Rockbjörnen (Swedish: the Rock Bear) is a music prize in Sweden, divided into several categories, which is awarded annually by the newspaper Aftonbladet. The prize was first awarded in 1979, and is mostly centered on pop and rock.
In 2010, Rockbjörnen was redone and focused more on live performances. This initiative was hailed by artists and industry. The period for selecting the winners of Rockbjörnen was extended from one month to three months (all summer).
Categories
Rockbjörnen's Myspace prize
The year's best dance band
The year's best Swedish band
The year's best live group
The year's Swedish female artist
The year's female live act
The year's Swedish live act
The year's Swedish newcomer
The year's breakthrough
Swedish song of the year
The year's Swedish male artist
The year's male live act
The year's Swedish album
The year's foreign artist
The year's foreign group
The year's foreign song
The year's foreign album
The year's concert
The year's festival
The year's live act metal
The year's live act hard rock/metal
The Century's foreign group/artist
The century's Swedish group/artist
Qualifications
The year's female live artist, The year's male live artist & The year's livegroup The artist will play at least three occasions in Sweden, at least three songs and the performance should be open to regular audience (fans) in front of the stage (not only on TV). The concerts must take place in Sweden.
The year's breakthrough
Formerly known as the prize The year’s Newcomer. The artist must have played in Sweden for public at least three occasions. Must not be their own concerts. Can be, for example, Rix FM Festival.
The year's concert
The performance will be the artist's own concert (not concerts like Rix FM Festival) in Sweden. It's enough with just one occasion.
The Year's hard rock/metal
The artist can be both from Sweden or another country, and must be current with a tour during the period.
Time of Rockbjörnen
For all categories for the period: From the day after Rockbjörnen gala until the voting form closes. For example, for the year 2012: September 1, 2011 to August 2, 2012
Livelöpet
'Livelöpet is an interactive digital scene on aftonbladet.se. where artists perform live concerts. At the concert, the audience can interact with both the artist and their Facebook friends through a variety of touch as to clap, shout, like songs, take pictures and post on Facebook, swaying with lighters and even making out with someone else in the audience. The artist takes part of all interactions.
Livelöpet was launched August 17, 2010 by Rockbjörnen Live, Aftonbladet's music prize since 1979, which that year went through a change and became a prize with focus on live performances. The investment was a strategic move to reposition Rockbjörnen from a traditional music prize to one that rewards the live scene in Sweden. The repositioning had its roots in the changing music industry underwent a technological paradigm shift (from about 1998 onwards) where music is increasingly consumed through digital media and the live scene grew stronger.
The first year seven Livelöpet concerts was performed, by Mando Diao, The Ark, Robyn, Salem Al Fakir, Ola, Anna Bergendahl och Eric Saade.
The artist plays live in the Aftonbladet studio. The concert streamed live over the web and with a custom-built application where the audience can interact with each other and the artist through various buttons. The artist takes part of the audience interaction via a monitor in the studio where all shouts appear in a live feed, just as the number of applause, waving lighters and snogging. A live update of the most requested songs are also listed on the monitor and the artist can choose whether it wants to meet the audience's wishes or not. Concerts can also be experienced with no impact if desired.
This can the audience do during the live concerts: Clap your hands, Shout, Wishing songs, Taking photos and post them on Facebook, Sway with the lighters, Make out with a Facebook friend or someone in the audience, See the concert without any effects
The total number of unique visitors was 44 000. Total number of interactions between audience and artists was 2.4 million. 29 million people worldwide were reached by the news of Livelöpet, which was spread through social media. The number of unique visitors to www.rockbjornen.se was increased with more than 300%. Traffic from 63 countries could be measured during the seven concerts.