Indian network Radio City has announced the shortlisted nominees for the fifth edition of its Freedom Awards, the search for country’s best independent music artistes.
 

Listeners can vote for their favourite artist at http://www.radiocity.in/rcfa/ till March 18.

The shortlisted entries in each genre include some big-name artists and bands such as:

·         Best Hip-Hop Artist – Emiway, Babu Haabi, Brodha V

·         Best Pop Artist – Alobo Naga, Prateek Kuhad, Ankur & The Ghalat Family

·         Best Rock Artist – Parvaaz, Junkyard Groove

·         Best Metal Artist – Demonic Resurrection, Chaos

·         Best Electronic Artist – Grain & Komorebi, Bandish Projekt

The theme for this year’s awards is ‘Sounds of the Soil’ which will be an ode to local sounds, heroes, stories and music.

Shortlisted finalists, who were chosen from 862 entries across the country, will face off in the Grand Finale in Mumbai on March 22.

This year's jury includes renowned industry stalwarts like Luke Kenny, Vijay Basrur, Atul Churamani, Ritnika Nayan and Anirban Chakraborty.

Apart from the awards, the jury will also choose winners in non-music categories such as Best Video, Best Album Art, and new categories such as Best Young Indie Artist/Band, Best Indie Collaboration of the Year, and Indie Genius Person of the year.