Global Music Awards (entries open)

An international, paid-entry award for independent musicians, running in seasons with a rolling calendar of deadlines. There is no cash prize and no ceremony to attend. What you get if you place is a medal tier and a listing on the site: Gold with Best in Show at the top, then Gold, Silver for outstanding achievement, Bronze for finalists, and honourable mentions. Past honourees span classical soloists, film composers, world music ensembles, hip-hop artists and music video directors, from dozens of countries.

Entry is unusually open. There is no rule about release dates — past-year albums and unreleased work are both accepted, as long as they arrive before the deadline. Categories cover genre, role and craft (instrumentalist, composition, music video, production, lyrics, album art, innovation in sound and many more), and if nothing fits you can write in your own. You submit files or a link; Dropbox, Google Drive and Mega are preferred, with Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and YouTube Music accepted. Physical copies are optional.

Music generated by AI is not considered, nor are AI-made videos; AI mastering is allowed but discouraged, and entry fees are not refunded for disqualified content. Resubmitting the same work to a later season usually produces the same result.

Note that this is a submission-fee award — the pages read here confirm fees exist but do not publish the amount, so check the entry form before committing. No published judging criteria beyond category fit.