Year" award in 2003, after Jack Richardson who was a no ...
(35)
*
Jazz Album of the Year: Solo (16)
*
Jazz Album of the Year: Group (17)
*
Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year (41)
*
Pop Album of the Year (13)
*
R&B/Soul Recording of the Year (27)
*
Rap Recording of the Year (25)
*
Recording Engineer of the Year (36)
*
Recording Package of the Year (37)
*
Reggae Recording of the Year (28)
*
Rock Album of the Year (14)
*
Traditional Roots Album of the Year (31)
*
Single of the Year (2)
*
Songwriter of the Year (9)
*
Vocal Jazz Album of the Year (15)
*
Video of the Year (38)
*
World Music Album of the Year (34)
Former Categories:
*
Juno International Achievement Award - awarded from 1992 to 2000
*
Juno Award for International Entertainer of the Year - awarded from 1989 to 1993
*
Juno Award for Best Selling Single - awarded from 1975 to 1993
*
Juno Award for Music DVD of the Year - awarded from 2004 to 2013 - discontinued in 2014
*
Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year - awarded from 1977 to 2014 - discontinued in 2015
*
Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo - awarded between 1989 and 2015
*
Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group - awarded between 1989 and 2015
Beginning with the 2016 ceremony, two new awards categories—
Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and
Traditional Roots Album of the Year—were introduced to "ensure two genres of music are not competing against each other in the same category".
Since 2015, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Fan Choice Award are the only categories that are presented at every broadcast.
Criticism
The Juno Awards have received criticism from several Canadian artists.
Rascalz
In 1998, the
Rascalz album ''Cash Crop'' was nominated for
Best Rap Recording. Due to
Canadian hip hop's limited commercial notability, the rap award had never been presented during the main Juno ceremony, instead being relegated to the non-televised technical awards ceremony during the previous evening.
This fact had previously been criticized for creating a barrier to the commercial visibility of Canadian hip hop. Rascalz, however, alleged that
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...
was a factor in the award's disadvantageous scheduling, and became the first Canadian hip hop group to explicitly ''decline'' the award on that basis.
["Kinder, gentler rap, eh? Canadians hip-hop onto centre stage"]
, ''Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...
'', March 7, 1999.
Their move sparked considerable media debate about the state of Canadian hip hop. As a result of the controversy, the Juno Awards moved the rap category to the main ceremony the following year.
Matthew Good
Matthew Good
Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the Matthew Good Band, one of the most successful alternative rock bands in Canada during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the ...
has won four Juno Awards during his career, but has not attended the ceremonies in any of the years he won. In 2009, he criticized the awards for not promoting Canadian music at the grassroots level, saying, "When it ... isn't kind of this weekend when the Canadian music industry pretends that it's ... not just marketing warehouses for the United States, then sure, I'll be a part of it."
Kardinal Offishall
At the
2006 Juno Awards
The Juno Awards of 2006 were held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on the weekend of 31 March to 2 April 2006. These ceremonies honour music industry achievements in Canada during the previous year.
The primary ceremonies were hosted by Pamela An ...
,
Kardinal Offishall stated that he would not attend the Junos anymore. "I'm not going to be the Juno's monkey no more, I'm not coming back any more." Offishall cited Canadian hip-hop's low profile at that year's awards as the catalyst for his decision. Offishall further stated, "Really, to me it's really atrocious what they do to hip-hop in this country and what they do for the artists... I just feel like the token hip-hop artist from Canada. For urban music in this country, I mean, not only was hip-hop not televised, but also reggae and R&B; to me, it's sickening." Offishall also criticized the Juno Awards for having the American group
The Black Eyed Peas perform at that year's ceremony. "I just had enough. They had me perform last night and give away the award — to me it's all a farce, I really can't put up with it anymore. It's not even that it's embarrassing, it's just disappointing. It doesn't matter what you do in this country, for me anyway, they don't recognize what I do. It's just a bunch of garbage so I won't be a part of it anymore."
Despite this, Offishall performed at the
2021 Juno Awards
The Juno Awards of 2021, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented on 6 June 2021, observing the 50th anniversary of these awards. The main ceremonies were televised on CBC.
The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in Ma ...
.
See also
*
Canadian Country Music Association
The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a gr ...
*
Music of Canada
*
Canadian hip hop
*
Canadian rock
*
Canadian content
*
:Canadian rock music groups
*
:Canadian musical groups
*
List of Canadian musicians
*
:Music festivals in Canada
*
:Canadian record labels
References
External links
*
Juno Awardson CTV.ca
Juno Awards Coverageon ''
TheGATE.ca'' website
CBC Digital Archives – And the Juno Went to…
{{Authority control
Awards established in 1970
Canadian music awards