Editing CASBY Awards (section)

{{short description|Former Canadian music awards}}
The '''CASBY Awards''' were a Canadian awards ceremony for [[indie rock|independent]] and [[alternative rock|alternative]] music, presented annually by [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] radio station [[CFNY-FM|CFNY]], currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. CASBY is an acronym for Canadian Artists Selected By You.

The awards were first presented in 1981 under the name '''U-Knows''', a pun on Canada's mainstream [[Juno Award]]s. The concept was developed by [[David Marsden]], the program director at CFNY at the time, when he heard the Juno nominations announced on CBC Radio, and included was [[Long John Baldry]]&nbsp;— who was newly resident in Canada but had already been in the music business for almost 20 years&nbsp;— as most promising vocalist.<ref>"U-Know awards make the move into the big time". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', April 20, 1985.</ref>

They were renamed the CASBYs in 1985, after a listener contest.<ref name=festive>"A festive air to CASBYs' launch". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', April 25, 1985.</ref> The 1985 ceremony, hosted by [[Carole Pope]] and [[Paul Shaffer]],<ref>"Shaffer, Pope hosts of awards show". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', March 21, 1985.</ref> also marked the first time that the awards were broadcast nationally by [[CBC Television]].<ref name=festive /> In the first year, voter ballots were distributed exclusively by the Canadian music magazine ''[[Graffiti (magazine)|Graffiti]]''.<ref name=return>"CASBY music awards to return". ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', April 2, 1986.</ref> In later years the awards expanded the distribution, printing ballots in a number of major market daily newspapers across Canada.<ref name=return/>

The 1987 ceremony featured a rare public performance by [[XTC]],<ref name=xtc>"Casby show brings XTC out of hiding". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', June 19, 1987.</ref> although their performance was videotaped in advance of the ceremony.<ref name=errors>"The CASBYs turn into a comedy of many errors". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', June 22, 1987.</ref> That year's awards were also marred by several organizational snafus, including the wrong winner being initially announced for Album of the Year.<ref name=errors />

The award's bid for national prominence faltered in the late 1980s, particularly after CFNY's short-lived shift to a more mainstream music format also affected public perception of the awards' identity.<ref>"CFNY music boss tunes ear to the future". ''[[Toronto Star]]'', November 3, 1989.</ref> During that era, some alienated listeners even picketed the awards ceremony.<ref>"Hit songs miss the mark for disgruntled radio fans". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', March 17, 1999.</ref> Beginning in 1993 the awards were pared down to just three categories,<ref>"Take the Q, please". ''[[Hamilton Spectator]]'', November 25, 1993.</ref> and after 1996, amid a sense that the awards had effectively lost their purpose, the awards were discontinued.<ref>"CASBYs struggle for identity: CFNY's awards show used to have attitude. Now it's just a concert". ''[[Toronto Star]]'', December 5, 1996.</ref>

They were then revived in 2002, and were presented each year until 2017.