Having launched last year to much fanfare (and controversy, not surprisingly), the 2009 Beatport Music Awards have returned with nominees revealed overnight. Aside from some of the more questionable genre/artist classifications, the full list of acts up for awards does encompass a large part of music that made a difference in 2008. This should come as no surprise, however, as Beatport select the nominees based on sales through their store. “To keep the awards fair and relevant to the whole electronic music scene,” they wrote on the Beatportal blog. “The nominees were chosen based solely on unit sales on Beatport during 2008 and are broken down into separate genre categories.”

Last year’s golden boy Deadmau5 – who won four awards overall – is once again nominated several times, however notable by its absence is the most controversial of trophies he walked away with; Most Influential, Forward-thinking and Relevant Person in Electronic Music. It seems the award has been dropped from proceedings entirely. Australian artists making an appearance in the nominees list include Dirty South: Best Electro House, Bag Raiders: Best Indie Dance/Nu Disco and Jaytech: Best Progressive House. Voting is open to the public, so if you’d like to let them know who you feel made the biggest difference head on over to Beatport.

Best Artists 2008

Best Breaks Artist
Agent K
Ed Solo
Far Too Loud
Freestylers
General MIDI
Krafty Kuts
NAPT
Plump DJs
Slyde
Stanton Warriors

Best Chillout Artist
Boards Of Canada
Christian Prommers Drumlesson
Eddie Silverton
Fort Knox Five
Jazzanova
Mr. Scruff
Nightmares On Wax
Peter Bjorn & John
Quiet Village
Thievery Corporation

Best Deep House Artist
After Tea
Dennis Ferrer
DPlay
Jimpster
Kevin Yost
Manuel Tur
Milton Jackson
Osunlade
Scope (Ric McClelland)
Studio Apartment

Best Drum & Bass Artist
Break
Brookes Brothers
Chase & Status
Danny Byrd
Evol Intent
Logistics
Lomax
Noisia
Nu:Tone
Spor

Best Dubstep Artist
Bar 9
Benga
Burial
Caspa
DZ
Martyn
Nero (UK)
Reso
Rusko

Best Electro House Artist
Deadmau5
Dirty South
Hatiras
John Dahlback
Miles Dyson
Pryda
Robbie Rivera
Sebastien Leger
Tocadisco
Wolfgang Gartner

Best Electronica Artist
Aphex Twin
Apparat
Autechre
Ellen Allien
Flying Lotus
Miss Kittin
Modeselektor
Paul Kalkbrenner
Sebastien Tellier
Underworld
TRG

Best Hard Dance Artist
BK
DJ Zany
Donkey Rollers
Headhunterz
Lisa Lashes
Scooter
Showtek
The Real Booty Babes
Vinylgroover
Zatox

Best Hardcore/Hard Techno Artist
Art Of Fighters
Boris S
Evil Activities
Gammer
Jason Little
Sven Wittekind
Sy
Tha Playah
The Stunned Guys
Unknown

Best House Artist
Antoine Clamaran
ATFC
Axwell
Danny Tenaglia
David Penn
Fedde Le Grand
Juan Magan & Marcos Rodriguez
Kaskade
Laidback Luke
Mastiksoul

Best Indie Dance/Nu Disco Artist
Alex Metric
Bag Raiders
Boys Noize
Chromeo
In Flagranti
Justice
Mr. Oizo
MSTRKRFT
SebastiAn
The Kills

Best Minimal Artist
Ahmet Sendil
Alex Young
Barem
Gaiser
Giash & Til Yali
Kanio
Marc Houle
Phunklarique
Prompt
Robag Wruhme

Best Progressive House Artist
Adam K & Soha
Deadmau5
Dousk
EDX
Eric Prydz
Jaytech
Jerome Isma-Ae
Ned Shepard
Sultan

Best Psy Trance Artist
Ace Ventura
Burn In Noise
Day Din
Dualism
Freq
Liquid Soul
Odiseo
Perfect Stranger
Symphonix

Best Tech House Artist
Booka Shade
Funkagenda
James Harcourt
Jerome Sydenham
Johnny D
Mark Knight
Radio Slave
Solomun
Stimming
Tiger Stripes
Zen Mechanics
Thomas Gold
The Shapeshifters

Best Techno Artist
Christian Smith & John Selway
Dubfire
Format:B
Gregor Tresher
Lutzenkirchen
Minilogue
Oliver Huntemann
Paul Ritch
Popof
Radio Slave

Best Trance Artist
Above & Beyond
Armin Van Buuren
DJ Tiesto
Gareth Emery
Kyau & Albert
Lange
Markus Schulz
Martin Roth
Paul van Dyk
Sean Tyas

Best Tracks 2008

Best Breaks Track
Far Too Loud ‘You Know the Sound feat. Subsource’ (Original Mix)
NAPT ‘Gotta Have More Cowbell’ (Original Mix)
Slyde ‘Frequency’ (NAPT Remix)

Best Chill Out Track
Âme ‘Doldrums’ (Original Mix)
Jerome Isma-Ae ‘Underwater Love’ (Original Mix)
Smooth Touch ‘10 Minutes of Pleasure feat. G-Sax’ (Original Mix)

Best Deep House Track
Manuel Tur, D Play ‘Deviate’ (Original Mix)
Milton Jackson ‘Ghosts In My Machine’ (Original Mix)
Studio Apartment ‘I’m In Love feat. Ron Carroll’ (Rasmus Faber Epic Instrumental Mix)

Best Drum & Bass Track
Bachelors of Science ‘Strings Track’ (Apex Remix)
Lomax, Focus ‘5 Weeks’ (Original Mix)
Sub Focus ‘Timewarp’ (Original Mix)

Best Dubstep Track
DZ ‘Down’ (Original Mix)
Rusko ‘Cockney Thug’ (Original Mix)
TC ‘Where’s My Money’ (Caspa Remix)

Best Electro House Track
Boys Noize ‘Oh!’ (A-Trak Remix)
Jean Claude Ades, Vincent Thomas ‘Shingaling’ (Original Mix)
Sandy Vee ‘Bleep’ (Original Mix)

Best Electronica Track
Loco Dice ‘M Train to Brooklyn’ (Original Mix)
Paul Kalkbrenner ‘Queer Fellow’ (Original Mix)
The Martin Brothers ‘Dum’ (Original Mix)

Best Hard Dance Track
Headhunterz, Tatanka ‘Call It Music’ (Original Mix)
Showtek ‘We Live For The Music’ (Original Mix)
The Real Booty Babes ‘Derb 08’ (Club Remix)

Best Hardcore/Hard Techno Track
Kamui ‘Spielzeug’ (Original Mix)
Miche & Mirzinho ‘Shamans’ (Original Mix)
Raul Mezcolanza ‘Want You Bad’ (Original Mix)

Best House Track
Eric Prydz ‘Pjanoo’ (Original Mix)
Snap! ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ (Novy vs. Snap! Remix)
The Shapeshifters ‘Lola’s Theme’ (2008 Re-Edit)

Best Indie Dance/Nu Disco
Kid Cudi ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’ (Crookers Remix)
SebastiAn ‘Momy’ (Original Mix)
Streetlife DJs ‘Gunn Crime’ (Original Mix)

Best Minimal Track
Giash, Til Yali ‘My Little Ladybirds’ (Original Mix)
Phunklarique, Dejonka ‘Reflections in Plexiglass’ (Original Mix)
Prompt ‘Evolve’ (Original Mix)

Best Progressive House Track
Delerium ‘Silence feat. Sarah McLachlan’ (Niels van Gogh vs. Thomas Gold Remix)
Mind X ’Sensation Seekers’ (Martin Roth NuStyle Remix)
Thomas Schwartz ‘Jupiter Calling’ (Original Mix)

Best Psy Trance Track
Burn In Noise ‘Transparent’ (Original Mix)
Liquid Soul ‘Prophecy’ (Original Mix)
Symphonix ‘People of the Dawn’ (Original Mix)

Best Tech House Track
George Delkos ‘Deftoner’ (Original Mix)
James Harcourt ‘Call and Response’ (Original Mix)
Laurent Garnier ‘Man With The Red Face’ (Mark Knight and Funkagenda Original Club Mix)

Best Techno Track
Dataworx ‘Control’ (Original Mix)
Koen Groenveld ‘ Wake Turbulence’ (Original Mix)
Mark Mendes ‘Beneath You’ (Original Mix)

Best Trance Track
Blank & Jones, Bernard Sumner ‘Miracle Cure’ (Martin Roth Nu Style Dub Mix)
Cressida ‘6AM’ (Kyau & Albert Remix)
Simon Patterson ‘Smack’ (Original Mix)