PROCESS FOR SUBMITTING A SCORE FOR AWARD CONSIDERATION

Any composer, composer representative (PR agency, agent), representative of a film, or representative of a record label can submit scores for consideration for the IFMCA Awards.

The following rules apply:

1. To be eligible for the awards, the work must be for a feature film (50+ minutes), a short film (no longer than 50 minutes), a television show or mini-series, or a video game, belonging to one of our corresponding awards categories. For more information about the categories, please use the most recent awards archive entry at http://filmmusiccritics.org/awards-archive/ as a guide.

2. Scores for films become eligible when the project for which it was written plays in a cinema, streams on a recognized online global streaming platform (such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, etc.), is released straight-to-DVD/Blu-Ray, is released straight-to-VOD, or (in the case of one-off TV movies) is broadcast, in one of the IFMCA’s recognized media markets listed below. Scores for films which have only been shown at film festivals, and have not yet received any wider distribution in public cinemas, do not become not eligible until they play a commercial run.

3. Scores for episodic television shows, mini-series, and streaming series become eligible when the last episode of the most recent season of the project for which it was written is broadcast on television in one of the IFMCA’s recognized media markets listed below, or streams on a recognized online global streaming platform such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Hulu, etc.

4. Scores for video games become eligible when the project for which it was written is released for purchase or download by the public.

5. Scores for short films (less than 50 minutes) follow the same eligibility standards as feature films. However, unlike scores for feature films, scores for short films which have only been shown at film festivals, and have not yet received any wider distribution in public cinemas, ARE eligible for consideration, provided the short film’s first ever festival screening occurs between January 1 and December 31 of the qualifying year.

6. Classical and concept albums, new scores written for vintage silent films, original stage musicals, music for theater productions, music for theme park attractions, scores that accompany books, music for art installations, music for podcasts, or other non-standard projects, may be eligible for a special award, and will be considered by the IFMCA as appropriate.

In all the above cases, the release date of – or, indeed, the existence of – a commercial soundtrack album is immaterial. It is the first release date of the film (or TV show, or game) itself in ANY of the IFMCA’s media markets that determines its eligibility status.

7. Archival releases become eligible when the album is released for purchase or download by the public. However, there is a 5-year cutoff period for archival releases based on the the year the original project was released. For example, in 2024, only archival releases of scores for films originally released in 2019 or earlier would be eligible. For 2025, the cutoff year is 2020, and so on. This is to make sure that the albums considered are in fact properly curated archival albums, and not simply delayed releases of a standard soundtrack.

Each awards season runs from January 1-December 31. The deadline to receive entries for awards is the second Friday in January of the following year; for example, the deadline for the 2024 awards is January 10th 2025. The deadline for the 2025 awards is January 9th 2026, and so on.

The IFMCA’s media markets are:

  • Australia and New Zealand
  • Benelux (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands)
  • Bollywood (India, Pakistan, etc.)
  • East Asia (China, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam, etc.)
  • Eastern Europe (Baltic countries, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, etc.)
  • France
  • Germany (incl. Austria and Switzerland)
  • Italy
  • Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, etc. – all countries in South and Central America)
  • Middle East and North Africa (Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, etc.)
  • Scandinavia/Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden)
  • Southern Europe (Balkan countries, Greece, Romania, Turkey, etc.)
  • Spain and Portugal
  • United Kingdom and Ireland
  • USA and Canada

Music can be submitted, along with any relevant accompanying material, via ifmca.main@gmail.com. The music must be in a widely used digital audio format, such as a good quality (256+kbps) mp3. Accompanying material may include documents explaining the detail of the score, images of sheet music, video clips, or similar, as per the submitting party’s discretion. Accompanying material is welcomed, but is by no means mandatory, and scores submitted with no accompanying material are entirely acceptable.

Links to downloadable music files are acceptable, but links to streaming services such as Spotify (or similar) are not acceptable as submissions. This is to ensure that all our voting members have equal access to music; our members are located all over the world, and different streaming services are often geo-blocked or unavailable in different countries.

Please ensure you have permission to distribute any release you wish to submit to us. For further information please contact us at ifmca.main@gmail.com.