Wave Studios Wins Best in Show as Winners Honoured at 2024 AMP Awards

Wave Studios NY won the Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award at the 11th AMP Awards for Music & Sound, taking home the trophy for its 'Heal the Future' spot for Sick Kids Foundation. The two-and-a-half minute spot, created by Cossette, also won in the competition’s category for Outstanding Mix. The awards were presented at a sold-out event held at Sony Hall in New York on Wednesday, May 15th, which was presided over by AMP’s leaders and the competition’s 2024 Show Chairman, Leo Premutico, Co-Founder and Creative Chairman of Johannes Leonardo. 

This is the third Best in Show winner for Wave Studios; the company won back-to-back honours in 2019 and 2020 with its work for Smirnoff ('Infamous Since 1864') and The New York Times ('Fearlessness'), respectively. Their winning entry this year shows, in dramatic fashion, how early diagnoses can help save the lives of children with serious illnesses or conditions. It was mixed at Wave Studios by Issac Matus. 

The only multiple category winner at this year’s AMP Awards was Yessian Music, which won in two categories with its entry for Schweppes titled 'The Social Sound Experience,' which won in the categories of Best Use of Music and Sound in Emerging Media or Experiential Events and Most Innovative Process & Execution. 

To view all the winning entries, go here. The full list of 2024 AMP Awards winners includes:

Ryan Barkan Best in Show Award

Wave Studios NY

Sick Kids Foundation

“Heal The Future”

Best Artist + Brand Collaboration

Sponsored & Presented by Concord Music Publishing

The Elements Music

7-Eleven 

“Anything Flows”

David & Jan Horowitz Award for Best Original Score

Supreme Music

Kärcher

“Beautiful Insanity”

Best Original Song - Sponsored by Music Alternatives

Citizen Music

Under Armour

“Armour Up”

Best Sound Design

Droga5 New York & Accenture Song

General Entertainment Authority

“Rumble”

Best Use of Licensed Pre-existing Recording - Sponsored & Presented by Reservoir

Groove Guild

Volkswagen

“An American Love Story”

Best Use of Music and Sound in Emerging Media or Experiential Events

Yessian Music

Schweppes

“The Social Sound Experience”

Best Use of Music in a Promo, Trailer or Title Sequence for Film, TV or Game - Sponsored & Presented by Marmoset

SixtyFour Music

Element Pictures

“Poor Things Trailer”

Most Effective Use of Music in a Campaign - Sponsored & Presented by APM Music

Heavy Duty Projects

Etsy

“Your Mission Campaign”

Most Innovative Process & Execution

Yessian Music

Schweppes

“The Social Sound Experience”

Outstanding Adaptation/Arrangement - Sponsored & Presented by TRO Essex Music Group

Sneak Attack Music

Jordan

“Beyond”

Outstanding Mix

Wave Studios NY

Sick Kids Foundation

“Heal The Future”

Outstanding Sonic Branding or Mnemonic

Elias Audio Branding & FIFA

FIFA

“FIFA World Cup 26 Audio Identity”

AMP Awards Show Highlights

The AMP Awards presentation featured a number of standout moments that made the event extra meaningful for those in attendance, as well as for the larger advertising music community. 

It kicked off with an animated and live-action opening video created by Antfood that spoofed the current fascination with the impact of generative A.I. on the music industry. An animated talking computer welcomed the audience to “world's first awards show honouring exclusively non-human creations.” Antfood crafted the story, visuals, music and sound in what ECD and Partner Wilson Brown described as “a timely love letter to our community of music creators. As new technologies offer both opportunities and disruption, delight and disgust, we set out to tell the light hearted story of the joy of making music as a community: we do it because we enjoy it.” The team responsible for the project included Brown, along with Antfood’s Trevor Haimes, Dalton Harts, Sue Lee and Linton Smith II. To view the opening video, click here.

Following that was a special tribute marking the 100th birthday of the legendary film and TV composer Henry Mancini, whose work earned him four Oscars, twenty Grammys and an Emmy. This occasion was presented in a fast-paced performance by the Storefront Music Orchestra, led by John 'Scrapper' Sneider of Storefront Music. The Mancini presentation appeared in cooperation with the Mancini family and Primary Wave Music. 

Another highlight was the induction of adidas into the AMP Hall of Fame. Recognised for its long standing use of music and sound to define the brand, adidas is the first Hall of Fame inductee since 2019, when Apple was similarly honoured. Accepting on behalf of the advertiser was Rima Patel, Director of Global Brand Communications, Originals. A retrospective video of adidas ads was screened, which included clips from both of the brand’s AMP Award Best in Show winners, from 2017 and 2023; both featured music provided by Human. 

Also appearing, on screen at least, were the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame icons Alice Cooper and John Oates, with a special message for the AMP Awards audience. Both artists had graciously starred in an earlier series of comedic promos for the AMP Awards, appearing with the assistance of Cyndi Goretski from Warner Music Group Labels and Charlie Davis from BMG, who arranged for their participation. The videos were created by Johannes Leonardo and produced by Attic22, the agency’s in-house production unit, and Groove Guild.

Members of AMP’s Diversity, Equality & Inclusion committee appeared during the presentation to give an update on the progress of AMP’s ambitious scholarship program and introduced the first group of scholarship recipients – Uche Anwanyu, Jadia Brown, Max Castrillo and Justice Short – all of whom travelled to New York to be on hand for the event. 

The presentation closed with a performance from Natu Camara, a dynamic singer/songwriter from West Africa whose music not only reflects her rich heritage but also electrifies stages with her mesmerizing presence. The founder of West Africa’s first ever female R&B/hip-hop ensemble, The Ideal Black Girls, Camara performed two numbers, one backed by the horn section from the Storefront Music Orchestra. She’s toured extensively, and appeared recently on an episode of NPR’s 'Tiny Desk Concerts' series. 

Once the stage was cleared the party took off, driven by the beat of Hang the DJ. A long time presence at the AMP Awards, Hang the DJ is the New York-based DJ collective led by Francis Garcia and Charlie Davis. Garcia is the CCO of Academy Fight Songs, a Brooklyn music house that composes original soundtracks by the Rough Trade Publishing roster for branded content and visual media, while Davis, SVP, Creative Synch, Advertising at BMG, doubles as a Brooklyn-based musician and DJ.

The 2024 AMP Awards presentation and competition were made possible by an expansive list of sponsoring companies reflecting a cross-section of the advertising music creation, production, licensing and publishing communities. Platinum Sponsors for the AMP Awards include APM Music, Marmoset, Music Alternatives, Reservoir and TRO Essex Music Group. Gold Sponsors include BMG/BMG Production Music, Concord Music Publishing, FGMK, InStyle Music, Primary Wave Music and Sound Stripe. Supporting Sponsors include ABKCO Music and Records, Bodega Sync, Clio Music, Concord Label Group, Crucial Music, De Wolfe Music, Grayson Music Group, Empire, Sentric, Spirit Music, Sugaroo, Warner Visual Media Licensing, West One Music Group and Wise Music Creative. Production Partners include Johannes Leonardo, Antfood, Groove Guild, Storefront Music and Hang The DJ. Beverage Sponsors include The Community Spirit Vodka, Almave, Flying Embers + JuneShine and Peroni USA Beer. Media Sponsors include SHOOT Magazine │SHOOT Online, LBB and Source | SHOTS | Slate.