Eligibility & Judging

No.

In order to remove as many barriers to participation as possible, we have removed the paid membership requirement.

If you value the work of Music Victoria (like the Awards) however, we obviously encourage you to sign up here. We also continue to offer a Free membership tier, that was initially brought in, in response to COVID-19.

The majority of the band (at least 50%) producing the music must be current permanent residents of Victoria. If the act is performing under a solo artist name, the 50% rule does not apply to members of their backing band. The lead performer must reside in Victoria to be eligible, and must have resided in Victoria for at least 12 months at the time of submission (since July 2023).

The band’s / artist’s music must be also available for sale in Victoria and the band / artist must perform in Victoria regularly. If an artist or producer has moved away recently, they are eligible as long as they were living in Victoria for 2 years immediately prior to and during the making of their submitted music.

The Music Victoria Awards 2024 is awarding:

• musical works/recordings released between 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
• musical activity from targeted communities (rehearsing, performing, releasing, writing, collaborating and/or recording) between 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
• Victorian venues hosting contemporary live music between 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
• Victorian music festivals staged between 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024

Refer to this map: https://www.rdv.vic.gov.au/victorias-regions

Subject to specific eligibility requirements of each Award, you may enter once into each of the Best of the Best Awards categories, once into each of the Community Awards and into just ONE of the Genre Awards categories, ONE Venue Award, and ONE Festival Award.

By way of example (subject to each awards eligibility criteria which may include a certain number of releases in the 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024 time period):

• the one band may enter 4 different Award categories – Best Song or Track, Best Album, Best Group, as well as in their Genre category and one specific band member may be put forward for consideration for Best Musician.
• a regionally based solo artist may enter 5 different Award categories – Best Song or Track, Best Album, Best Solo Artist, Best Regional Act, as well as in their Genre category.
• a Culturally and Linguistically diverse artist may enter 4 Award categories – Best Song or Track, Best Group, Diaspora Award as well as in their Genre category.

In the entry platform, once you have completed your first entry, tick the box next to the entry, click on ACTIONS, where you are able to COPY this entry, and then submit the same details for consideration as part of a different Award category.

More detailed instructions can be found here.

There is no age limit on who can enter our Awards, but for those entrants who are under 18, we do require a guardian to authorise the entry. This is included as a question in the application process.

All entries are judged against either the Musical Criteria or the Venue and Festival Criteria by a panel of at least 5 judges who give each criteria a score out of 10. The highest voted entries are then discussed by the relevant panel who determine their final top 5 entries, who become the Nominees.

Winners for panel voted categories are decided by discussion amongst the judges, referencing the criteria, in the same meeting where Nominees are decided.

Winners for public voted categories are decided on by the public, who get to cast their votes for one of the top 5 Nominees. The public can only vote once in each category and the highest number of votes wins.

Music Victoria is committed to supporting, promoting and celebrating diversity in music and we actively track our progress to ensure that positive change is happening.

Panel judges are asked to create a shortlist of top entries (for discussion at the panel meeting) including:

• at least 40% women
• First Nations artists, which includes Victorian First People representation
• Artists from culturally and linguistically diverse communities
• Deaf and disabled artists
• Trans and gender diverse artists
• Regional representation

Music Victoria acknowledge the complexity of terminology that relates to a person’s identity, ancestry, ability, sexual orientation and gender, and appreciates respondents who engage with this question as part of the entry process. More information can be found here.