New music awards launched in South Africa

Running under the hashtag #Popular, the event seeks to celebrate creatives in the music industry who believe they have been overlooked by the music industry.

“The SAPMAs are here to take up the space as genuine game changers, it won’t be business as usual,” SAPMAs head of communications Mathawe Matsapola said.

“This is a platform created to celebrate artists without bias and favour, it’s about the people and popular genres that speak to our market. Anyone is eligible to submit entries and public participation is at the core of the awards, from submitting entries to voting for the overall winners together with a panel of judges.”

Matsapola told local media that artists had complained for decades about being “overlooked and not receiving the recognition they deserve, especially when it comes to awards ceremonies." 

"The public also shares the same sentiments, as year after year many of their favourite artists aren’t recognised for the music they produce and release,” she said.

Entries for this year’s awards will be open from 25 February to 26 April for singles and albums released commercially between 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2020. No entry fee is required and genres that will be celebrated include Afro-soul, hip hop, gqom, kwaito, maskandi, gospel, amapiano and mbaqanga.