KORA Awards applications now open

The first music awards ceremony to celebrate excellence in musical artistry in Africa and the diaspora, the KORA Awards are set to take place on 13 December in Windhoek, Namibia. Featuring 27 categories across different regions and genres, there is a monetary reward associated with each trophy, with the main prize, Best Artist of the Continent receiving a grand prize of USD 1 Million.

To be eligible for the Best Artist of the Continent trophy, an artist must have been voted the best of their region.

The financial reward will only be given to award-winners who are in attendance at the awards ceremony – absent artists will be awarded the trophy only.

The requirements for award entries are as follows:

1. Kora Awards are opened to all musicians, singers of Africa and its diaspora living on the continent or abroad

2. The competition includes several awards – each artist may enrol in one or more categories of their choice

3. The song or songs participating in the competition must have been published between 1 January last year and 15 July this year

4. The songs must be of quality, must not be damaged and must be readable on any drive

5. The artist, author, or composer of the titles in the competition must submit his/her application(s) to the KORA Awards’ team on info@koraawards.org or koraawards@gmail.com – the submissions deadline is the 20 July

6. Formal, written authorisation must be sent to the KORA Awards Committee. This authorisation should communicate consent that the KORA Awards can use the artist’s image, videos, music and biography for promotion of the KORA’s 2015 edition. This letter must be sent to info@koraawards.org or koraawards@gmail.com.

The application must include the following elements:

a) A digital version of the album

b) Two high resolution color publicity photographs in JPEG format – not passport or ID photographs

c) A biography in French, English and Portuguese

d) A high quality digital copy of the video.