31st South African Music Awards | |
---|---|
Sponsored by | The Motsepe Foundation |
Date | 2025 |
Country | South Africa |
Presented by | Recording Industry of South Africa |
Television/radio coverage | |
Network | |
The 31st South African Music Awards (or SAMA31) is set to take place in the first half of 2025. Presented by the Recording Industry of South Africa, the event is scheduled to go live on YouTube and broadcast on SABC1. It will honour the excellency in South African music, celebrating best albums, music videos and songs released in South Africa during the period 16 April 2024 to 31 January 2025.
The 31st Annual South African Music Awards (SAMA31) celebrates the excellency in South African music and honours the best music videos, albums and songs commercially released in the country during the period 16 April 2025 to 31 January 2025. Entries for nomination consideration were open from 10 December 2024 to 31 January. For members of the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), the entry fee for an individual or entity was R862.50 ($ 58.36), and for non-members it was R4,600.00 ($311.23) including value-added tax per entry for all categories. [1]
The Public Voting Categories, Record of the Year and the Music Video of the Year, were strictly not open for entries. For the Record of the Year, songs were short-listed based on airplay and streams tracked by Radiomonitor and the Official South African Charts respectively. In a weighted formula, streams and airplay were combined to determine the top 20. For the Music Video of the Year, music videos were short-listed based on the most played music videos sourced from the RiSA Audio Visual Licensing NPC and YouTube from the period 16 April 2024 to 31 January 2025. [1]
The South African Music Awards (SAMAs) fell short on sponsorship since MTN parted ways with the organization in 2014. The SAMAs signed a three-year contract with the Motsepe Foundation in 2023. The foundation sponsored the ceremony in 2023, 2024 and 2025 will be their last. In attempt to score sponsors, the SAMA31 will take place in the first half of 2025, for the first time since the 25th Annual South African Music Awards in 2019. [2]
Below is the list of nominees. Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
Female Artist of the Year (Presented by Ukhozi FM) | |
Male Artist of the Year (Presented by Lesedi FM) | |
Best Rock Album | Best Pop Album |
Beste Pop Album | Best Adult Contemporary Album (English) |
Beste Kontemporêre Musiek Album | Best African Adult Contemporary Album (Presented by Ikwekwezi FM) |
Best Alternative Album | Best R&B/Soul Album (Presented by UMhlobo Wenene FM) |
Best Hip Hop Album | Best Kwaito Album |
Best Amapiano Album (Presented by Motsweding FM) | Best Gqom Album |
Best Dance Album | Best Traditional Faith Album |
Best Contemporary Faith Music Album (Presented by Thobela FM) | Best African Indigenous Faith Music Album |
Best Traditional Album | Best Maskandi Album |
Best Jazz Album | Best Classical/Instrumental Album |
Best Afro Pop Album | Best Reggae Album |
Best Produced Music Video | Best Produced Album |
Best Engineered Album | Remix of the Year |
Best Collaboration |
Record of the Year (Presented by the Motsepe Foundation) |
In the list below, winners are highlighted in bold where necessary.
Lifetime Achievement Award | |
International Achievement Award | |
Chairperson's Award (Presented by RiSA) | |
Most Streamed Song of the Year (Presented by CAPASSO) | |
Rest of Africa Award |
The cash prizes awarded to the winners of the Annual South African Music Awards. Adapted from the SAMA 31 general rules booklet. [1]
Awards | Prizes | |
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ZAR | USD | |
Top 5 categories | 15 000 | 1014.88 |
Album of the Year | 25 000 | 1691.47 |
Genre categories | 10 000 | 676.59 |
Chairman's Award | 20 000 | 1353.18 |
Lifetime Achievement Award | ||
International Achievement Award | ||
Technical awards | 10 000 | 676.59 |
Best-selling awards | ||
Album of the Decade | 20 000 | 1353.18 |
Record of the Decade | ||
Public vote categories | ||
Most Streamed Song of the Year | 10 000 | 676.59 |
The South African Music Awards are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in November of the previous year. The nominations are typically announced at the end of March. The winners receive a gold-plated statuette called a SAMA.
Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) is a trade association representing the interests of major and independent record labels of South Africa. Located in Randburg, RiSA is responsible for running the annual South African Music Awards (SAMAs) and for music recording certification in South Africa. It also runs The Official South African Charts (TOSAC).
Album of the Year is considered to be one of the top five accolades of the South African Music Awards (SAMAs), an annual award ceremony coordinated by the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA). The recording artist(s) who released the winning album are given a statuette called a SAMA. To be eligible for nomination, an album must have been released by a South African artist in the calendar year before the year of the ceremony. The ceremony is held in April or May, and features live performances by some of the nominees. The event is broadcast on SABC1.
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