It is our belief that all artists who contribute to the Christian community deserve recognition. We involve a collective community of persons in the awards and selection process. These persons are known as the Academy/Guild, which includes the supporter/buyer, producer/engineer, promoter, record company, management, Pastors/churches, etc. All invested persons are able to submit nominations. Once the nominations are received, each nominee will be screened by the Academy/Guild for the eligible category criteria and artist qualifications.

 

The Academy/Guild is a closed group of renowned experts in various fields and respected amongst their peers. Their focus is to ensure that specific category qualifications and imagery of artist is positively portrayed. The purpose of the screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings and/or submissions, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible and placed in its proper category.

 

Once selections have been finalized, the category finalists are formally announced to the public. The public receives an opportunity to vote for their favorite artist or group. Each artist bio and body of work will be displayed for the public. The public is allowed to vote as many times as they prefer, but only once per day throughout the duration of the voting period. The voting period will be scheduled for a limited date-range. The Academy/Guild accountant verifies all voting and ballot submission. Results of each award recipient are not known until the Gulf Coast Gospel Music Awards celebration, at which time the winner will be announced on-stage and awarded.

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Nomination Eligibility Entry Period (January 1 – January 31)

Nominations are open for submissions.

 

Nomination Review Process (February 1 – March 1)

The Academy/Guild, made up of a group of renowned experts in various fields meet to insure that all nominations and entries meet eligibility criteria, all nominations and entries are in their respective categories, and are appropriate for the Gulf Coast Gospel Music Awards. The members of the Academy/Guild will determine which nominations qualify for notification. Each category will be narrowed down to an acceptable number of nominees based upon the total number of nominations submitted overall. Those nominees who are not notified will be categorized as ‘Local Spotlights’, recognized during the GCGMA Celebrations and will participate in a Music Industry Development Workshop.

 

Notification Period (March 10 – March 15)

All nominees that successfully made it through the review process will be notified via email, phone and postal mail.

 

Eligibility Package Submissions (March 10 – March 30)

Nominees will be required to submit the following for public review and voting:

• GCGMA Application, Membership Fee and Entry Form

• One (1) body of work (CD album, CD single, DVD’s, music files, voice files, videos, online links, social links, etc., if applicable). If a nominee does not have any bodies of work to submit, they will be required to interview in-person before a quorum (6) of the Guild. Interview will be recorded.

• One (1) Full body photo

• One (1) Head shot

All entries must be postmarked by midnight on March 30th in order to be eligible for voting

 

Package Submission Screening Process (April 10 – April 20)

The Academy/Guild may encounter product submissions that raise questions about whether or not the submission is appropriate for the Awards. The Academy/Guild reserves the right to remove the product from consideration, if it is determined that the submission is not appropriate. All nominees who meet the eligibility qualifications and submit their Membership fee will be deemed an eligible candidate for Public Voting in May. Those submissions who miss the deadline will not qualify as a finalist and will be categorized as ‘Local Spotlights’, recognized during the GCGMA Celebrations and will participate in a Music Industry Development Workshop.

 

Press/Announcement (April 20xx)

The Finalists will be announced. Finalists will receive an exclusive photo shoot and professional video shoot/interview that will be aired during the September GCGMA Celebrations. Each finalist will also receive a copy of their photos and interview as well as a Letter of Reference from The GCGMA Guild. These items will be packaged in current acceptable industry-standard form.

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Final Public Voting (May 1 - May 30)

All Finalist submissions will be posted via event website for public review. Voting will be open to the public. General Public will be the voting body that will determine the GCGMA recipient in each category.

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Results

Winning ballots will be kept confidential. The award recipients will be announced at the Gulf Coast Gospel Music Awards Celebrations. Award recipients will receive an exclusive package of specific resources from the existing Academy/Guild members for (1) year of services to be used within that time frame. They will also receive the opportunity to be featured on a compilation CD, (1 song), signed under the LeKeisha Cotten label (optional), to include artist branding and marketing, within the (1) year period.