Call for entries: South African Music Awards 2018

Founded in 1995, the award ceremony will be held in late April or May with the judging process starting about six months prior to the ceremony. The deadline for submission is 31 January 2018. Entries are submitted by record companies/individual artists, in accordance with the SAMA rules.

Chief executive officer of RiSA Nonhlanhla Sibisi said they “have seen a year on year increase over the past two years and we await with great anticipation to see the calibre of entries for SAMA 24.

“The SAMAs have proved its resilience and mettle as the most coveted music honour South African artists aspire to receive. This is a call to everyone who is a qualifying artist to submit their entries for our consideration and not wait until the last day.”

How to enter

Entry forms must be completed and submitted via the SAMA website and must include the following:

• A prescribed number of copies of the entered album, single or DVD
• Any other material required for the particular category
• Entry fee of R715 (RiSA members) and R3 850 (for non-RiSA members)
• All entry fees that have not been paid in full and/or have not been cleared by the bank on 3 February 2018 will result in the relevant entries being disqualified.
• Proof of payment of the prescribed RiSA levies in respect of all the units manufactured up to the date of entry of the entered album or live DVD, if the entry was released by a member of RiSA.
• Artists who prefer not to do online submissions can physically submit their entries at the RiSA/SAMA offices at Unit 2, 152 Bram Fischer Drive in Randburg, Johannesburg.

Eligibility

• Entries are open to RiSA members and non-RiSA members alike and are in respect of any qualifying recording artist, director, producer or engineer.
• Except for the Best African Artist category, the entrant should be a South African citizen or have been a permanent resident in South Africa for a minimum of six months on the date of entry and provided that the entrant is a South African entity.
• All recordings, with the exception of the Record of The Year and Music Video of the Year categories must have been commercially released in South Africa between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2018.
• All songs submitted for the Record of the Year category will be adjudicated based on growing airplay over the period 1 March 2017 to 28 February 2018.
• All music videos submitted for the Music Video of the Year category must have been aired by local South African television or any digital platforms between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2018.
• An artist should have commercially released his/her albums between 1 February 2017 and 31 January 2018.

NB: For more information on the rules and the categories thereof, please read here. The application may be sent to: [email protected] and [email protected].

All categories, with the exception of the Public Vote, Lifetime Achievement, International Achievement and Best Selling categories, are adjudicated by a panel of judges.

Here is a full list of the categories:

• Best Duo/Group of the Year
• Best Newcomer of the Year
• Best Male Artist of the Year
• Best Female Artist of the Year
• Best Rock Album
• Best Pop Album
• Best Pop Album
• Best Adult Contemporary
• Beste Kontemporere Musiek
• Best African Adult Album
• Best Alternative Music Album
• Best R&B/Soul/Raggae Album
• Best Rap Album
• Best Kwaito Album
• Best Dance Album
• Best Traditional Faith Music Album
• Best Contemporary Faith Music
• Best Maskandi Album
• Best Jazz Album
• Best Classic Instrumental Album
• Best Live Audio Visual Recording
• Best Collaboration
• Best Music Video of The Year
• Best Produced Album
• Best Engineered Album
• Best Remix of the Year
• Best Afropop Album
• African Indigenous Gospel
• Best African Artist