ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC® ANNOUNCES SUBMISSIONS & VOTING TIMELINE FOR 2024 ACM AWARDS®
ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC® ANNOUNCES SUBMISSIONS & VOTING TIMELINE FOR 2024 ACM AWARDS®
SUBMISSIONS OPEN JANUARY 8 – JANUARY 26, 2024
Nashville, TN (December 4, 2023) – The Academy of Country Music® announced today the submissions and ballot timeline for professional membership voting for the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards™, coming in May 2024. The Academy also announced changes and additions within numerous Awards categories. The 59th Academy of Country Music Awards™ is produced by Dick Clark Productions and will stream exclusively on Prime Video for a global audience for a third straight year, live from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys, as part of the ACM Awards’ recently-announced renewed partnership with Amazon. The 58th ACM Awards garnered more than 7.7 million viewers on Prime Video, plus additional viewership across Amazon Music, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, and Amazon Live, making the show hosted by global superstars Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks one of the most-watched awards shows of the year.
Submissions for the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards™️ will open at 11 a.m. CT / 9 a.m. PT on Monday, January 8, 2024. The Academy will accept entries through Friday, January 26, 2024 at 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT. Please click HERE for more information and to submit. A full voting timeline is below.
The ACM Board of Directors approved changes (expanded details below) to the Academy’s New Female Artist of the Year, New Male Artist of the Year, and New Duo or Group of the Year, extending charting for those categories to open eligibility to more artists. The ACM Board of Directors also adopted criteria to require a minimum of three eligible submissions to award a category.
“The 59th ACM Awards cycle brings changes to awards categories that will allow more artists, groups, and duos the chance to qualify and be recognized with an ACM Award, which will benefit emerging artists and help put a spotlight on the future of the genre,” said Daniel Miller, Chair of the ACM Awards, Voting, and Membership committee. “I’d like to thank the Awards committee members, Board members, and Board Officers for their thoughtful contributions in expanding eligibility to reflect our evolving industry and the realities for new artists on their path to success.”
“ACM New Duo or Group of the Year is an illustrious category that has seen the likes of Brooks & Dunn and The Chicks win early in their careers, as well as both reigning ACM Duo of the Year Brothers Osborne and reigning ACM Group of the Year Old Dominion. The category hasn’t been awarded in recent years, and we’re hopeful these changes in category rules and minimum qualifying entrant levels will allow us to bring back this award, a fan favorite, as well as celebrate additional deserving emerging artists in the critical early years of their career,” explained Tommy Moore, ACM Vice President of Artist and Industry Relations, Governance and Board Administration.
“I am proud that the ACM Awards, Country Music’s Party of the Year, continues to be one of the favorite and most-watched awards shows today. With history-making hosts, a ever-present platform in Prime Video, a groundbreaking format, a perfectly suited location in Frisco, Texas, plus Country’s most exciting and diverse nominees, winners and performers, there has never been a better time to be a part of the Academy and the ACM Awards,” said Damon Whiteside, ACM CEO. “We look forward to receiving our industry’s submissions for the 59th ACM Awards, and especially to celebrating the best of 2023 next May!”
The eligibility period for submissions for the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards is January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023. Key dates for Academy professional members for the 2023 ACM Awards cycle are as follows:
- Submissions Period Opens: January 8, 2024
- Submissions Period Closes: January 26, 2024
- First Round Voting, Main Awards: February 26, 2024 – March 4, 2024
- Second Round Voting, Main Awards: March 18, 2024 – March 25, 2024
- Final Round Voting, Main Awards: April 15, 2024 – April 22, 2024
*All submission/voting windows close at 8 p.m. E.T. / 7 p.m. C.T. / 5 p.m. P.T.
Key dates for Academy professional members for the 2023 ACM Radio Awards cycle are as follows:
- Submissions Period Opens: January 8, 2024
- Submissions Period Closes: January 26, 2024
- First Round Voting, Radio Awards: February 26, 2024 – March 11, 2024
- Final Round Voting, Radio Awards: March 18, 2024 – April 1, 2024
*All submission/voting windows close at 8 p.m. E.T. / 7 p.m. C.T. / 5 p.m. P.T.
Category Updates:
- New Eligible Submission Minimum
A minimum of three eligible submissions are required to award the category. In the instance there are not three eligible submissions within a category, a professional panel may vote to allow additional considerations to meet the required minimum.
- Extended Charting for New Artist Categories
NEW FEMALE/MALE/GROUP/DUO AWARD
Presented to an individual artist, group or duo who gains initial fame or significantly greater recognition during the promotion of a debut or sophomore album within the eligibility period.
The artist must have released a single that reached the Top 50 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs or the Mediabase Country charts. Any albums self-released through an independent label the artist owns and operates may not be counted as a debut or sophomore album, unless it produces a Top 50 single reported by Billboard’s Hot Country Songs or Mediabase Country charts. The nominees shall be determined by a nomination ballot(s) and are subject to the approval of the Board. The winner shall be determined by a vote of the ACM professional membership.
Any artist who served or is currently serving as a lead member of a duo or group is not eligible for individual category recognition. Additionally, any artist who has gained initial fame as a solo artist or as part of a duo or group in another genre is not eligible in these categories.
An artist may be a nominee two times in a three-year period. Once an artist releases the lead single from a third studio album, they will no longer be eligible in this category. If an artist is a winner in the New Female Artist /New Male Artist/New Duo or Group (or any respective previously named) category their first year on a ballot, they will not be eligible in any New Artist categories again. Any artist who has previously won the award for Entertainer, Female Artist, Male Artist, Duo or Group of the Year (or any respective previously named category) is ineligible for a New Artist nomination.
For more information, visit ACMcountry.com. You can also like Academy of Country Music on Facebook, follow the Academy on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, all at @ACMawards, and sign up for the FREE ACM A-List for the latest news and updates in your email inbox. For information on ACM Lifting Lives, please visit www.acmliftinglives.org.
About the Academy of Country Music:
Founded in Southern California in 1964 as a regional trade organization, the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC (ACM) has grown in the almost-60 years since into a leading association for the Country Music industry. Now headquartered in Nashville, TN and boasting record-high membership of nearly 5,000 nationwide, the Academy serves as a powerhouse advocate for Country fans, artists, and all facets of the business, as well as a supporter of philanthropic work through charitable partner ACM LIFTING LIVES, dedicated to improving lives through the power of music and providing aid in times of need, with a focus on health initiatives. 2023 has been another monumental year for the Academy, with the ACM Awards having returned to Texas in May and streamed live for a global audience on Prime Video, still the only major awards show to livestream exclusively. The Academy also remains relentlessly committed to creating a more inclusive environment for underrepresented groups in Country Music, from the boardroom to the stage, and over the last year has launched both ACM LEVel Up, a two-year professional development and enrichment curriculum for rising leaders, and OnRamp, a guaranteed income program for Black members of the Nashville music community, in partnership with the Black Music Action Coalition. For more information, visit ACMcountry.com or ACMLiftingLives.org.