Edison Award

In 1960, the Committee for Collective Gramophone Campaigns organized the Edison awards for recordings in various categories.[4] The first Edisons – named after the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison – were awarded at the inaugural Grand Gala du Disque, a showcase for the awards featuring national and international performers.[5] Coincidentally, Edison was of Dutch lineage. Each year, Edisons were awarded at two separate events, the Grand Gala du Disque Classique for classical music and the Grand Gala du Disque Populaire for popular music.[6] There were two main categories: International artists and domestic (Dutch) artists, in various musical styles such as pop, vocal, jazz, instrumental, children and (in the early years) a separate award for French-language music. The winners were decided by judges.

Sture Wahlberg (producer) with Alice Babs and Svend Asmussen and their Edison Award at the Grand Gala du Disque in 1965.

The 1963 Grand Gala du Disque Populaire, which overran by almost two hours, saw Marlene Dietrich, Sarah Vaughan and Charles Aznavour accepting an Edison. In 1965, the winners included Esther Ofarim, Oliver Nelson, Louis van Dijke, the Beatles and Joan Baez.[7] Pianist Vladimir Horowitz and composer-conductor Igor Stravinsky won awards at the Grand Gala du Disque Classique.[1]

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Anneliese Rothenberger and Edo de Waart with their Edison awards at the Grand Gala du Disque Classique on October 3, 1969.

The award itself has also gone through many changes. In the 1960s and early 1970s, it grew to a (then) record number of 24 categories in 1969. In later years, the number of awards was inconsistent and several categories did not last longer than a couple of years. From 1975 to 1976 no Edisons were awarded and in 1977 only Dutch artists were awarded a prize.[3] In 1980, the Classical and Popular were jointly awarded. While the award lost much of its prestige in the 1980s due to lack of media coverage and interest from record companies – the number of categories continued to grow to a record number of 35 in 1991. The choices became more progressive, as several award winners were virtually unknown to the general public. In 1991, for instance, no awards were given to best-selling and critically lauded albums, but instead lesser known artists like The Riverdogs, Michael Lee Firkins, rapper Paris and instrumentalist Jean Marc Zelwer got the prizes.

By the end of the 1990s, the Edison experienced another overhaul, as the prize was split into the Edison Pop and Edison Jazz/World awards (there had always been a separate Edison Classical Award ceremony). It also began to focus more on Dutch artists and a number of new categories were introduced, such as best album, video, single and newcomer. Each year also featured one or two awards which were directly voted for by the television audiences.

Interest in the Edison has gone up in recent years, although no awards were given in 2006 and 2007. These days, the award is focused on Dutch product only, with several categories such as best male artist, female artist, newcomer, and theatre/vocal artist. There is also an annual lifetime achievement award for an artist with a distinguished career. The 2011 ceremony, held on 2 October and which featured eight categories, was not televised.

From 1960 to 2011, over 750 Edison awards were handed out. The list of artists with most Edison wins is dominated by Dutch artists with relatively young careers. This is mainly because from the late 1990s, it has become much easier to win multiple awards in one year, which in the early days of the award was virtually impossible.

• Marco Borsato – 13 wins, from 1995 to 2011, including a lifetime achievement award in 2011 and five wins in the Best male artist category.
• Anouk – 9 wins, from 1998 to 2011, including three Edisons in her debut year (1998) and five awards in the Best female artist category.[8]
• Herman van Veen – 8 wins, from 1970 to 2010, including a lifetime achievement award in 2010, two awards in the children's category and four in the Best male vocal category.
• BLØF – 7 wins, from 2000 to 2009, including five awards for Best group.
• Ilse DeLange – 6 wins, from 1999 to 2011, including four times as Best female artist.

Most wins for international artists

• Quincy Jones – 5 wins, from 1964 to 1979, in the jazz/instrumental and musical/film categories.
• Elvis Costello – 4 wins, from 1978 to 1999.
• Cliff Richard – 4 wins, from 1962 to 1998 (lifetime achievement award).
• Barbra Streisand – 4 wins, from 1964 to 1992.

Miles Davis, Beach Boys, Charles Aznavour, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Bob James, Paul Simon, Phil Collins, Ry Cooder, Stevie Wonder, U2 and Robbie Williams all had three Edison wins each. (Miles Davis and the Beach Boys were awarded an additional fourth Edison in 1966, but these were later scrapped as the list of winners had been leaked to the press prematurely and no awards were given that year).[9]

The Edison Classical Music Awards (Edison Klassiek) are a collection of awards annually given to the best classical music recordings of the year. Awards are separately given in eleven categories. The award, part of the Edison Award, is issued from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

• Official website
• Edison Klassiek [Classical] homepage