Juno Awards add South Asian music, songwriter categories amid broader changes

By David Friend, The Canadian Press on September 23, 2024.

TORONTO – The Juno Awards are casting a spotlight on Canadian-made South Asian music as part of broader changes to the annual celebration.

Organizers at the country’s biggest music awards show say they intend to introduce two new categories next year, with the other giving more space to songwriters.

The new South Asian music recording of the year award will toast homegrown musicians who work in genres inspired by the region, including Punjabi and Bollywood music.

Its addition comes after British Columbia-based musician Karan Aujla became the first Punjabi artist to win the viewer-voted Juno fan choice award earlier this year.

Meanwhile, a new non-performing songwriter of the year category will award creators who pen lyrics for other musicians. It divides the existing songwriter category into two, with the other awarding artists who’ve written their own work.

The Junos made the announcement after pulling back on plans to put four categories on “hiatus” next year – children’s album, reggae recording and Christian/gospel album and international album.

An internal memo obtained by The Canadian Press earlier this month showed those categories were originally going to be shelved for the 2025 show. But a swift blowback from the music community led CEO Allan Reid to reinstate three of the awards.

The awards show now plans only to sideline the international album prize, which was awarded to non-Canadian artists with a global impact.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.