duotone audio group Wins Best In Show at 2025 AMP Awards
duotone audio group won the Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award at the 12th AMP Awards for Music & Sound, taking home the trophy for its music supervision work on ‘Reproductive Refrain,’ the campaign film for Forward Midwifery, the sexual and reproductive telehealth services provider. The provocative two-minute spot created by agency Tall Poppy, which features the classic Martha Wainwright song ‘Bloody Mother F***ing A**hole,’ also won in the competition’s category for Best Use of a Licensed, Pre-Existing Recording.
The awards were presented at a sold-out event held at Sony Hall in New York on Wednesday, May 21, which was presided over by the AMP Awards Committee and the competition’s 2025 Show chairperson, Damien Escobar, global chief music officer, Havas.
‘Reproductive Refrain’ reflects the awesome power the perfect licensed song can convey, using Martha Wainwright’s searingly-direct ‘Bloody Mother F***ing A**hole’ to convey the incredible stakes in the last election around reproductive rights.
The only multiple category winner this year was SUPREME MUSIC, which won Best Sound Design for PepsiCo Mexico, Outstanding Adaptation/Arrangement for Penny Supermarkets, and Most Innovative Process & Execution for Pedigree.
To view all the 2025 winning entries, go here.
The full list of 2025 AMP Awards winners includes:
Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award
duotone audio group
Forward Midwifery
‘Reproductive Refrain’
Best Artist + Brand Collaboration
Sponsored & Presented by Marmoset
The Elements Music
International Cricket Council (ICC)
‘Out of This World – ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Anthem’
David & Jan Horowitz Award for Best Original Score
Dirty Soup
Lufthansa
‘All It Takes Is A Yes.’
Best Original Song
Barking Owl
KitchenAid
‘Love The Racks’
Best Sound Design
SUPREME MUSIC
PepsiCo Mexico
‘¿A que te Sabe Pepsi Black?’
Best Use of Licensed Pre-existing Recording
Sponsored & Presented by Reservoir
duotone audio group, NY
Forward Midwifery
‘Reproductive Refrain’
Best Use of Music and Sound in Emerging Media or Experiential Events
Q Department
UFC
‘UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC’
Best Use of Music in a Promo, Trailer or Title Sequence for Film, TV or Game
Sponsored by APM Music
Wieden+Kennedy Portland
Netflix
‘You're Not Ready’
Most Effective Use of Music in a Campaign
Sponsored & Presented by Music Alternatives
Havas Chicago
Chamberlain
‘myQ: If My Home Just Had a Brain’
Most Innovative Process & Execution
SUPREME MUSIC
Pedigree
‘Tail Orchestra’
Outstanding Adaptation/Arrangement
SUPREME MUSIC
Penny
‘Wonderful World’
Outstanding Mix
Sound Lounge
Tonal
‘Future of Fitness
Outstanding Sonic Identity
Antfood
Crunchyroll
‘Crunchyroll - Sonic Logo’
Many Standout Moments:
The AMP Awards presentation featured a number of memorable moments that made the event even more meaningful for those in attendance, as well as for the larger advertising music community.
The pre-show party began with an invite-only VIP Nominee Celebration (Sponsored by Soundstripe), followed by an extended two-hour cocktail party, added in response to members’ suggestion to have more time to network and catch up with colleagues and peers.
When the lights finally dimmed at 9 pm, it was to an opening musical tribute honouring the legacy of legendary composer, producer, and arranger Quincy Jones. The performance, which featured a 16-piece orchestra and spotlighted several specific moments in Jones’ career, including his collaborations with Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, was arranged by David Sneider and featured the Storefront Music Orchestra, led by bandleader John “Scrapper” Sneider.
From there, audiences were treated to an opening titles video that featured the “talking ears” seen in the AMP Awards marketing campaign, conceived by the agency TiNY, which launched back in December 2024. In the video, we see the industry’s “ears” chatting among themselves, as one ear imagines an award show all their own.
That led to an animated, surreal dream sequence of all the ears partying down at Sony Hall, created by the talented director/designer Ustab Giri from post studio Mugsy. The video abruptly ends with the ears snapping out of it and welcoming everybody to the show.
Wieden+Kennedy Joins AMP Hall of Fame:
One highlight was the induction of Wieden+Kennedy into the AMP Hall of Fame, the first time the Association of Music Producers has honoured an agency. In the past, the honour has gone solely to brands like Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and last year’s honouree, adidas. Accepting on behalf of the agency was Karl Lieberman, global chief creative officer.
Another memorable moment was when the lights suddenly dimmed during the opening cocktail party, spotlights swirled and landed on an organised flash dance mob to the Chubby Checker classic “The Twist,” which is celebrating its 65th anniversary. The surprise, choreographed production (created by experiential agency, Flying Under The Radar) was all part of ABKCO Records' celebration of Checker’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.
The show closed with a performance from GIFT, the popular Brooklyn-based band whose 2024 release "Illuminator" (Captured Tracks) highlights their ever-growing musical chemistry, driving the band’s danceable and frequently mesmerising songs. Taking unabashed inspiration from artists as wide-ranging as Madonna and MGMT, GIFT’s performance was the perfect closing-credit soundtrack to a magical night.
But the night was hardly over, once the stage was cleared, the party took off, driven by the beat of Hang the DJ (aka Charlie Davis and Francis Garcia)-- a long-time presence at the AMP Awards. Charlie is a Brooklyn-based musician and DJ who’s worked in the NYC music industry since ’06. He’s currently SVP, Sync Services & Partnerships at BMG. Francis is the CCO of Academy Fight Songs, a Brooklyn music house and recording studio partnered with Rough Trade Publishing to compose music for brands and content.
Sponsorship Thanks:
Platinum Sponsors: APM Music, Marmoset, Music Alternatives, and Reservoir
Gold Sponsors: Art of Sound, BMG, Concord Music Publishing, Empire, Extreme Music, Primary Wave Music, REPUBLIC, Sound Goods, Soundstripe, and Universal Music Australia
Supporting Sponsors: ABKCO, Believe x Sentric, Bodega Sync, Clio Music, Concord Label Group, Crucial Music, De Wolfe Music, FGMK Insurance, Spirit Music Group, The Orchard, Third Side Music, Warner Music Group, and West One Music Group
Production Partners: Groove Guild, Hang The DJ, MetaTechnik, Storefront Music, TiNY and Yessian
Beverage Partners: Flying Embers + JuneShine, and Peroni
