Awards Process
Nominating
The NIMA Association is 100% responsible for the nomination process. The NIMA Association is divided into different Music Councils by genre. (ex…Rock Music Council, Black Music Council, Country Music Council, Blues Music Council etc…) Each council within the NIMA Association is responsible for nominating artist for their genre only. (ex…The Country Music Council cannot nominate Rock, Blues, Rap artist etc…They can only nominate Country. This applies to all councils.) Each council is also responsible for submitting nominees in the general categories. (ex…Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Video etc…) Once the NIMA Association nominations are complete the fans vote online to determine the winners.
Screening
The different NIMA Association councils have numerous meetings and discussions to research nominees. These meeting are held to ensure that nominations meet specific qualifications, and criteria in their appropriate fields. The purpose of screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the entries, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible, meets the criteria, and placed in its proper category.
Final Voting
Final voting is done by the fans via our website.
Results
Voting results are not announced until the awards ceremony. At that time the winners are delivered to the presenters and announced to the world. We have over twenty categories. We only present 10-13 awards at the actual award show. Some of the awards are given out on the NIMA red carpet at the actual show. In the past we have given out some awards during the NIMA Pre Show. Other awards are given out at events during NIMA Week. (note.. It’s impossible to give away 30+ awards in one ceremony. It would take four hours.)
Important Dates (subject to change)
Jan 1st - Dec 31st: Nomination Consideration Period for the upcoming ballot.
Jan 1st – Feb 28th: Nominations Process
July: NIMA Nomination Ballot Released
July 15th: Voting Starts
Aug : Voting Ends (LATE AUGUST)
Sept: 2024 NIMA Week
Sept: NIMA Awards 15 (DATE RELEASED IN JULY)
Nov 1st: Start Your NIMA “For Your Consideration” Campaign