Awards and Vote: Rules and FAQs

RULES

BBC Music Awards 2015 are produced and organised by BBC Entertainment.

The Awards eligibility period year runs from 1st December 2014 to 20th November 2015 The Awards will be announced live on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC online between 4-6pm and broadcast on BBC One at 8-10pm on the 10thth December 2015.

Awards Categories for the BBC Music Awards 2015:

There are five categories

1. BRITISH ARTIST OF THE YEAR
   
2. INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
   
3. SONG OF THE YEAR
   
4. BBC MUSIC INTRODUCING AWARD
   

5. BBC LIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

Awards procedures

The long list for three categories is compiled by PPL for the BBC Music Awards using the following criteria. the long lists for British Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year and Song of the Year Awards are based on PPL returns from play across the BBC Music Radio Networks. This is weighted in relation to the size of the station’s audience to ensure that specialist networks don’t distort the final number in each category. The PPL data will be calculated on a period from 25th October 2014 – 24th October 2015. The winner of British Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year will be voted on by The Voting Panel (see below). The winner of Song of the Year will be voted on by the Public.

BBC Live Performance of the Year Award nominations shall be compiled by the BBC Music Awards Committee, which is responsible for music programming across the networks. This is then voted on by The Voting Panel. The period of eligibility will be 1st December 2014 – 20th November 2015. Criteria for the award are:

• the quality and uniqueness of the artists' performance;
• the quality of the visual aesthetic; and
• the impact on the audience, both at the event and consuming on BBC platforms.

BBC Music Introducing Award winner is decided on by a BBC editorial panel who are responsible for BBC Music Introducing content across the networks, in advance of the BBC Music Awards. The period of eligibility will be 1st December 2014 – 20th November 2015. Further information below.

British Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year and BBC Live Performance of the Year Awards

The Voting Panel

The panel will be made up of BBC Music staff and external music writers. The selected BBC staff are those with a direct influence on popular music played across the BBC and music programming and content. The press names are key music journalists who represent a cross section of national press, specialist music magazines, digital publications and freelance music reviewers. They will vote for the British Artist of the Year and the International Artist of the Year from a list of 50 in each category and BBC Live Performance of the Year from a list of 10. They will be asked to cast a vote for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each vote. A full list of the panel is available on request.

Panel Vote

PPL will provide the long list of 50 artists that are eligible for British Artist of the Year and the International Artist of the Year and the BBC editorial team will provide the longlist for BBC Live Performance of the Year which the BBC Music Awards panel will vote from. The panel all vote within a 48 hour period. The vote will take place from 12:00 on Tuesday 24th November to 12:00 on Thursday 26th November 2015.The voting will be done using a secure online vote engine provided by the Electoral Reform Services on behalf of BBC Music.

Song of the Year

The Top 10 songs will be put to a public vote.

Public Vote

PPL will provide the long list of 50 songs that are eligible for the Song of the Year. The Top 10 in this category will be put to the public vote across the various broadcast networks on the day before the awards with the winner announced in the live show. If an artist has more than one song in the Top 10 then the highest one will be put to the public vote.

Voting will open for this category on Wednesday 9th December at 07.00 and close at 20:00. Voting will occur via SMS and Online at bbc.co.uk/musicawards .

BBC Music Introducing Award

The BBC Music Introducing Award is awarded by the core BBC Music Introducing team, in consultation with the Head of Music, BBC Radio 1 and Head of Music, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music. The awarded artist must have fulfilled certain criteria:
• they must have uploaded their music to the BBC Music Introducing Uploader;
• they must have received support from their local BBC Introducing programme;
• they must have received a significant number of unique BBC Introducing opportunities; and
• the artist must now be reaching a stage in their career where the rise is becoming significant and BBC support must have been a contributing factor.

This award is given in recognition of an artist’s substantial growth and development over the course of the year through airplay, touring and festival appearances.

Panel Vote for BBC Music Introducing Award

The vote for the BBC Music Introducing Award shall be decided by the BBC Music Introducing core team.

Guy Freeman, Executive Producer, Entertainment Events
George Ergatoudis, Head of Music Radio 1 & 1Xtra
Jeff Smith, Head of Music Radio 2 & 6 Music
Jason Carter, Head of Live Music and Events & BBC Music Introducing
Rachel Coomber, Producer, BBC Music Introducing
Bob Shennan, Director BBC Music

The BBC Music Awards Committee 2015 is:

Guy Freeman, Executive Producer, Entertainment Events
George Ergatoudis, Head of Music Radio 1 & 1Xtra
Jeff Smith, Head of Music Radio 2 & 6 Music
James Stirling, Editor BBC Music
Bob Shennan, Director BBC Music

The committee will oversee the voting of the panel members; it will also convene should there be a tie in the three categories being voted on by the panel.

The committee will meet on 1st December 2015 to decide the winner of the ‘Song of the Year’ Public vote in advance of the Awards in case of a major technical failure during the public vote on the 9th December.

SONG OF THE YEAR PUBLIC VOTES TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1. Viewers who are resident in the UK (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) can take part by texting the keyword SONG followed by the number corresponding to their chosen song to 84400 or by going online, logging in with BBC iD and selecting their chosen option. Texts will be charged at your standard message rate. Please seek the bill-payer’s permission before voting. Example text SONG1 to 84400
2. Voting opens and closes on the day of Wednesday 9th December 2015. It will open at 07:00 and close at 20:00. Open and close times may vary, so please listen carefully to the announcements. Any text votes received outside the announced voting times, or with any wording different to the key words above, will not count but will still be charged.
3. Each viewer can only register one vote by text message and one vote online. Any further text votes will not count but you will still be charged for the additional text votes.
4. Online voting will require the voter to have registered with BBC iD and you will not be charged (please go to https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/id/signin to register, more information can be found at https://id.bbc.co.uk/users/help). Please check your broadband or mobile contract to check the cost of using data services.
5. The results will be announced during the BBC Music Awards 2015 broadcast on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Online and BBC One on Thursday 10th December 2015. Further information about the BBC Music Awards 2015 can be found at:
   http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e5rwhn
6. This is not a competition and there will be no prize for anyone taking part in the vote.
7. The BBC reserves the right to disqualify entries or suspend voting if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting. The BBC has the right to substitute an alternative selection method at its absolute discretion. For the purposes of investigating possible voting irregularities when voting on bbc.co.uk, the BBC may use cookies. The BBC will not publish this information or provide it to anyone without permission, except where required for enforcement of these terms. For more information please see the BBC Privacy & Cookies Policy at http://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy
8. If, for any reason, a voting method fails, the vote may be suspended or a contingency plan may be actioned. In the unlikely event of a tie a contingency plan will be actioned.
9. The BBC reserves the right to change these terms and conditions. The BBC reserves the right to change, cancel or suspend this vote at any time.
10. The BBC, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any telephone network or line, system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote being lost or not properly registered or recorded.
11. Please note that any BBC staff member or anyone who is directly connected in any way with the production of the programme, the provision of text or online voting is not eligible to vote.
12. The vote results will be independently verified.
13. The voting accords with the BBC Code of Conduct Voting found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/competitioncode
14. The BBC will only collect your vote and phone number where applicable) which will be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. The BBC will only use your personal details for the purposes of administering this competition and will over ever keep your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil those purposes. BBC Privacy & Cookies Policy at http://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy
15. These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.