11th Annual Avidity Gospel Music Awards  

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ELIGIBILITY SUBMISSION PERIOD (FEBRUARY 1, 2025 thru MAY 31, 2026) 

Nomination Submissions are open to Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) individual voting members only.

(Click here to join the Avidity Recording Academy - ARA)

 

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Once the submission period closes, each submission will be reviewed by the Eligibility Committee (EC) to ensure that nomination eligibility requirements for each candidate and award category are satisfied. Once the (EC) determines that the candidate meets eligibility, the submissions will then be ratified by ARA's Board of Directors and put forward for nomination consideration in the various voting rounds.

 

Independent label reps, management company reps, public relations reps, producers, and recording artists who are active individual voting members of ARA are especially encouraged to submit their candidates for nomination consideration, however, any person who is an active individual voting member of the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) is eligible to submit a candidate for nomination consideration.

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ELIGIBILITY PERIOD

 

For Single/EP/Album, Artist, Producer, and Engineer Award Categories

ELIGIBILITY PERIOD: FEBRUARY 1, 2025 thru MAY 31, 2026.

 

The Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) Executive Committee will choose Official Nominees for the Avidity Gospel Music Awards considering various criterion, including but not limited to:

 

1.  Is the candidate for nomination a member of ARA?

2. Number of nomination submissions received

3. Prominence of the candidate's social media presence

4. Single and album sales (applicable to music nomination submissions)

5. Number of Streams on digital music stores (applicable to music nomination submissions)

6. Amount of radio airplay (applicable to music nomination submissions)

7. Votes received during all voting rounds

8. If the Music/Artist/Producer/Engineer candidate appeared on any of the following 2025/2026 charts:

    * Avidity Gospel Charts

    * Billboard

    * Mediabase

    * DRT (Digital Radio Tracker)

    * Gospel Station Charts

    * Gospel Top 40

   

 

COMING 2026: For music nomination submissions, the Eligibility Committee will verify whether or not the candidate has a song or worked on a song (producers and engineers) that has appeared in the Top 30 on any of the 2025 or 2026 Avidity Radio Airplay Charts. 

 

After the Eligibility Committee makes its nomination selections per category and after all voting has concluded, the nominations will be certified and the Top 6 eligible candidates who will become the official nominees. If a specific category doesn't produce a minimum of 6, then the category will be listed with whatever number of nominees remaining. If there are not at least 4 nominees in the category, that category may be withdrawn by the Avidity Recording Academy CEO for the current year. After nominee certification, the nominees will be notified via available contact information on file with ARA and via their social media pages if available to us. We make every attempt possible to reach each nominee, however, it is the nominee's responsibility to inform us of the correct contact information by submitting a contact information update form.

 

 

NEED TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION?

You can access the contact information update for by clicking here.

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NOMINATION SUBMISSIONS​

 

NOMINATION SUBMISSION ROUND: ARA MEMBERS ONLY 

MAY 1, 2026 - JUNE 20, 2026

 

During the Nomination Submission Round for the Avidity Gospel Music Awards, only current and active members of the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) are eligible to submit entries for nomination consideration. Eligible nominators include, but are not limited to, artists, record labels, managers, producers, songwriters, publicists, engineers, and radio professionals. All entries must be submitted within the designated submission period, and only those individuals or entities holding a current and active ARA membership at the time of submission shall be permitted to submit candidates for nomination consideration. At this phase in the voting process, candidates are not yet being considered for an Avidity Gospel Music Award. They have only been submitted for nomination consideration. Upon the close of the Nomination Submission Round, the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) Executive Committee shall review and vet all submissions received to determine which entries are eligible to advance for nomination consideration within each category. All submissions shall be evaluated in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Avidity Gospel Music Awards Award Policy Guide.

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VOTING ROUNDS​

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FIRST ROUND BALLOT: PUBLIC VOTING

JULY 10, 2026 - JULY 19, 2026

This voting round carries a 20% weight in the final selection of the award winner.

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Following the vetting process, the Executive Committee shall identify the top eight (8) to twenty (20) candidates in each category for placement on the First Round Ballot. These candidate selections shall then be ratified by the Executive Committee and submitted to the Chief Executive Officer of the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) for final approval.

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Upon approval of the First Round Ballot for release, the candidates under consideration shall be notified by email and/or through applicable social media platform(s). The First Round Ballot shall then be published on the Avidity Gospel Music Awards' official website, and a public announcement shall be made through official Avidity Gospel Music Awards social media pages/websites to notify the public that the ballot is available and open for voting.

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Candidates included on the First Round Ballot shall not, at that stage, be deemed official nominees of the Avidity Gospel Music Awards. Their inclusion on the ballot signifies only that they are under consideration for nomination. The results of the First Round of voting shall, in part, determine which candidates advance to the Second Ballot for further nomination consideration.

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Only one (1) vote per person (not per device, not per email address, not IP address), per round, shall be permitted. Any person who attempts to cast more than one vote in a voting round shall have their vote disqualified, and such vote shall not be counted.

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Important Information for First Round Candidates

 

Prohibited Use of the Avidity Logos, Graphics, or Promotional Collateral

Candidates may and are encouraged to create their own promotional graphics or have their graphic designer create a custom graphic if they desire to do so. If the candidates opt to create their own graphic or have one created for them, the Avidity Gospel Music Awards and Avidity Recording Academy logos may not be used on any design that has not been authorized or sanctioned by the Avidity Gospel Music Awards or the Avidity Recording Academy.

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Additionally, we prohibit unauthorized use or alteration of any Avidity promotional graphics, materials, or collateral used to promote your personal nomination consideration. Violating this policy will disqualify your nomination consideration.

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Our logos, graphics, and other collateral are our protected and proprietary intellectual property. This policy helps safeguard the Avidity brand and maintain consistency across all official awards-related materials.

 

Official “For Your Consideration” Graphic

For a fee of $25, candidates may purchase an official, sanctioned “For Your Consideration” graphic created specifically to support their First Round promotional efforts. I've attached a sample of what the graphic looks like at the bottom of this email.

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The graphic may be shared on social media, websites, email campaigns, and other promotional platforms to encourage friends, family, fans, and supporters to vote.

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To purchase your official graphic, visit: https://aviditygospelawards.com/graphic

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SECOND ROUND BALLOT:  ARA MEMBERS AND EXEC COMMITTEE VOTING

JULY 21, 2026 - JULY 30, 2026

This voting round carries a 20% weight in the final selection of the award winner.

 

The Second Ballot shall include the names of the candidates who advanced from the First Ballot Round for continued consideration. Voting on the Second Ballot shall be limited to current and active members of the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) and members of the ARA Executive Committee. Each current and active ARA member and each Executive Committee member shall be permitted to cast only one vote.

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The results of the Second Round of voting shall determine the official nominees to be placed on the Final Ballot. Upon the conclusion of the Second Round of voting, the Executive Committee shall ratify the results and submit them to the CEO of the Avidity Recording Academy for approval. Once approved, the official nominees shall be placed on the Final Round Ballot, and the nominees will be announced via live stream.

 

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NOMINATION ANNOUNCEMENT

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Once the First and Second Round Ballot voting has concluded, the official nominees will be announced via live stream on Avidity Gospel Music Awards' Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 at 7pm CST/8pm EST. Go follow us on Facebook at https://facebook.com/aviditygospelawards.

 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/@aviditygospelawards, and follow us on Instagram/Threads: @aviditygospelawards

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FINAL ROUND BALLOT:  ARA MEMBERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VOTING

AUGUST 5, 2026 - AUGUST 31, 2026

This voting round carries a 20% weight in the final selection of the award winner.

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The Final Ballot shall include the names of the Official Nominees for that year’s Avidity Awards. Voting on the Final Ballot shall be limited to current and active members of the Avidity Recording Academy (ARA) and members of the ARA Executive Committee. Each current and active ARA member and each Executive Committee member shall be permitted to cast only one vote. The results of this round of voting shall be included and weighted in the determination of the winner in each award category.

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NOMINATION ACCEPTANCE

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All nominees are asked to formally accept their nomination by submitting the official Nomination Acceptance Form within the designated two-week acceptance period. Failure to do so may result in forfeiture of the nomination, and an alternate nominee may be selected without further notice to the nominee prior to the virtual nomination announcement.

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HOW AWARD WINNERS ARE DETERMINED

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Once the voting concludes, the votes from all rounds will be counted for each category. For each of the three rounds and ballots, the nominees will be given points ranging from 1 to 6 (1 being the nominee with the highest amount of votes and 6 being the nominee with the lowest amount of votes). Each nominee's points will be totaled from all three rounds, and the nominee with the LOWEST score (lowest in this instance is the highest vote getter) will be designated the winner.

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20% - FIRST ROUND BALLOT -  PUBLIC VOTING (Results of General Public voting accounts for 20% of the FINAL score)

20% - SECOND ROUND BALLOT - ARA MEMBERS VOTING (Results of ARA Members vote accounts for 20% of FINAL score)

20% - FINAL ROUND BALLOT - ARA MEMBERS VOTING (Results of ARA Members vote accounts for 20% of FINAL score)

20% - ARA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VOTING - (Results of voting by ARA Exec. Committee accounts for 20% of FINAL score)

20% - NOMINEE'S ARA MEMBERSHIP - (Nominee MUST be an ARA Member in order to get this 20% of FINAL score added)

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWARD WINNERS

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The majority of award category winners will be announced either online or during the Pre-Telecast Award Reception, which takes place on Friday, November 6, 2026.

 

Our 10 marquee award categories (Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, EP/Album of the Year, Quartet of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Choir of the Year, Radio Announcer of the Year (Large/Major Market), On-Air Personality of the Year, Gospel Hip Hop Artist of the Year, Producer of the Year) will be awarded Saturday, November 7, 2026 at the 11th Annual Avidity Gospel Music Awards ceremony and television taping in Dallas, Texas.

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