The Danish Music Awards ceremony on Feb. 23 will be held on a smaller scale because its broadcast partners pulled support, according to organizer IFPI Denmark.
“We have decided on less production this year, due to the lack of TV coverage, but hope to get back to prime time next year,” says IFPI marketing director Jesper Bay. “We may be doing a Web broadcast with highlights (in 2008).”
IFPI had an agreement with public broadcaster the Danish Broadcasting Company (DR), but DR pulled out following budget cuts. The newly-built DR headquarters cost several times the amount originally budgeted, resulting in severe cost trimming across the broadcaster.
The annual awards event has drawn around 700,000 viewers in the recent years, out of a total population of 5.3 million.
Bay says the 2008 gala at the 1,000-seat Glassalen in Tivoli Gardens will be a more intimate gathering for the industry.
Tickets will not be sold to the general public. Last year, around half of the 3,000 attendees were issued to the general public.
Most of the live performances will be local talent, although Bay says there may be international acts. “Lack of TV coverage gives us freedom to do some other things not dependent upon prime time. Acts can play more than one number,” he says.
Awards will be handed out in 22 categories, of which three are international.
