The South Australian Music (SAM) Awards return this November and entries are now open, with the winners to be announced later this year at the annual presentation ceremony.

A stand out fixture on the UNESCO Adelaide City of Music’s calendar of events, the awards exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry.

Online entries across a range of categories run from today until August 12, so musicians can nominate now for a chance to be recognised in the elite company of previous winners such as A.B. Original and Tkay Maidza.

Once again, the award categories will include both People’s Choice Awards, voted by the public, and SAM Awards, selected by a judging panel of local and national industry peers, awarded on November 8 at the music industry’s night of nights – the SAM Awards Gala Ceremony.

An innovation for the 2018 awards is the removal of the Best Male and Best Female categories, to be replaced with Best Group and Best Solo Artist.

General Manager of Music SA Lisa Bishop explained: “We believe it is important not to vote on the basis of gender. SA has a diverse pool of high quality, contemporary musicians at the top of their profession, who collaborate and perform together and are recognised by the industry and audiences as equals.”

Also launching today is this year’s SAM Awards website: https://southaustralianmusicawards.com.au/, which will be your one stop shop for information about the event, entries, the judging process and details of past winners.

Musicians may enter themselves to be in the running or music fans can enter their favourite act via the website.

The 2018 Awards continue under the stewardship of Music SA, which has organised the SAM Awards since 2015, following the re-branding of the Fowler’s Live Music Awards.

Chair of Music SA Anne Wiberg said the 2018 awards are set to pay tribute to the incredible talent we have in our state.

“The music being produced in South Australia right now is outstanding and the opportunity to celebrate this through an event like the SAM Awards is a real privilege,” she said.

Alongside Music SA, this year’s SAM Awards will be presented in conjunction with major partnersArts South Australia (through the Music Development Office), Moshtix, Australian Hotels Association (SA Branch) and beverage partnersYalumba Wines, The Hills Cider Company andYoung Henrys.

The ceremony continues to be an open event, with earlybird tickets going on sale to the general public on August 16 via Moshtix.

For all award categories, the list of judges and to enter or nominate, head to the SAM Awards website here>