Nomination Guidelines & Categories

Official Guidelines for the Josie Music Awards Association as determined by The Josie Network of Brands & Deciding Panel
The Josie Music Awards will continue to enhance and tighten the guidelines year by year to align independent artists fully with the majors. This progression in your career and our guidelines will ensure you have all the tools to move your career further if that is the path you choose. We do not guarantee your success on any level, that is up to you. However, we increase requirements year by year on many areas that you would need to get noticed by major organizations. Note: The Josie Network and all its brands including The Josie Music Awards Event & Association are privately owned by Josie Passantino and Tinamarie Passantino with our own set of guidelines and standards which you will find below.
Please read through the following information carefully.

Genre/Category Information

Awards such as The Lifetime Musical/Career Achievement Awards and the Josie Show Humanitarian Award are awarded by The Josie Network and is not part of the nomination process. Independent Hall of Fame Awards are not part of the nomination process. You are welcome to use the contact page to make any suggestions.
Promotion Company of the Year are for promotion companies that handle all areas of promotion.
The Junior category Artist of the Year (ages 6-12) is an all-genre award. The Junior Artist of the Year nominees must have at least 1 original song completed and released.
The Young Adult category (ages 13-17) is all-genre. The Young Adult Artist of the Year nominees will have at least 2 original songs completed and released.
Age overrides all categories except Video of the Year, Musician of the Year, Tribute Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year,Songwriter Achievement , and World Categories. Those few categories are the exception to the age requirements. Current age at time of nomination is what determines categories that an artist can be entered in (not the age an artist was when they recorded, etc.)
Junior and Young Adult categories where a band is considered the age group the band is placed in will be determined by the age of the majority of the players. A lead singer with a backing band will be considered in an age group determined by the lead singer's age.
Vocalist of the Year will be awarded based on vocal talent only (vocalist of the year does NOT need to have an original song).
In large genres often only one winner will be selected (i.e. rock/classic rock/metal or traditional country/modern country or pop/contemporary or jazz/blues/soul, etc.). This will be determined each year by size of each individual category. Some genres/categories may split into Male, Female, Duo/Group (this will be determined by panel).
Please read all side notes as names may not be listed twice and side notes will show all that are included in a category. (i.e. artist of the year qualified for entertainer or artist of the year included for vocalist, etc.).
Song of the Year categories are awarded to the artist and songwriters. Song of the Year categories must be submitted for review by the vocalist on the song or one of the songwriters. Please note all songwriters must be listed to ensure proper award amounts are ordered. Song of the Year will not be a suggested by fans category.
Songwriter of the Year category is reviewed by a songwriter's full body of work (not based on just a single song). Songwriter must have songs recorded by other artists. If you write and record your own songs only then complete a form for individual song(s). Songwriter must be currently pitching songs.
Song of the Year must have the work released prior to the deadline of April 30th to be considered. Unless, they are currently in high rotation on Country Blast Radio (these will also qualify). Songs must be fully released by an independent artist and not be a demo. Demos will not be considered in this category since the 2019 decision to add an achievement category. Demos will only be considered in the Songwriter Achievement of the Year Category.
A Songwriter Achievement of the Year category has been added. In this category songwriters can submit one song of any genre (demos allowed). Songwriter will be awarded.
Songs or albums that have previously won in Song of the Year or Album of the Year may not be re-nominated.
Video of the Year must be no older than 2 years old from date of nominations opening of January yearly to qualify. Videos that are a scroll of still photographs or are self-made does not qualify for this award. Lyric videos do not qualify starting in 2020. Prior video of the year winning videos do not qualify again.
Duo/Group of the Year is a constant working together relationship. A one-time project would fall under the Best Collaboration category.
Best collaboration category (all genre) will now be titled "Vocal Event" must feature voices of all those mentioned in collaboration. Song entrance must be released in 2020 or 2021 by end of April to be considered and the song may not be a former Josie Music Awards winner. Writing collaborations with one vocalist will be considered only under Song of the Year if it meets those guidelines. As a Vocal Event there must be at least 2 main vocals (does not include background vocals, musicians, or harmony vocals). If there are not 2 main vocals, please enter song under Song of the Year category if it meets all the other qualifications.
The Rising Star nominees are not eligible for Artist of the Year or Entertainer of the Year. Rising Star nominees are eligible for all other categories.
Female Artist of the Year and Male Artist of the Year must have at least 1 album released (containing a minimum of 7 songs to be nominated in this category) and many LIVE performances /tour dates, and/or be a former Josie Music Award Winner.
Rising Star nominees must have at least 3 original songs released and be 18 years or above.
Rising Star and Artist of the Year categories: Artists that have been through a major music competition, have directly opened for Major Acts, or have already won a Josie Music Award in prior years are eligible for the higher of the two categories. This is the panel's final judgement and over rides all other requirements for this category.
Entertainer of the Year for all genre categories is determined by the quantity and quality of LIVE performances, stage presence, and crowd interaction. Reviewers will study the amount of performances in the last year 18 months, states performed in, venues performed in, stage presence, and more. Some genres will require additional items/areas to be reviewed. Nominees in this category are determined by the deciding panel. This category is not part of the nomination process. Those reviewed for this category will be selected from the Male Artist of the Year and Female Artist of the Year Categories.
World categories will include music in multiple languages.
Tribute Artists will be awarded to artists that work as a tribute artist at least 50% of the time.
Record Label of the Year nominees must have at least a minimum of 3 artists signed to their label to be included. Those artists may be contacted by our company during the review process. A current website must be provided on the submission forms. In this category social media pages will not qualify as a website. Record labels will not qualify if they charge artists a fee to be sign or do not use legal/fair contracts.
Record Label, Management Companies, and Promotion Companies of the year nominees must have at least 3 artists signed to their company and be in operation for a minimum of 1 year. Must be able to find a website on the company to verify clients (social media pages will not count as websites).
Music Producer of the Year or Video Production of the Year must have ample experience in producing music/creating videos for others outside of their own music if they are a music artist as well.
The Fan Choice Award will be the only award determined by Fans comments. Quality not quantity. This is not a voting process.
The Album of the Year Award and EP of the Year Award for all or any genre categories must have the album/EP released by the end of April of each year and may not be older than 2 years for that album/EP to be considered, a full review of the album/EP must be sent to josiemusicawards@gmail.com with the subject line "Album or EP for Review" or mailed to The Josie Music Awards at 274 Bunney Lane; Medina, TN 38355 by end of April. Both the submission form online must be completed, and the album or EP sent in. If both are not received in time your work will not be considered for this award category.
Since 2019 EPs and Albums will have separate categories. An EP shall contain 3-6 songs to be considered. An album must have 7 or more songs to be considered in the album vs the EP category. If your EP has less than 3 songs, then the songs must be considered individually in the Song of the Year category only.

General Award Association Guidelines and Information

Using special software or building of bots to send your name in multiple times through non-existent email or fake email addresses will get you eliminated from the Josie Music Awards. Each entry will be verified. Artists, songwriters, music industry businesses only need to submit each category once to be reviewed in that category. This is not a voting or numbers competition.
If we are unable to find any current works during our review period, your name will be eliminated. Please make sure your website is provided and up to date. Please make sure any links you include are working from the time you submit them until the award show date.
Nominee decisions and award winner selection is reviewed and finalized by a panel of industry leaders who will remain anonymous to ensure the integrity of this process.
As the categories continue to grow, the rules and guidelines that currently apply may change for future award shows without prior notice.
Requirement: All nominees must have an official website (websites can be created for free on sites like Weebly) for main category consideration. Subcategories will just need to be searchable online. Social media pages will not count as an official website. Website must be updated and current with appropriate content.
A genre/category will remain or be added only if it has a minimum of 6 nominees. Combinations may apply if a category has less than 6 nominees or the category may be eliminated during the nomination review process. A genre will not be added if there are less than 10 potential nominees. Sub-genre awards are subject to be awarded as a single full larger genre after reviews of talent/works are completed. (i,e. modern country/traditional country/outlaw country/etc. can be combined under the general heading of Country if there are not enough candidates in a specific genre).
Submissions of yourself or your work will be accepted starting January 15, 2021 by filling out the submission form(s) on our website for review by our deciding panel. Suggestions by fans will be accepted starting April 1st of each calendar year for select categories. Self-submissions will be reviewed first and take precedence over fan suggestions regarding space availability in genres/categories. This process along with the necessary acknowledgements will keep category size to an acceptable level by the Josie Network standards.
No cover songs will be accepted at the Josie music Awards.
Review details/scorecards are not shared with nominees or potential nominees.
Nomination and Winner selection is made by an unbiased panel of Industry Leaders. No decisions on Nomination or Winner selection are made by The Josie Music Award Owners (with the exception as noted above on non-nomination categories such as The Lifetime Career Achievement Awards, etc.).
Any negative or defaming comments about the Josie Music Awards, its owners, the Josie Network of Brands, or event venues will lead to immediate termination from nomination for current and future years winner lists, All Josie Network of Brands and its affiliates including but not limited to The Josie Show, Country Blast Radio, Confidently Ready, The Independent Country Music Hall of Fame, The Country Gospel, Bluegrass Music Association, Indie Star Entertainment, IndiesVoice Magazine, The Josie Music Awards and more. This includes all spoken and written words. Your affiliation with our brands will be immediately terminated without prior notice and we retain the right to seek legal action.
As genres grow more award categories will be added.
All nomination and winning decisions are FINAL. No comments or feedback will be shared with nominees, winners, attendees, fans, family, friends, etc.
Criminal Affiliation: If you work as an employee, representative, independent contractor, have a strong affiliation with, or promote in any way an organization that has a CRIMINAL past (this includes the owners/managers of the organization) you do not qualify to participate in the Josie Music Awards. Part of moving your career forward is making good association choices. Large organizations/companies (i.e. record labels, talent companies, etc.) will pass on working with you if they feel you are accepting of criminal actions. Our focus will remain with those that are working to grow their craft/career. Business Acumen is an important factor in the Independent Music Industry.
All or any one of the many Josie Network Brands may be present at the yearly award show event.
Excellent Sportsmanship is required!
Tickets must be purchased at our official website www.josiemusicawards.com to ensure you have the correct tickets. Everyone wishing to attend the award show must purchased tickets. The Josie Music Awards does not own the venue.
The Josie Music Awards is a full production theater show.
The following categories will be awarded at the pre-party event beginning in 2021.

Artist Management Company of the Year
Record Label of the Year
Promotion Company of the Year
Promotion Through Other Media
Video Production of the Year
Photographer of the Year
Photo of the year (selected from 2020 JMA Photos
Recording Studio of the Year
Outstanding Engineer/Mixing
Music Producer of the Year
Songwriter Achievement (demo/unreleased songs) - Selected songs will be given a nomination certificate at pre-party. Those songs will go on to compete for the Songwriter Achievement Award that will be presented at the Award Show Ceremony on September 18th.

Rules and Guidelines are subject to change without advanced notice by The Josie Network of Brands owners and deciding panel.
All Rules and Guidelines are final and determined by The Josie Network of Brands owners and deciding panel.