Echo Music Prize

First held with 370 people in the Flora, Cologne in 1992, the award ceremony in Frankfurt was televised and the classical awards were moved to a separate event, Echo Klassik, in Cologne in 1994. Until 1995, only invited guests could attend the ceremony. It was held in Munich, because of subsidies of up to 20 million euros, although a return in 2004 was considered. In 2009, the venue in Berlin was moved to Mercedes-Benz Arena. ==Trophy==

receiving an Echo Award in 2014 The trophy was designed by Oliver Renelt when he was a student at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg. It is stainless steel, and is tall and weighs . It depicts half a disc with notes flowing into it from a globe, and the design was the winner of a competition held for that purpose. == Controversy ==

The Echo Award was heavily criticized worldwide when Farid Bang and Kollegah received the award for best hip hop/urban album in April 2018. The nominated album, Jung, Brutal, Gutaussehend 3 (English: "Young, brutal, handsome 3"), contains the track "0815", in which the artists refer to their muscles as being more defined than those of Auschwitz inmates. The duo was even allowed to perform this track during the ceremony, despite heavy protests weeks before the award show. Campino, singer of German punk band Die Toten Hosen, was the first one to criticize the committee's decision during the ceremony. His remarks received a standing ovation from the audience. Several artists later returned their Echo awards in protest, such as Marius Müller-Westernhagen, who returned all of his seven Echo awards received over the years. Other artists returning their awards were German conductors Christian Thielemann and Enoch zu Guttenberg, Russian-German pianist Igor Levit, record producer Klaus Voormann, and the Notos Quartett. However, criticism did not only come from artists and the German press. Several businesses joined in, with Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus, being one of the most recent high-profile commentators, saying that this would hurt "Germany's international reputation". He also asked if "antisemitism [was] becoming acceptable in Germany" again. As a consequence, the Echo Award was discontinued. ==Ceremony locations==

The Kastelruther Spatzen have won 13 Echo Awards in the category Volksmusik which is more than any other artist; the awards were in 1993, 1996–2003, 2006–2010. Selected pop categories Best National Rock/Pop Male Artist Best National Rock/Pop Female Artist Best International Rock/Pop Male Artist Best International Rock/Pop Female Artist Best Schlager Female Artist • 1993: Nicole Best National Rock/Pop Group Best International Rock/Pop Group Best International Rock/Alternative • 2001: Limp Bizkit (nominee: Blink-182, Kid Rock, Korn, Papa Roach ) • 2002: Linkin Park (nominee: Crazy Town, Gorillaz, HIM, Limp Bizkit) • 2003: P.O.D. (nominee: Coldplay, Korn, Linkin Park, Puddle Of Mudd ) • 2004: Evanescence (nominee: Coldplay, Linkin Park, Metallica, The Rasmus ) • 2006: System of a Down (nominee: 3 Doors Down, Audioslave, Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand ) • 2007: Billy Talent (nominee: Bullet For My Valentine, Evanescence, Placebo, Tool ) • 2008: Nightwish (nominee: Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs, Marilyn Manson, Within Temptation ) • 2009: AC/DC (nominee: 3 Doors Down, Metallica, R.E.M., Slipknot ) • 2010: Green Day (nominee: Billy Talent, Kings Of Leon, Mando Diao, Placebo ) • 2011: Linkin Park (nominee: Iron Maiden, Mando Diao, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Volbeat ) • 2012: Red Hot Chili Peppers: (nominee: Evanescence, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Nightwish ) • 2013: Linkin Park (nominee: Billy Talent, Green Day, Muse, The Rolling Stones ) • 2014: Volbeat (nominee: Black Sabbath, Imagine Dragons, Placebo, Thirty Seconds to Mars ) • 2015: AC/DC (nominee: Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Slipknot ) • 2016: Iron Maiden (nominee: AC/DC, Motörhead, Nightwish, Placebo ) Single of the Year Single of the Year (National) Single of the Year (International) • 2001: Rednex: "The Spirit of the Hawk" • 2002: Enya: "Only Time" • 2003: Las Ketchup: "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" • 2004: RZA feat. Xavier Naidoo: "Ich kenne nichts" Album of the Year Best National Newcomer Best International Newcomer Honorary Award == Echo Klassik ==

Following its first edition as a separate event in Cologne in 1994, the Echo Klassik has been held in the Semperoper in Dresden in 1996 and 2009, in Dortmund in 2003, in Gasteig in Munich from 2004 to 2008 and in 2014. In 2010 it was held in Essen. From 2011 until 2016 the award show was held in Berlin's Konzerthaus - only shortly intermitted in 2014. ==Echo Jazz==

After 2010, the Echo Jazz awards were given in thirty categories, including ensemble of the year, male and female singer of the year, record label, and lifetime achievement. In 2012 the criteria for entry included album release date and "two outstanding reviews from music journalists." Conductor Claus Ogermann was given the ECHO Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Awards are decided by a twelve-member jury based on critical and commercial appeal. ==References==