Nominations have been extended! 2024 Gold Coast Music Awards nominations will now close at 5pm on Monday 6 May, 2024. Nominate now!

YES! We have prepared a category and criteria document to assist with category specific questions. You can also join an online drop-in session to ask questions or receive support with your nomination. Upcoming sessions: Thur 2 May, 1pm-2pm & Fri 3 May, 2pm-3pm. 

Can’t make these sessions? Shoot us an email anytime at hello@gcmusicnetwork.com.au or drop us a message on Facebook or Instagram and we’ll get back to you within business hours.

*Please note, the GCMN office will be closed from 5pm, Friday 3 May for the long weekend and emails/socials won’t be monitored. We suggest submitting your nomination before COB Friday in case of any issues. 

In case of major issues or emergencies over the long weekend – eg. technical issues – please contact Samantha Morris on 0421 709 519.

Note: We are unable to provide extensions on nominations past Monday 6 May, 5pm. Please submit your nomination early to avoid any last minute issues.

Yes! We welcome nominations for multiple categories. Simply select which categories you wish to nominate for and fill out the required information for each individual category. For example, if you would like to nominate for Artist of the Year and Song of the Year, you will be required to submit 2 individual nominations. Please note, you can not apply for Breakout Artist AND Artist of the Year and you can only nominate one song for Song of the Year.

FREE! We don’t charge an entry fee to nominate for an award, instead we invite you to purchase tickets to attend the awards ceremony. Finalists are emailed a discount code to purchase a ticket.

Nominations are only accepted from an artist, band, venue (the nominee themselves) or a person representing them, such as a manager, publicist or agent of some kind. That’s because judges assess each nomination against set criteria and it is very unlikely a fan or family member will be able to provide the information required for judges to do their work.

The eligibility period for the 2024 Gold Coast Music Awards is 1 April 2023 – 31st March 2024

To be eligible to nominate you must have a strong connection to the Gold Coast:
– The nominee (or more than half of the act, if a band) must live on the Gold Coast OR
– The nominee (or more than half of the nominated act) may have grown up and establiashed their career on the Gold Coast but might currently live elsewhere

This is the Gold Coast Music Awards so all artists being nominated must have a genuine, demonstrated connection to our city. Simply ‘loving’ the Gold Coast or having a fan base here or regularly gigging here is not enough. You must have a large proportion of band members living here or you must have been established here before moving to other places. Judges consider your connection to Gold Coast in their assessment processes.

No, However we encourage you to tell your favourite Gold Coast bands and artists to nominate themselves. You can read about the individual categories and their requirements via the category and criteria document.

There are 10 award categories in 2024: Artist, Breakout Artist, Live Act, Musician, Release, Song, Studio Producer, Venue, Video and Visual Creative of the Year. Along with 2 specialty awards: Gold Coast Music Prize (selected by the judging panel) and the People’s Choice (voted for by attendees on the day of the Awards ceremony). For category specific information, refer to the category and criteria document.

There’s no age criteria to nominate, however under-age finalists must be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the awards ceremony. All nominees under 25 are eligible to be considered for the Gold Coast Music Prize.

Artists who have nominated more than one strong song in the previous years, have severely disadvantaged themselves, as the judging panel is usually split on which song is the best. We have updated our nomination process so that artists may only submit one song, this should be your stand out track from the eligibility period.

Our judging panel is made up of people who make all sorts of decisions that impact artists’ careers. By nominating for a Gold Coast Music Award, you are putting yourself and your music in front of influential people who might not have heard of you before. In the past this has resulted in radio play and interviews, bookings for major events, support slots for national touring artists and inclusion in significant industry showcase events. Nominating also gives you a chance to celebrate your success – no matter how modest. And when you attend the awards ceremony – whether a finalist or not – you’ll be warmly welcomed as a Gold Coast artist by organisers and guests. In addition, those under 25 who nominate are considered for the career-defining Gold Coast Music Prize – a curated prize of services and opportunities made available to the winner for 12 months after the awards. Past winners have included DENNIS, Selve, Girl and Girl and Lyric. Services and opportunities include paid performance opportutnies, introductions to key industry people, support with grant and showcase applications, career advice and support – the prize is tailored to the artist and their goals for the coming year.

The Awards are judged by an independent panel of music industry experts and genuine music-lovers who truly understand what it’s like to be an artist or music-industry worker in a regional city like the Gold Coast. The judging panel is chaired by Gold Coast Music Network’s Samantha Morris. You can find out more about our 2024 judges here (link).

Judges have set criteria they assess each nomination against. To maximise your chances of being a finalist for an award, you should carefully read the category description and the questions in the nomination form, and answer succinctly with the information requested. We can only use the information you include in your nomination to make these assessments. No matter which category you’re nominating for you will also need a short (150 word max) bio, 2 press shots approved for our use and a primary link to your online presence – which might be your website, EPK, one social media platform or streaming service. You can prepare your nomination offline in advance by reading the category and criteria document for the individual categories. The Gold Coast Music Network are also offering assistance to nominees via online drop in sessions.

Finalists will be announced on July 25th and winners will be announced at a live awards ceremony on Thursday August 29th at HOTA, Home of the Arts. Tickets are on sale here. 

Nominations must be made via the online forms on our website at: gcmusicnetwork.com.au/gcma/nominate. We can not accept nominations submitted in any other format. Because of the large volume of nominations received (in 2023 we received in excess of 900 nominations) we are also not able to accept attachments other than those you submit via the nomination form. Please read the category and criteria document ahead of submitting your nomination.

Nominations have been extended and now close Monday 6 May, 5pm. 

The Awards were founded in 2015 by Chloe Popa, Samantha Morris and Amanda Gorman who at the time were publishers of the city’s street press called Blank Gold Coast. Now in their 10th year, the awards are still run by the same people, but under the banner of the Gold Coast Music Network – which is an industry development and support body. The awards are run under a social enterprise model with any profits invested back into the development of emerging artists on the Gold Coast. City of Gold Coast is a major partner, but the awards, judging and industry development initiatives are all independently run.