February 25, 2015

News

2015 CCMA Awards and Balloting – Rules and Regulations

The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards program has been an integral part of the CCMA for 35 years.

Each year, an Awards and Balloting Committee consisting of Board Directors, CCMA staff and members review the previous year’s CCMA Award’s Rules and Regulations to ensure it remains current. At that time all member suggestions and/or comments are also reviewed. The CCMA staff continually monitors other similar award programs for benchmarking purposes. All proposed changes require Board of Directors’ approval.

On February 12, 2015 the CCMA Board of Directors approved five (5) such changes (detailed below).

In addition to these five (5) changes, the overall CCMA Awards and Balloting Rules and Regulations document has been updated to an easy-to-read format to ensure clarity on all forty-one (41) current CCMA Award categories. These revisions did not impact the spirit of the existing Rules and Regulations.

The complete 2015 CCMA Awards and Balloting Rules and Regulations can be found here.

Below are the five (5) changes to the previous CCMA Awards and Balloting Rules and Regulations:

1. FIRST BALLOT ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA CREATED FOR FEMALE/MALE/GROUP OR DUO AWARD CATEGORIES:

BACKGROUND:
To assist the voting members in selecting and honouring the most deserving Female, Male and Group or Duo of the eligible period, the following criteria has been put into place:

  • Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Group or Duo of the Year categories follow a two (2) ballot process;
  • The first ballot write-in has been replaced with a calculated formula involving the eligibility period’s sales and spins to determine the top ten (10) contenders in each of these three (3) categories.

PREVIOUS CRITERIA:
Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, and Group or Duo of the Year Awards all followed a three (3) ballot process:

STEP ONE (first ballot) – Each eligible CCMA member may propose ONE, AND ONLY ONE contender in each category. The ten (10) contenders receiving the most mentions in each category will appear on the second ballot, providing they meet the eligibility requirements, as determined by the CCMA Awards Verification Committee.

STEP TWO (second ballot) - From the list of contenders supplied, each eligible CCMA member may select ONE, AND ONLY ONE contender in each category. The five (5) contenders receiving the most votes in each category will appear on the third ballot as nominees.
STEP THREE (third ballot) - From the list of nominees supplied, each eligible CCMA member may vote for ONE, AND ONLY ONE nominee in each category. The nominee receiving the most votes will be announced as the winner.

NEW CRITERIA:
STEP ONE – The ten (10) contenders for Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, and Group or Duo of the Year will be determined by a formula of 60% sales and 40% spins within the eligibility period and verified by the CCMA Awards & Balloting Committee. The results will be compiled by Nielsen Entertainment.

STEP TWO (second ballot) – From the list of contenders supplied, each eligible CCMA member may select ONE, AND ONLY ONE contender in each category. The five (5) contenders receiving the most votes in each category will appear on the third ballot as nominees.

STEP THREE (third ballot) - From the list of nominees supplied, each eligible CCMA member may vote for ONE, AND ONLY ONE nominee in each category. The nominee receiving the most votes will be announced as the winner.


2. THE DESCRIPTIVE MARKET CATEGORY NAMES FOR THE SIX (6) RADIO AWARDS HAVE BEEN CHANGED FROM “MAJOR” TO “LARGE” AND “SECONDARY” TO “MEDIUM OR SMALL”.

BACKGROUND:
The descriptive market category names for all six (6) current Radio awards have been changed from “Major” to “Large” and “Secondary” to “Medium or Small” to align these Radio award categories to other similar award programs and better identify the markets.

A major (large) market is defined as a city with a population over 150,000, according to Statistics Canada 2011 census figures. At this time, the Committee is recommending to change only the award category names, NOT the market definitions.

PREVIOUS AWARD NAMES:
Music Director of the Year (Major Market), Music Director of the Year (Secondary Market);
On-Air Personality of the Year (Major Market), On-Air Personality of the Year (Secondary Market);
Radio Station of the Year (Major Market), Radio Station of the Year (Secondary Market)

NEW AWARD NAMES:
Music Director of the Year (Large Market), Music Director of the Year (Medium or Small Market);
On-Air Personality of the Year (Large Market), On-Air Personality of the Year (Medium or Small Market);
Radio Station of the Year (Large Market), Radio Station of the Year (Medium or Small Market)


3. THE OVERALL AWARD CATEGORIES HAVE BEEN RE-GROUPED:

BACKGROUND:
The overall awards have been re-grouped to the following categories to better reflect the awards and simplify communications:

  • ARTIST awards (no change);
  • INDUSTRY awards (no change);
  • MUSICIAN awards (new category);
  • RADIO awards (changed name from “Broadcast” awards).

PREVIOUS CATEGORIES:
ARTIST AWARDS: Fans’ Choice Award, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Songwriter(s) of the Year, Video of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Group or Duo of the Year, Roots Artist of the Year, Rising Star Award, Top Selling Album, Top Selling Canadian Album

INDUSTRY AWARDS: All Star Band Awards (Drums, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Fiddle, Steel Guitar, Special Instrument), Management Company of the Year, Booking Agency of the Year, Ron Sakamoto Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year, Country Club of the Year, Album Design of the Year, Interactive Artist or Group of the Year, Video Director of the Year, Music Publishing Company of the Year, Record Producer(s) of the Year, Recording Studio of the Year, Record Company of the Year, Record Company Person of the Year, Retailer of the Year, Country Music Program or Special of the Year, Country Festival, Fair or Exhibition of the Year

BROADCAST AWARDS: Music Director of the Year (Major), Music Director of the Year (Secondary), On-Air Personality(ies) of the Year (Major) On-Air Personality(ies) of the Year (Secondary Market), Radio Station of the Year (Major), Radio Station of the Year (Secondary)

NEW CATEGORIES:
ARTIST AWARDS: Album of the Year, CCMA Discovery, Fans’ Choice, Female Artist of the Year, Group or Duo of the Year, Interactive Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Rising Star, Roots Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, Songwriter(s) of the Year, Top Selling Album, Top Selling Canadian Album, Video of the Year

INDUSTRY AWARDS: Album Design of the Year, Booking Agency of the Year, Country Club of the Year, Country Festival, Fair or Exhibition of the Year, Country Music Program or Special of the Year, Management Company of the Year, Music Publishing Company of the Year, Record Company of the Year, Record Company Person of the Year, Recording Studio of the Year, Record Producer(s) of the Year, Retailer of the Year, Ron Sakamoto Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year, Video Director of the Year

MUSICIAN AWARDS: All Star Band – Bass, All Star Band – Drums, All Star Band – Fiddle, All Star Band – Guitar, All Star Band – Keyboards, All Star Band – Special Instrument, All Star Band – Steel Guitar

RADIO AWARDS: Music Director of the Year (Large Market), Music Director of the Year (Medium or Small Market), On-Air Personality of the Year (Large Market), On-Air Personality of the Year (Medium or Small Market), Radio Station of the Year (Large Market), Radio Station of the Year (Medium Small Market)


4. MORE CLEAR ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE FOR ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

BACKGROUND:
The criteria for Album of the Year has been re-worded to ensure clarity on four (4) aspects:

  • An album is now defined as: “A collection of several pieces of music made available as a single item”;
  • The eligibility of Albums that contain tracks that were on previously released albums has been clarified, “To be eligible, 50% of the tracks must have been released during the current eligibility period, having never appeared on a previous album.” This also eliminates the previous Greatest Hits restriction;
  • The confusing criteria has been eliminated, “Final nominees from the previous year are not eligible in the current year for the same piece of work”;
  • The definition of a release date has been clarified.

PREVIOUS CRITERIA:
This award is for an album as a whole unit. An album is defined as a project containing no less than six (6) tracks and can be a special project or commemorative package. The album should be judged on all aspects including, but not limited to artistic performance, production, design, and art layout and liner notes.

The eligibility period for Album of the Year is March 1, 2014 through to April 30, 2015

The act must be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant. Within a group or duo, at least 50% of the members must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.

Final nominees from the previous year are not eligible in the current year for the same piece of work.

Greatest Hits albums do NOT qualify.

NEW CRITERIA:
An album is defined as a collection of several pieces of music made available as a single item. The album must contain no less than six (6) tracks and can be a special project or commemorative package. It should be judged on all aspects including, but not limited to artistic performance, production, design, art layout and liner notes. This award is for an album as a whole unit.

The eligibility period for Album of the Year is March 1, 2014 through to April 30, 2015

The act must be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant. Within a group or duo, at least 50% of the members must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.

To be eligible, 50% of the tracks must have been released during the current eligibility period, having never appeared on a previous album.


5. THE RECIPIENT OF THE COUNTRY MUSIC PROGRAM OR SPECIAL OF THE YEAR AWARD HAS BEEN CLARIFIED:

BACKGROUND:
The criteria for Country Music Program or Special of the Year has been re-worded to ensure clarity on whom the award is presented to.

PREVIOUS CRITERIA:
This award recognizes an original Canadian-produced country music program or special whose original airing on television or radio (including network or cable) was within the eligibility period. The program or special must be a minimum of thirty (30) minutes in duration. One Award is presented for the show.

NEW CRITERIA:
This award recognizes an original Canadian-produced country music program or special whose original airing on television or radio (including network or cable0 was within the eligibility period.

The program or special must be a minimum of thirty (30) minutes in duration;

The award is presented to the production company.


For any questions, concerns or comments regarding the 2015 CCMA Awards and Balloting Rules and Regulations, please contact Nikki Ryan at nryan@ccma.org or at 416-947-1331 ext. 213.