ACM Awards
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Songwriter Ashley Gorley has three ACM Awards nominations for song of the year. He’s only the third songwriter to achieve that feat in the show’s 58-year history. (The category was introduced in the show’s second year.)
Gorley co-wrote Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave” with Stapleton and Chris DuBois; Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” with Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett and Tim Nichols; and Morgan Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots” with Josh Osborne and Michael Hardy.
The only other songwriters to notch three nominations in one year are Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson, each more than 50 years ago.
Hag was the sole writer of all three of his 1968 nominees – “The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde,” “Mama Tried” and “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am.” He was also the artist on all three songs. The first two reached No. 1 on Hot Country Singles – now called Hot Country Songs. “I Take a Lot of Pride” peaked at No. 3. Jimmy Webb won the award that year for writing the Glen Campbell classic “Wichita Lineman.”
Kristofferson was the sole writer of all three of his 1970 nominees – “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” a No. 1 hit for Sammi Smith; “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” a No. 1 hit for Johnny Cash; and “For the Good Times,” a No. 1 hit for Ray Price. (All three chart references are to Hot Country Singles.) Kristofferson won the award for the sublime “For the Good Times.”
Hag, who died in 2016 at age 79, and Kristofferson, 86, have long been country music royalty.
Haggard was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. He received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2006 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2010.
Kristofferson was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and received that organization’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2006. He was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2006.
Gorley, 45, has written hits for a raft of country artists, as well as such non-country artists as Bon Jovi and Jason Derulo. He has topped Billboard’s Country Songwriters chart for 33 weeks and has headed Hot 100 Songwriters for three weeks.
HARDY is the top nominee for the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, with seven nods. Lainey Wilson, who won two awards last year, is a beat behind with six nods, followed by Cole Swindell, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert, with five nods each.
The ACM expanded the number of nominees for entertainer of the year from five to seven this year with Brown and Morgan Wallen receiving their first nominations in the category, while three-time winner Jason Aldean returns with his first nomination in the category in four years. Reigning entertainer of the year winner Lambert is also in the running, along with Combs, Chris Stapleton and Carrie Underwood, all of whom were nominated last year.
Lambert landed her 17th nod for female artist of the year, which enables her to pass Reba McEntire for the most nominations in the category. McEntire amassed 16 nods from 1983 to 2017.
Women accounted for three of the five nominees for album of the year: Lambert’s Palomino, Ashley McBryde’s Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville and Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country are competing for the award alongside Combs’ Growin’ Up and Jon Pardi’s Mr. Saturday Night.
This marks the first time that women (solo artists or all-woman groups) have accounted for three of the five nominations in this category since 1999, when The Chicks, Faith Hill and Jo Dee Messina were all nominated. The Chicks, then known as Dixie Chicks, won that year for Wide Open Spaces.
Combs’ album won the CMA Award for album of the year in November. Should it win here too, it would be the first album to win album of the year at both shows since Combs’ previous album, What You See Is What You Get, three years ago.
Brown’s “Thank God” (with wife Katelyn Brown) is nominated for single of the year. It’s the first single by a married couple to be nominated in that top category since “It’s Your Love” by Tim McGraw with Faith Hill, which won the 1997 award.
Carly Pearce & McBryde’s “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” is also nominated for single of the year. It’s the first all-female collab to be nominated in that category since “Does He Love You” by McEntire with Linda Davis 29 years ago. “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” won an ACM Award last year for music event of the year.
This year’s other nominees for single of the year are Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wilson’s “Heart Like a Truck.” “Til You Can’t” won the CMA Award for single of the year in November.
Brown is a first-time nominee for both entertainer of the year and male artist of the year. Brown is the first biracial or Black artist to be nominated for entertainer of the year since Charley Pride, who was nominated the first three years the ACM presented the award (1970-72). The War and Treaty, consisting of married couple Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, are nominated for duo of the year. They are the first Black duo to be nominated in that category.
Hit songwriter Ashley Gorley co-wrote three of the five songs nominated for song of the year – Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina” and Wallen’s “Sand in My Boots.” Gorley is the only the third songwriter with three songs nominated in the same year, following Merle Haggard (1968) and Kris Kristofferson (1970).
Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett broke six-year streaks of nominations for female artist of the year and male artist of the year, respectively. But artists can come back after having a streak interrupted, as Kelsea Ballerini proves this year. She is nominated for female artist of the year for the sixth time after missing out last year.
The ACM Awards split their songwriter of the year category, won last year by HARDY, into two categories this year – songwriter of the year and artist-songwriter of the year. HARDY is nominated in the latter category, along with Combs, Lambert, Wallen and Ernest Keith Smith (ERNEST).
In another change, the name of the video of the year category was changed to visual media of the year.
The 2023 Studio Recording Awards and Industry Awards will be presented at the 16th Academy of Country Music Honors, which will be held Aug. 23 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
Here’s a complete list of nominees for the 2023 ACM Awards.
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Entertainer of the year
Jason Aldean
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Miranda Lambert
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Morgan Wallen
Female artist of the year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Lainey Wilson
Male artist of the year
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Jordan Davis
Chris Stapleton
Morgan Wallen
Duo of the year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay
Maddie & Tae
The War and Treaty
Group of the year
Lady A
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
New female artist of the year
Priscilla Block
Megan Moroney
Caitlyn Smith
Morgan Wade
Hailey Whitters
New male artist of the year
Zach Bryan
Jackson Dean
ERNEST
Dylan Scott
Nate Smith
Bailey Zimmerman
Album of the year
Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)
Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville – Ashley McBryde; Producer: John Osborne; Label: Warner Music Nashville
Bell Bottom Country – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records
Growin’ Up – Luke Combs; Producers: Luke Combs, Chip Matthews, Jonathan Singleton; Label: Columbia Records
Mr. Saturday Night – Jon Pardi; Producers: Jon Pardi, Bart Butler, Ryan Gore; Label: Capitol Records Nashville
Palomino – Miranda Lambert; Producers: Jon Randall, Luke Dick, Miranda Lambert, Mikey Reaves; Label: Vanner Records/RCA Records Nashville
Single of the year
Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)
Heart Like a Truck – Lainey Wilson; Producer: Jay Joyce; Label: Broken Bow Records
Never Wanted to Be That Girl – Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde; Producers: Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally; Label: Big Machine Records/Warner Music Nashville
She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville
Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville
‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Producer: Trent Willmon; Label: Warner Music Nashville/CoJo Music
Song of the year
Awarded to Songwriter(s)/Publisher(s)/Artist(s)
Sand In My Boots – Morgan Wallen; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne, Michael Hardy; Publishers: Relative Music Group; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Cross Keys Publishing; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing
She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Cole Swindell, Jesse Frasure, Mark D. Sanders, Thomas Rhett, Tim Nichols; Publishers: Ashley Gorley Publishing Designee; Be A Light Publishing; Colden Rainey Music; EMI Blackwood Music Inc; Songs Of Roc Nation Music; Sony Tree Publishing; Telemitry Rhythm House Music; Universal Music Corp; WC Music Corp; Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp
‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Songwriters: Ben Stennis, Matt Rogers; Publishers: Anthem Canalco Publishing; Dead Aim Music; The Stennis Mightier Music
wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Songwriters: Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt, Michael Hardy, Renee Blair; Publishers: Humerus Publishing Global; Nontypical Music; Pile of Schmidt Songs; Rednecker Music; Relative Music Group; Round Hill Verses Publishing; Sony/ATV Accent; Sony/ATV Tree Publishing; The Money Tree Vibez; WC Music Corp; Who Wants to Buy My Publishing
You Should Probably Leave – Chris Stapleton; Songwriters: Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Chris Stapleton; Publishers: One77 Songs; Sea Gayle Music; Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing; Spirit Two Nashville; WC Music Corp
Visual media of the year
Awarded to Producer(s)/Director(s)/Artist(s)
HEARTFIRST – Kelsea Ballerini; Producers: Christen Pinkston & Wesley Stebbins-Perry; Director: P Tracy
She Had Me at Heads Carolina – Cole Swindell; Producer: Troy Jackson; Director: Spidey Smith
Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Luke Arreguin; Director: Alex Alvga
‘Til You Can’t – Cody Johnson; Producer: Maddy Hayes; Director: Dustin Haney
wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Producer: Inkwell Productions; Director: Justin Clough
What He Didn’t Do – Carly Pearce; Producer: Ryan Byrd; Director: Alexa Campbell
Songwriter of the year
Nicolle Galyon
Ashley Gorley
Chase McGill
Josh Osborne
Hunter Phelps
Artist-songwriter of the year
Luke Combs
ERNEST
HARDY
Miranda Lambert
Morgan Wallen
Music event of the year
Awarded to Artist(s)/Producer(s)/Label(s)
At the End of a Bar – Chris Young with Mitchell Tenpenny; Producers: Chris DeStefano, Chris Young; Label: RCA Nashville
She Had Me at Heads Carolina [Remix] – Cole Swindell & Jo Dee Messina; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Warner Music Nashville
Thank God – Kane Brown with Katelyn Brown; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: RCA Nashville
Thinking ‘Bout You – Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter; Producer: Zach Crowell; Label: Broken Bow Records
wait in the truck – HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson; Producers: Derek Wells, HARDY, Joey Moi, Jordan Schmidt; Label: Big Loud Records
STUDIO RECORDING AWARDS
Bass player of the year
Mark Hill
Tony Lucido
Steve Mackey
Lex Price
Craig Young
Drummer of the year
Fred Eltringham
Miles McPherson
Jerry Roe
Aaron Sterling
Nir Z
Acoustic guitar player of the year
Tim Galloway
Todd Lombardo
Danny Rader
Bryan Sutton
Ilya Toshinskiy
Piano/keyboards player of the year
Jim “Moose” Brown
Dave Cohen
Charles Judge
Billy Justineau
Alex Wright
Specialty instrument player of the year
Dan Dugmore
Stuart Duncan
Jenee Fleenor
Josh Matheny
Justin Schipper
Electric guitar player of the year
Kris Donegan
Kenny Greenberg
Rob McNelley
Sol Philcox-Littlefield
Derek Wells
Audio engineer of the year
Drew Bollman
Josh Ditty
Gena Johnson
Justin Niebank
F. Reid Shippen
Producer of the year
Buddy Cannon
Luke Dick
Jay Joyce
Joey Moi
Jon Randall
Derek Wells
INDUSTRY AWARDS
Casino of the year – theater
Deadwood Mountain Grand – Deadwood, SD
Golden Nugget – Lake Charles, LA
Resorts World Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Hollywood, FL
Soaring Eagle – Mount Pleasant, MI
Casino of the year – arena
Fallsview Casino Resort – Niagara Falls, ON
Harrah’s – Council Bluffs, IA
Harveys Lake Tahoe – Stateline, NV
Mystic Lake Casino Showroom – Prior Lake, MN
Northern Quest Resort & Casino – Airway Heights, WA
Turning Stone Resort Casino – Verona, NY
Festival of the year
C2C: Country to Country – UK
Carolina Country Music Fest – Myrtle Beach, SC
Country Concert – Fort Loramie, OH
Country Fest – Cadott, WI
Country Thunder – Bristol, TN
Stagecoach Festival – Indio, CA
Tortuga Music Festival – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Fair/rodeo of the year
Auburn Rodeo – Opelika, AL
Cheyenne Frontier Days – Cheyenne, WY
Florida Strawberry Festival – Plant City, FL
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – Houston, TX
Iowa State Fair – Des Moines, IA
Club of the year
Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX
Coyote Joe’s – Charlotte, NC
Grizzly Rose – Denver, CO
Gruene Hall – New Braunfels, TX
Joe’s on Weed St. – Chicago, IL
Theater of the year
Crystal Grand Music Theatre – Wisconsin Dells, WI
Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
Orpheum Theater – Omaha, NE
Stiefel Theatre – Salina, KS
Outdoor venue of the year
Bank of NH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
FirstBank Amphitheater – Franklin, TN
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA
St. Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, FL
The Wharf Amphitheater – Orange Beach, AL
Arena of the year
Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, SD
Dickies Arena – Fort Worth, TX
Hertz Arena – Estero, FL
Moody Center – Austin, TX
Simmons Bank Arena – Little Rock, AR
Thompson-Boling Arena – Knoxville, TN
Don Romeo talent buyer of the year
Ron Pateras
Pat Powelson
Michelle Romeo
Stacy Vee
Troy Vollhoffer
Promoter of the year
Patrick McDill
Aaron Spalding
Ed Warm
Adam Weiser
Jay Wilson
Garth Brooks will join returning host Dolly Parton as co-host of the 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, Billboard has exclusively learned. The May 11 show will stream live on Amazon’s Prime Video from Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, outside of Dallas.
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Parton hosted the ACM Awards solo in 2000 and with Jimmie Allen and Gabby Barrett last year — its first year on Prime Video — while this will mark Brooks’ first time hosting the show. Billboard sat down with the two icons as they filmed promotional video footage for the awards show at a Nashville production studio and displayed an easy-going banter that should serve them well on awards night.
“All I hope that we do as a pair is represent [country music] well,” Brooks tells Billboard of co-hosting the ACM Awards. “I mean, you’ve got your foundation and what you’re looking for here,” he says, gesturing to Parton seated beside him. “You’ve got talent and class. Let’s represent country music the best that we can.”
“I told him to say all that, and that I’d say something good about him if he would say something good about me,” Parton says with a laugh.
“We are excited about this because we’ve always wanted to do something together,” Parton continues. “We’ve always admired each other musically and as people and how we handle our business. So this is a great thrill for me. I think the fans are going to enjoy seeing us together, ‘cause Lord knows he’s got fans and I got a few.”
Both Brooks and Parton have ample experience in the ACM Awards’ winners circle, with Parton earning 13 ACM Awards wins, including entertainer of the year in 1977. Brooks has earned 22 ACM Awards, including a record-setting six entertainer of the year trophies (with a consecutive four-year run from 1990-93), in addition to being named ACM artist of the decade for the ‘90s.
Though Brooks released his debut album in 1989 and went on to become the best-selling solo artist in U.S. history, with nine RIAA Diamond Awards to his credit and 19 Billboard Country Airplay chart-toppers, the ACM Awards will mark his first time hosting any major awards show. Brooks, who inked an exclusive streaming deal with Amazon Music in 2016, says several factors were at play in his decision to co-host this year’s ACM Awards in addition to that partnership.
Primary among his reasons is “just getting to work with Dolly,” says Brooks, briefly reaching over to hold Parton’s hand. “When you think about my career, I don’t want to pick favorites, but some of our biggest nights have been at the ACMs. The fact that they would even ask is flattering and the fact that I get to host with Ms. Parton is unbelievable. The surprise of the night is you’re gonna see this beautiful woman carry this 260-pound ass all night.”
When it comes to crafting the script that will navigate viewers through the evening, Parton says, “We’re both pretty good at ad-libbing. Garth’s more serious-minded than me. I just talk off the top of my head. But we’ll have a lot of fun together.”
“I like being a goofball too, but the truth is, comedy is the hardest way to make a living,” Brooks adds. “If you think you can just write comedy and it be funny, it usually isn’t. So my thing is, I feel more comfortable if we just stay on the class side and let her do her thing,” Brooks says, adding that he appreciates efficiency in hosts. “I watch awards shows and what do I want? Let me see the performances and don’t take a long time telling me who’s gonna win, because I want to hear what the winners will have to say.”
“That’s a good point,” Parton responds. “And there’s always things that just happen usually on live shows like that. Sometimes your best comedy are things that might even happen with someone in the audience or something is said and you just pick up on it. We’re country people, most of the artists are kind of like people we grew up with, so you play off of that, and it’s usually entertaining. Whether it’s funny or not, it’s usually entertaining.”
They note fans shouldn’t expect a musical collaboration during the ACM Awards, but Parton, who was officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, will premiere the lead single from her upcoming rock album on the show.
Meanwhile, Brooks’ excitement at finally working with Parton shines through.
“Just sitting here, I’m nervous as hell,” Brooks admits, “and I don’t know why that is because she’s never been anything but sweet to me, never been anything but treated me as an equal, though I’m not. It’s that thing when someone has done something that freaking cool, you just become a fan. If [George] Strait was here, I wouldn’t be holding his hand as much, but…” Brooks jokes, drawing a big laugh from Parton.
“Well, it’s because I’ve been around forever,” Parton interjects.
“What I’m looking forward to the most,” Brooks says, gesturing to Parton, “and forgive me for comparing you to somebody else, but when you get to work with Reba McEntire, you just wear out pencils on a notebook because you take notes, right? A woman in this industry — and I’m married to one of the greatest singers ever — they have to work a thousand times harder to get a tenth as much,” says Brooks, who wed Trisha Yearwood in 2005. “So you watch them go to work, and when it’s your turn, your time, you work like a girl. You outwork everybody you can.”
“Well, that’s very sweet,” Parton replied. “Now I see why you’ve been married to Trisha all these years. And Reba, I’ve co-hosted with her before [on the 2019 CMA Awards], and she is a worker too. I admire and respect all the great women in the business, but it’s nice to have these great guys like the Garths and people that really do appreciate the women as well as the men. We have a mutual respect for each other.”
She also recently announced an upcoming book, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, out in October. Asked about their fashion for the ACMs, Parton said, “[Garth] said a funny thing earlier. When they asked what I was going to be wearing — in three words, how would I describe it? — I said, ‘Nothing but trash,’ and when they asked him about it, he said, ‘Nothing but Trish.’ … I thought that was so great that she gets him all together,” Parton said.
Regarding whether fans might see a return Parton-Brooks pairing as ACM Awards co-hosts in 2024, Parton quips, “We’ll see how we do this year, they may not even ask us [back].”
Brooks adds, “I tell you what, yes to everything, except [Parton] might be going, ‘I’m not sure I wanna work with that guy. He’s too much of a fan.’”
“I’m a fan of yours too,” Parton replies. “I think that’s going to be one of the things that hopefully shows up on camera that we like each other for real. I think sometimes you get people onstage and everybody’s a pro and can get up there and talk, but when you really feel the warmth between two people, I think that’s where the magic is, and I think we both have that in us.”
Morgan Wallen will headline an all-star benefit concert for ACM Lifting Lives during ACM Awards week in May. ACM Lifting Lives LIVE: Morgan Wallen & Friends, Presented by VGT by Aristocrat Gaming, will be held Wednesday, May 10, on the golfing green at Topgolf The Colony.
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The show will take place a day prior to the 58th annual ACM Awards show on Thursday, May 11, set to be held at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Joining Wallen will be reigning ACM new female artist and song of the year winner Lainey Wilson, “Rock and a Hard Place” hitmaker Bailey Zimmerman, and Wallen’s Big Loud Records labelmates HARDY and ERNEST. Also on the bill is DJ 13lackbeard.
Just prior to the benefit concert, ACM Lifting Lives will welcome the return of Topgolf Tee-Off and Rock On Fundraiser at Topgolf The Colony.
General Admission tickets on the green are separate from the Topgolf Tee-Off and Rock On tournament access and will be available to ACM Members, ACM A-List subscribers, 58th ACM Awards ticket holders, and Topgolf Friends and Family through an exclusive presale, which launched Thursday (March 23). Remaining tickets will be available for a general public on-sale beginning this Friday, March 24 at 10 a.m. CST through AXS. Those who have purchased bays for golf will be able to remain in their bay for the concert, with the bay serving as a suite to watch the show.
“ACM Lifting Lives does great work providing aid in times of need to folks inside and outside of the music industry,” Wallen said via a statement. “My band and I are excited to help them raise funds to continue doing this amazing work.”
“The support of Country Music artists and the industry as a whole are who make the impactful work of ACM Lifting Lives possible,” added ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director Lyndsay Cruz. “We are so thankful to Morgan, HARDY, Lainey, ERNEST, Bailey and DJ 13lackbeard for volunteering their time to help us raise money and awareness, and we know music fans in Texas will be blown away by this all-star lineup!”
In addition to distributing more than $4 million to date through its Covid Relief Fund, ACM Lifting Lives provides critical support through the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund, significant annual commitments to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Music Health Alliance, and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, and individual grants to organizations that reach communities all across America.
The ACM Awards will air live on May 11, exclusively via Prime Video.
Wallen recently broke the record for the most songs simultaneously charted on the Billboard Hot 100, entering 36 songs on the chart on the survey dated March 18, marking the entirety of his new album, One Thing At a Time. The album also marks a second week at the pinnacle of the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart.
The Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards revealed a slate of changes on today (Dec. 1), including the expansion of the number of final-round nominees in the coveted entertainer of the year category from five to seven final nominees.
The 58th annual ACM Awards, produced by dick clark productions, will livestream exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video on May 11, 2023, live from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
“The 58th ACM Awards cycle brings thoughtful and well-considered changes to numerous awards categories to better match the landscape of our industry’s music, visual content, and radio broadcasts and, specifically, how they have changed and grown with the times,” Kelly Rich, chair of the ACM Awards, voting, and membership committee, said in a statement.
Additional new category changes are as follows:
Songwriter of the year
The category will split into two categories: songwriter of the year and artist-songwriter of the year.
The ACM songwriter of the year award is presented to an individual known predominately as a songwriter and does not serve as the primary artist on any songs in the top 20 Billboard’s Hot Country Songs or Mediabase Country charts during the eligibility period. Nominees will be selected by a professional panel of judges composed of songwriters, publishers, producers, and performing rights organization (PRO) representatives. The panel will submit five nominees, which will be placed on the final ballot once approved by the ACM board of directors.
The ACM artist-songwriter of the year award is presented to an individual known both as an artist and a songwriter who was the predominate recording artist on at least one song that charted in the top 20 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs or Mediabase Country charts during the eligibility period. Nominees will be selected by the same professional panel of judges as songwriter of the year, who will submit five nominees.
Album of the year
The criteria for the ACM Awards album of the year category will increase the required amount of previously unreleased content from 51% to 75%, while the release window has been updated to better accommodate gradual release schedules.
An album is defined as a unified, released body of work with a minimum of either seven (7) full-length musical works and/or thirty (30) minutes in length. An album is considered released on the first available date that the material can be purchased or streamed by a consumer in its entirety. If the album was released during the two prior eligibility periods but achieved its highest charting position on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart during the eligibility period, it is eligible unless it has appeared on a final ACM ballot in this category.
“Best Of,” “Greatest Hits,” and re-recordings of previously released albums are ineligible. Only the standard edition of an album may be submitted for eligibility. Once an album is nominated in the final round, it may not be nominated in alternate configurations for future voting.
Video of the year
The video of the year category has been expanded into visual media of the year, to include additional formats of visual content.
Radio Awards
There are also shifts in the criteria for the ACM’s radio award for national personality of the year, which has been updated to require that show submissions are distributed across all U.S. continental time zones. This shift will impact the national weekly on-air personality of the year, as well as the national daily on-air personality of the year.
Submissions for the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards will open at 11 a.m. CT on Jan. 9, 2023. The Academy will accept entries through Jan. 27, 2023 at 7 p.m. CT.
First-round voting for the main awards will run from Feb. 27, 2023-March 6, 2023, with second-round voting running from March 27, 2023-April 3, 2023 and final-round voting for the main awards running from April 17, 2023 through April 24, 2023. The eligibility period for submissions for the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards runs from Nov. 16, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2022.
First-round voting for the radio awards run from Feb. 27, 2023 through March 13, 2023, while final-round voting for the radio awards runs from March 27, 2023 through April 10, 2023.