founded AIM in 1999, and spent 17 years as its chair and CEO. She moved on to become CEO of Worldwide Independent Network in 2016, which she had helped to found in 2006 and been involved with ever since. As a driving force in helping indie labels being able to compete worldwide with bigger companies, Wenham featured in Billboard’s "Top Women in Music" every year since publication. In 2004, AIM featured in the press over their contract negotiations with Apple for rights to distribute their labels' content on the iTunes service. AIM was ultimately successful in negotiating equivalent terms for its independent labels members that Apple had originally only offered to the 'major' labels. In September 2008, AIM became a founding member of UK Music, which represents all aspects of the UK music industry. In November 2016 AIM appointed Paul Pacifico as CEO. The 2016 WINTEL report showed that the indie sector constituted about 23% of total market share. On 24 September 2018, Pacifico co-represented IMPALA, the body representing European indie record labels, at the expert workshop organised by the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the European Cultural Foundation and the British Council about Brexit and the cultural sector. The goal was "to reaffirm our shared intent and common values, and to produce practical recommendations from the cultural and creative sectors that go beyond those that have already been made", and a list of recommendations was afterwards published on the IMPALA website.
AIM Awards
The AIM Independent Music Awards are hosted by the Association of Independent Music and were established in 2011 to recognize artists signed to independent record labels in the United Kingdom. Award categories include:
The 2018 awards were held in partnership with Young Urban Arts Foundation and saw bands and labels like IDLES, Let's Eat Grandma and Partisan Records nominated.
Indie-Con
The inaugural music industry conference, the AIM Indie-Con took place in 2012 in the Glaziers Hall London, returning there each year until at least 2018. The inaugural music industry conference, Indie-Con took place in 2012 in the Glaziers Hall London, returning there each year until at least 2018.
Aim Connected
The Association of Independent Music launched a new networking event in 2019, called . Spread over three days in March, the event strives to connect business, tech and people. The event includes industry expert panels, workshops and one-on-one networking sessions. Aim Connected's 2019 speakers included executive producer of 'Surviving R. Kelly' dream Hampton, London's Night Czar Amy Lame, Hospital Records founder Chris Goss, and VICE creative director, Emil Asmussen.
