JOHANNESBURG, March 30 (ANA) – Organisers of the South African Music Awards (SAMA) on Thursday said they had increased the number of entries for this year’s awards.
Organised by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), the awards attracted more than 700 entries – up from 470 received last year.
RiSA CEO Nhlanhla Sibisi said in their pursuit of transparency and openness, the office of the SAMA’s has resolved to share all the names of the entrants with the public.
The music industry submitted entries over a three-month period starting from the beginning of November 2016 until 31 January 2017.
In April the SAMA’s will reveal the five nominees in each category as voted for by the panel of judges and verified by independent auditors.
“We at the SAMA’s pride ourselves of a rich heritage that spans over two decades of rewarding excellence in local music. The fact that our numbers keep growing is encouraging and we see it as the industry acknowledging our credibility,” said Sibisi.
“We have decided that this year, for the first time ever, we would reveal the entire list of artists who have entered the SAMA’s so that fans, followers and lovers of music would be privy as to who has entered to avoid surprises when we announce the final nomination list in the next few weeks.”
Sibisi said RiSA remains committed to an ethical, fair, transparent and open selection process which has been the hallmark of its operation in the past years.
Best Collaboration is the most competitive category with 106 entries, followed by Best Produced Album with 72 entries from genres as varied as dance, gospel, gqom, rap, jazz and R&B.
The Best Engineered garnered 46. In genre specific categories, the Best Dance Album leads with 27 entries, Best Rap Album boasting 25 entrants, the Best Jazz Album has 15. The Best Maskandi Album 13 entries, the Best Traditional Music Album 15 entries.
The Best Contemporary Faith Music The Traditional Faith Music Album also earned 14 entries. The Best Alternative Music Album ensures stiff competition with 18 entries.
In the Best Kwaito Album entries of six albums and remix of the year stands at 16 entries, DVD recordings 11 entries in the Best Live Audio Visual Recording.
The newly introduced Best African Artist category attracted six entries from Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Botswana.
Sibisi said these numbers ensure a healthy competition.
– African News Agency (ANA)
