The CMAA is pleased to announce that the nominations booklet and information for the 2013 CMAA Awards is now available on the CMAA website – www.country.com.au.

Nominations for the 2013 Awards will open at 9am on Monday September 3 2012 and close at 5pm Tuesday October 2 2012.

It’s an exciting year for the iconic Golden Guitar Awards with the introduction of two new award categories -  Best Alternative Country Album of the Year and Top Selling International Album of the Year.

The eligibility criteria for several existing awards has also been modified. A summary of those changes is listed below or for detailed information please read the nomination information booklet.

Summary of changes to existing awards:

1) Material commercially released solely via recognized online retailers such as iTunes will now be eligible for all awards as will be material solely released on CD.

2) Album Of The Year will be judged online by the entire judging panel and the professional membership.

3) An artist may be nominated for New Talent Of The Year one more time after being a finalist in that category.

4) The criteria for APRA Song Of The Year has been updated to exclude  songs that contain lyrics previously published as poems or ballads combined with new music or vice versa. Only newly written songs released for the first time during the eligibility period will be eligible.

5) The deadline for materials to be received by the CMAA is now the Monday after the last day of the eligibility period.

For more detail please go to www.country.com.au/cmaa-awards/nomination-information to view or download the 2013 nominations booklet. Delivery details for physical and digital material as well as nomination forms will be posted on the CMAA website prior to the opening of nominations.

CHANGES TO EXISTING AWARDS:

1) Allow digital only releases in all categories

Previously the one category that allowed ‘digital only’ releases to be eligible was Single Of The Year. This change will remove the requirement for 500 physical copies of a CD to be manufactured for a release to be eligible in all other categories. A release will still be eligible if it is released only on CD i.e. if there is no digital release.

2) Album Of The Year to be judged online by the entire judging panel and the professional membership.

Previously forty members of the judging panel were sent a physical CD to judge Album Of The Year and their vote decided the winner in the first round of voting. This change will see all judges and the professional membership voting for Album Of The Year in two rounds, utilizing the BigPulse online voting system in the same way the other awards are judged. The nominating party will upload album tracks and a PDF file of album art and credits to BigPulse.

3) Allow an artist to nominate for New Talent Of The Year one more time  after being a finalist in that category.

Previously the rules stated that an artist could nominate for New Talent Of The Year in three awards years unless they had previously been a finalist in any category. This meant that once an artist had been a finalist in New Talent Of The Year they could not nominate again in that category. This change allows an artist who has previously been a finalist in New Talent Of The Year, but has not won New Talent Of The Year, to nominate one more time in that category. An artist who has previously won an award in any category or been a finalist in any category other than New Talent Of The Year will not be eligible. An artist who has not previously been a finalist in any category would still be able to nominate for New Talent Of The Year in three awards years.

4) Update the definition of APRA Song Of The Year

The previous rule stated that a nominated track may combine lyrics previously published as poems or ballads with new music or vice versa, creating a substantially new song. This change excludes songs that contain lyrics previously published as poems or ballads combined with new music or vice versa so that only newly written songs released for the first time during the eligibility period will be eligible.

5) Align eligibility and delivery deadlines

The deadline for materials to be received by the CMAA is now the Monday after the last day of the eligibility period.

NEW AWARDS FOR 2013:

1) Top Selling International Album

This award recognises significant achievements by an international artist in Australia and encourages interaction with country music communities in other territories. It will be decided by Australian album sales.

2) Alternative Country Album

The introduction of this award recognises artists who sit stylistically outside the mainstream of country. It increases the chances of winning an award for fringe artists who operate partially or wholly within the country music community and creates opportunities for artists who may have previously considered themselves too far outside the mainstream to consider nominating. Alternative country recordings by artists generally considered mainstream will also be eligible.