The build up towards The 17th Annual MTN South African Music Awards in May 2011 has officially begun. The 17th Annual MTN South African Music Awards continues from its explosive showcase in 2010, promising an epic finale that will celebrate, acknowledge and reward excellence in our very diverse local recording industry. Entries for the most anticipated MTN SAMA to date, the 17th Annual MTN South African Music Awards, open on Monday 1st November 2010 and record companies have a full month within which to enter before entries close on Tuesday 30th November 2010.
MTN has been a proud supporter of South Africa’s diverse and dynamic music and are continuing their involvement this year, making it the company’s eighth consecutive year as title sponsor of the South Africa Music Awards. Following from its world class and electrifying, multi-dimensional television showcase in April 2010, from here onwards all roads lead to what is set to be the most spectacular event to be broadcast live on SABC 1 from Sun City on Saturday 21st May 2011.
Barring the categories Best Selling Album, Best Selling DVD, Best Selling Download, the Lifetime Achievement Award, Music Video of the Year, Remixer of the Year and Record of the Year entries need to have been released between November 28th 2009 to November 30th 2010 in order for them to be eligible for judging in SAMA 17. In keeping with the successfully proven method of entry, record companies must submit their entries using the forms on the proprietary online entry system at www.samusicawards.co.za.
To assist those who have difficulty accessing the web, RiSA staff have set up a helpdesk at their premises. The RiSA’s offices are located at Unit 4, 150 Bram Fischer Drive, Randburg . staff are availble to respond to queries weekly from Monday to Friday. All entry material being submitted for consideration must reach RiSA by no later than 22:00pm on 30th November 2010 for entries to be eligible for the 17th Annual MTN South African Music Awards.
Entries for SAMA 17 are open to both RiSA members and non-RiSA members. Entry is open in respect of any qualifying recording artist, director, producer or engineer, being a person who has been a legal permanent resident in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland or Botswana for a minimum of six (6) months on the date of entry; or is a South African citizen.
The same applies to artists comprising duos or groups, provided that not less than fifty percent (50%) of its members comply with the criteria set out above.
The entrant must be a South African entity and own at least 50% (fifty percent) of the master recording contained in the entry in question where any other part of the master is owned by a non-South African entity.
RiSA reserves the right to request proof that all entrants, artists, producers, directors and engineers qualify as set out herein. RiSA also reserves the right to withdraw a nomination and a SAMA from any winner, who in RiSA's sole discretion, has brought the South African Music Awards into disrepute.
Rules guiding entry submissions are also available for downloading from the MTN South African Music Awards website: www.samusicawards.co.za. Here you can find a reference tool that serves as a guideline for the entire process of the awards. In addition the MTN SAMA 17 rules can also be requested from the RISA offices in Randburg.
South Africa’s musical landscape is constantly evolving, and to best reflect changes in the industry the various Steering Committees of the MTN South African Music Awards elected to add an additional category this year for Best Reggae Album for artists who perform Reggae Music.
MTN SAMA 17 will, for the 2nd year running, open the International Achievement Award. This special category award that was introduced for the first time during MTN SAMA16, will recognise and reward South African talent for achievements in territories outside of Southern Africa that demonstrate their success in gaining recognition from audiences worldwide.
There are 68 categories at SAMA 17. Of these TEN categories are not open for entry from 1st November to 30th November 2010. These are the Record of the Year (the only public vote category), Best Selling Album, Best Selling DVD and Best Selling Music Download of the Year which open for entry after the close of entries in all other categories owing to their extended qualifying dates, but use a different set of criteria that involve an audit as explained in the rules covering the categories; and Lifetime Achievement Award which is bestowed on recipients nominated by the RiSA Executive Committee alongside that of the International Achievement Award.
The remaining five categories form part of the MTN South African Music Awards ‘Top 5’ categories that came into being at the 13th Annual MTN SA Music Awards. The record companies cannot directly enter product into the ‘Top 5’ categories, namely: Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Duo or Group of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Album of the Year. To be eligible for entry into the ‘Top 5’ categories, the album would have to be nominated within its genre category.
The ‘Top 5’ judging draws on the knowledge and expertise of the entire judging panel, and employs a rigorous series of adjudication procedures to ensure that the results reflect the music industry’s finest. The ‘Top 5’ categories have garnered a lot of respect and attention in previous years due to the diligent selection process conducted by the various genre steering committees.
The MTN South African Music Awards has received an increasing number of entries over the past years and as this growing interest continues, an unprecedented number of entries are anticipated for MTN SAMA 17. To avoid the disappointment of missing the deadline, early entry is recommended. The organisers and sponsors wish to extend their very best wishes to all entrants and their earnest gratitude to the judges in anticipation of their commitment.
So this is a call-out to the incredible talent that makes up our recording industry: the recording artists, producers and engineers. If you have an album that fits the criteria for entry, then log on to www.samusicawards.co.za from 1st November 2010 until 30th November 2010 and make sure you enter the 17th Annual MTN South African Music Awards, the country’s most prestigious music awards ceremony!