PHASE 1 VOTING FOR THE 2023 DETROIT MUSIC AWARDS IS NOW CLOSED!

HOW PHASE 1 WORKED

• ONE submission per email.  You may make up to ten (10) different submissions, but each must be a separate email. The full entry must be in the BODY of the email, not the subject line.
• Use this format:  YOUR name, followed by submission Last name (or band name), First name, Genre, Category.  If your submission is for an instrumentalist, please include instrument & band(s) affiliation.  If your submission is for a vocalist, please include any band(s) affiliation. 
•  As previously noted, there were significant changes in the categories last year.  *Please refer to the 2023 CATEGORIES page for a list of all genres and categories*
• Per the changes in last year's categories, there are not genre-specific categories for Outstanding Vocalist and Outstanding Songwriter.  There is one (1) category for each, open to artists in all genres.
• Similarly, there is one (1) category each for Guitarist, Bassist, Keyboardist, Percussionist, and Specialty Instruments, open to artists in all genres.  
• An individual artist can be nominated in only ONE category.  In the case of multiple category submissions, the artist's own submission will take precedence. As always, the DMAF balloting committee has approval on final category placements.
• Please note the exceptions on the Special Honorees page before submitting your entries.
• The "Outstanding Live Performance" category still includes virtual as well as live performances this year.
• Recordings (physical or digital; single, EP, or album) must have been released on a known streaming platform (e.g. Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud, etc.), digital retail outlet (e.g. iTunes, Amazon Music, CD Baby, etc.) or available at a physical retail outlet. You must include the title, genre, release date and label (if any) for all submissions.
• To be considered as choices for the 2023 Detroit Music Awards, recordings must have been initially released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022.  Re-releases or releases only on social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) are not eligible. 
• Any deviation from the above format will automatically disqualify the submission.
• Submissions began at 12 noon on Saturday, January 14 and the deadline for submissions was 11:59pm ET, on Sunday, January 22, 2023.  Any email received with a time stamp after that time WAS NOT considered for nomination.
• Submitting names or recordings during this phase did NOT nominate the Artist, Group or Recording for the Final Ballot. 
• Names eligible to be considered as choices must have a connection, or perform a body of work, primarily in the Detroit metro area, which, for our purposes, stretches as far north as Flint, as far west as metropolitan Ann Arbor, as far south as the Ohio border, and as far east as the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. 

HOW PHASE 2 WORKED

Only current (or newly registered) Detroit Music Awards members were allowed to participate in the Nomination Phase. 

During this phase, the Nomination Ballot was available online after an eligible voting member logged in.  Eligible voters were emailed instructions directly from Election Runner when the nomination process began. 

The Nomination Ballot allowed voters to choose from the names and recordings that were submitted in Phase I and met the previously outlined criteria.  You needed a Voter ID (username) and Voter Key (password) to begin the online election.  

Voting in this Phase began at 9am on February 11 and ended at 11:59pm on Sunday, February 20, 2022.  New this year, up to ten (10) in each category will move on to the Final Ballot stage (to begin in March).  Due to the large number of submissions, these ballots were very long in some of the genres.  We strongly encouraged people to use a computer or the Election Runner app when voting to prevent errors.  For a list of Special Honorees not eligible to win in their respective categories this year, please refer to the explanation and list on the SPECIAL HONOREES page. 

Names eligible to be considered as Nominees must have a connection, or perform a body of work, primarily in the Detroit metro area, which, for our purposes, stretches as far north as Flint, as far west as metropolitan Ann Arbor, as far south as the Ohio border, and as far east as the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. 

To be eligible for the 2022 Detroit Music Awards, recordings (physical or digital; single, EP, or album) must have been released on a known streaming platform (e.g. Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud, etc.), digital retail outlet (e.g. iTunes, Amazon Music, CD Baby, etc.) or available at a physical retail outlet. To be considered as choices for the 2022 Detroit Music Awards, recordings must have been initially released between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021.  Re-releases or releases only on social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) are not eligible. 

HOW PHASE 3 WORKED

During this phase, the Final Voting Ballot was available online after a voter logged in.  The choices were determined from the most nominated recordings, artists, etc. in the Nomination Phase. Eligible, active voters were contacted via email when the Final Voting process began on February 25, 2022.  If you did not receive an email, you were not an active voter. Only currently active Detroit Music Awards members could participate in the Final Voting Phase.  No new registrations were accepted after Phase 2 ended.

This was the final phase of voting to determine the winners in each category. Voting ended at 11:59pm on March 6, 2022.  Winners will be announced on April 24 during the Live Stream Debut at 8pm.