Judging Process & Selection
Please find information about our judging process and selection criteria below, as outlined in Section 8 of the AMA 2025 Terms & Conditions
Process
Entries that are eligible and have not been disqualified will proceed to the judging stage. Judging will take place as follows:
- General Categories are judged by the ‘Judging Academy’, which consists of more than 300 representatives from various sectors of the music industry.
- Māori, Genre and Artisan categories are judged by specialised ‘Judging Schools’, which generally consist of between ten (10) and twenty (20) – but no less than five (5) representatives – from that genre or relevant music industry sector, as selected by Recorded Music NZ in consultation with the relevant sector.
- The General Data categories are determined by data supplied by the Official New Zealand Music Charts compiler and/or other approved third party data sources.
- The Discretionary categories will judged by the AMA Discretionary Award Panel and awarded at its discretion.
- An independent scrutineer appointed by Recorded Music NZ will tabulate the votes. The scrutineer will report directly to Recorded Music NZ in absolute confidence.
- In respect of Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Best Group and Best Solo Artist there will be two stages of judging. The Academy will first vote on the full list of nominees. The Academy will then vote on a shortlist of finalists in each category, as determined by the first round of voting.
Selection & engagement of judges
- For AMA 2025 Recorded Music NZ is continuing its work of refreshing the Judging Academy and Judging Schools with a commitment to representation for Māori, diversity and inclusion, and appropriate representation across music industry roles and sectors.
- The judges who will be part of the Academy and/or the new AMA Discretionary Award Panel will be selected by Recorded Music NZ, from various sectors across the music industry. The judges who will be part of specialised Judging Schools will be selected by Recorded Music NZ in consultation with the relevant sector.
- All judges will be engaged by Recorded Music NZ and Recorded Music NZ is responsible for all communications relating to the awards and judging.
- In order to participate, judges must confirm their agreement to comply with these terms and conditions, including the Statement of Expectations, and the obligations of confidentiality as set out by Recorded Music NZ.
- Judges agree that Recorded Music NZ and its event partners, contractors and service providers (including voting platform Award Force) may process any personal information provided in connection with judging, including names, contact details and other personal information, for the purpose of judging, promoting and managing the Aotearoa Music Awards.
- The identity of judges will be kept confidential unless agreed otherwise. Recorded Music NZ is committed to improving transparency of the judging process and intends to publish demographic information that judges agree to provide. Any Nominator or Nominee found lobbying judges for their votes will have their entry/ies disqualified and Judges must not publicly discuss their judging decisions or the reasons for them.
View the AMA 2025 Terms & Conditions of Entry in full here