The new awards scheme will recognise and reward independent venues, promoters and artists.

Categories include best independent venue, fan of the year and artist award categories spanning over six different music genres.

Indy Music Awards CEO Jeremy Glover says. "If ever an industry needed an awards scheme surely it is at the grassroots level where you can forget about any significant financial rewards.

"There are a lot of people involved at the early stages of an artist's development, many of ...