Manfred Eicher is voted Producer of the Year and ECM Records is Label of the Year 2008 in the Down Beat Critics Poll: this double-win is announced in the August issue of the US jazz magazine, which includes full results of their 56th Annual International Critics Poll.

The awards arrive as Munich-based ECM, founded 1969, approaches its 40th anniversary year. While Eicher won Down Beat's Top Producer award in 1976, and ECM was Label of the Year in 1980, the 2008 poll marks the first occasion that label and producer have simultaneously held the #1 slot.

Manfred Eicher and his independent label have received significant recognition over the years, including Eicher's Grammy for Classical Producer of the Year in 2002. In 2007 ECM received awards as both Classical Label of the Year and Jazz Label of the Year (prizes from, respectively, the MIDEM Classical Awards in Cannes, and the Jazz Journalists Association).