Entry Criteria

Please read criteria carefully to ensure you qualify. Some changes have been made and so the process may be different in places to last year.

Submissions now open.

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN FOR SINGLES AND ALBUMS

A) Eligible singles and albums must have been released between 15th July 2024 - 30th June 2025 and can be submitted by bands/artists/management and or fans. (due to slight change in process it is a little under a year but will be a full twelve month period in 2026 and will be from 1st July 2025 - 1st July 2026)

B) The Live Act category is open for PUBLIC nominations only. You must have seen a live act you are nominating between 15th July 2024 – 14th July 2025.

  • Nominate the best live act from Northern Ireland that you have seen over the last 12 months.

  • We will not accept entries for cover bands or acts that do regular cover nights in pubs.

  • We will not accept club DJ nominations, but EDM/producer/live electronic acts with original live shows do qualify.

  • We are seeking original live music and the act you nominate should be gigging/touring original music.

  • The event must have been a promoted live venue show that was ticketed (either free or paid) or part of a festival line-up.

  • If a band covers a song as part of their set, that is fine, but the band/act you are nominating must be gigging original music.


C) Albums/Singles must consist of previously unreleased material. Album/Single reissues, multi-artist compilations, ‘Best Of’ collections, EPs and live albums (largely featuring previously released material) are ineligible. Albums must be clearly released or marked as ALBUMS and not EPs and must consist of six or more tracks and/or over 30 minutes in length. All genres of music are eligible for the NI Music Prize.

D) We can only accept ONE Album from the same act for submission. An album must have had a digital release and have been made available for purchase in Northern Ireland by the general public for the first time during the qualifying period through any of the following outlets: any high street music retailer; digital retailer, record label or artist website (including Bandcamp, social media etc.) We cannot accept physical only releases; a digital online version must be available.

E) We can only accept ONE Single from the same act for submission. The single must have had a digital release and have been made available for purchase in Northern Ireland by the general public for the first time during the qualifying period through any of the following outlets: any high street music retailer; digital retailer, record label or artist website (including Bandcamp, social media etc.) We cannot accept physical only releases; a digital online version must be available.


F) If more than one album, single by the same artist is submitted for consideration by different people, the artist’s first preference will be the one that will be put forward for consideration.

G) For an entry to be eligible you MUST provide a link to demonstrate its official release as an Album/Single (Evidence can be a link to press coverage, website/social media/press announcement or online review for example, more details on the entry form).

H) For the purposes of this award, albums/singles will be deemed to have been recorded by a “Northern Irish Artist” when: the artist was born in Northern Ireland; at least 50% of the band’s core members were born in NI (session musicians will not be considered); an artist or band, irrespective of nationality, has made their creative base in NI for the past two years. If you were born in NI but no longer reside in NI you are still eligible.

 

For info on what happens after entries have been submitted, click here.
Any queries can be sent to info@nimusicprize.com