Voting opens ahead of 2021 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards

Now in its 22nd year, the Charterhouse Ghana-organised awards platform recognises and honours musical achievement in the country and across Africa. It is held in partnership with the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

The new development comes on the heels of the unveiling of nominees earlier this month. The organisers say over a thousand entries were made in 29 categories, with over a hundred nominees making the cut.

This year’s edition will award music releases from 1 January and 31 December 2020 across various genres including highlife, Afropop, hiplife and traditional music, among others.

“The Vodafone Ghana Music Awards maintains a three-tier voting system made up of the board, the academy and the public,” a statement said. “Honourary Awards are reserved for the board, and technical awards are 50% split between the board and the academy. For the public (popular) awards, the board has 30% voting power, the academy has 30% voting power, leaving the public with 40% majority voting power.”

“As it stands, the question ‘who wins what?’ can be heavily influenced by true fans; fans who don’t only cheer their artistes on, but fans who also vote their favourite artistes to victory.”

SMS Voting can be done via Vodafone only. For Artist of the Year, fans can text ‘A’ to the shortcode 1767 and ‘B’ for Vodafone Song of the Year. For all other categories, fans can text ‘C’ to 1767 and follow the prompts. Additionally, online voting can be done for free via the VGMAs’ official website.

Meanwhile, the date for the main event, which is traditionally held in between April and May, is expected to be made public in the coming days. Last year, the awards ceremony, which was held virtually in August, saw Kuami Eugene walk away with the Artist of the Year gong. The scheme also honoured the efforts of health workers during the crisis.