Call for entries: Platinum Music Awards in SA

The PLAMAs, which will take place in February, aim to celebrate excellence in music by artists, musicians and producers who were born, raised or are residents of the North West province in South Africa.

Rules

• The inaugural PLAMAs will consider music released from 1 January 2018 until 30 December 2020
• A panel of music, art and culture experts in the North West province will vet and adjudicate the eligible releases and shortlist five of the best in each category using a weighting criterion.
• The final five will be announced as nominees and put out for public voting.
• The artist/project with the highest votes will be announced as the winner on the day of the PLAMAs.

Eligibility

• Qualifying musicians must be South African citizens born, raised or living in present-day North West province.
• Artists who have been granted permanent resident status in North West for a minimum of six months will be eligible. In case of doubt, a musician will be expected to produce a birth certificate or an affidavit to prove his or her place of birth, or a permanent residence permit.
• The artist must own or control the master recording of the project submitted.
• An album is a release that is available commercially with no less than five original tracks and not remixes. Fifty percent of the release should be new music and not re-released music from ‘Best of’ compilations. In genre-specific categories, 70% of the music must be relevant to the genre.

Prizes

• Cash prizes and statuettes engraved with the names of the winners will be awarded to the winners.

Broadcast and exploitation rights

• In the marketing, advertising and production of the PLAMAs, nominees warrant KST the right to use a photograph of each nominee and winner, along with his or her name, likeness and biographical details.
• The right to use sound recordings from the album/video.

The deadline for submissions is 16 January.

“We are delighted to announce the PLAMAs,” KST Multimedia spokesperson Sanele Makinane said. “We have assembled a team of competent individuals to ensure that we deliver a world-class experience that the North West people will be proud of. We make the call to have our musicians enter their music and stand a chance to be nominated for these prestigious awards. More information will be released in due course.”

Below are all the categories:

• Best Album
• Best Female Artist
• Best Male Artist
• Best Newcomer
• Best Duo/Group
• Best Dance Album
• Best African Pop Album
• Best Afrikaans Pop Album
• Best Traditional Album
• Best Kwaito Album
• Best Collaboration
• Best Producer
• Best Jazz Album
• Best Rap Album
• Best R&B/Soul/Reggae Album
• Best Traditional Faith Album
• Best Music Video
• Lifetime Achievement
• Song of the Year
• Best Gospel Album
• Best Radio Presenter
• Best Community Radio Station

Read more about the category rules here.