The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is a non-profit trade body established in 1998 by UK independent record labels to represent the independent record sector, which in 2016 constituted approximately 23% of the UK market. Its members include record labels, self-releasing artists and distributors. It runs Indie-Con, an annual conference for the independent music industry. History Alison Wenham founded AIM in 1999, and spent 17 years as its chair and CEO. She moved on to become CEO of Worldwide Independent Network (WIN) 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 (BOZAR), 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 (AIM) and were established in 2011 to recognize artists signed to independent record labels in the United Kingdom. Award categories include: Best Small Label Best 'Difficult' 2nd Album Special Catalogue Release of the Year Hardest Working Band or Artist Golden Welly Award for Best Independent Festival Independent Breakthrough of the Year Indie Champion Award Independent Video of the Year Best Live Act Independent Track of the Year Independent Album of the Year Independent Label of the Year PPL Awards for Most Played