ECMA Definitions
Atlantic Canadian
For awards and showcase purposes, Atlantic Canada is defined as New Brunswick; Newfoundland and Labrador; Nova Scotia; and Prince Edward Island. To be defined as Atlantic Canadian, a person must either be born in Atlantic Canada or have lived in Atlantic Canada for at least 12 months during the relevant eligibility period. In the case of a group, at least 50% of members must be Atlantic Canadian. Cases where an Atlantic Canadian plays a primary leadership role in the project are eligible for consideration, subject to approval by the Awards & Stages Committee.
Atlantic Canadian Business
Industry Award candidates must reside and work in Atlantic Canada. In the case of a company, candidates must maintain an office or have a residential address and be a registered business in Atlantic Canada to be eligible.
Curated slot
A performance slot programmed by the ECMA internal team that is not based, or only partially based, on jury scoring. Curation is used to achieve representation across regions, genres, and priority communities and to ensure quality of programming.
Date of Release
Recordings must be previously unreleased. Previously unreleased means the music was not available to the public prior to the eligibility period and includes radio, other audio broadcasters (web, satellite, and digital), or retail.
Applicants must provide proof of release within the eligibility period. This can include proof of purchase for either: manufacturing of physical product (e.g. vinyl records, CDs, or tapes), or online distribution (e.g. CD Baby, Distrokid, Tunecore).
Distribution
The process through which a release is made accessible to the public for monetization. Please refer to the FACTOR and Musicaction lists of recognized distributors.
Disqualification / Ineligibility
ECMA reserves the right to disqualify any applications that do not meet ECMA's Eligibility Requirements, which can be found in the most current version of the ECMA guidelines. Ineligible applicants will not be notified.
ECMA member in good standing
An individual, group or company holding an up-to-date ECMA membership covering all members of the group, with no one in the group or party having had their membership revoked due to violations of the ECMA Code of Conduct.
Eligible release
A release that meets all ECMA Release Requirements per the most current version of the ECMA guidelines.
Eligibility period
The outlined eligibility period is determined annually by ECMA and is a span of time in which released recordings and/or accomplishments may qualify to apply for awards or stages. Please see Eligibility Requirements for more information.
Full-Length Album/EP
A recording that contains a minimum of five (5) tracks and is a minimum of 15 minutes long. At least (50%) of the tracks on a recording must be of tracks not released prior to the eligibility period. A collection of work may be considered eligible, subject to the discretion of the Awards & Stages Committee.
Group
Two or more people in an established music ensemble/group. A minimum of 50% of group members must meet Eligibility Requirements per the most current version of the ECMA guidelines.
Music Industry Associations (MIAs)
The ECMA’s partner Music Industry Associations are:
African Nova Scotian Music Association (ANSMA)
Cape Breton Music Industry Cooperative (CBMIC)
Music/Musique NB
MusicNL
Music Nova Scotia
Music PEI
Release
A release as outlined by ECMA refers to a track of recorded music that you are including in your submission.
Adjudicated Release
Regardless of the context of a release (album, EP, single, waterfall release), the jury will base their qualitative evaluation on one track of the applicant’s choice. The chosen track to be evaluated is the Adjudicated Release.
Adjudicated Releases must be made commercially available within the eligibility period. Proof of commercial release will be requested. All formats must be assigned an ISRC number and physical formats must include a UPC.
Contextual Release
In addition to the Adjudicated Release, applicants are required to provide two songs released within the eligibility period in order to demonstrate sufficient artistic activity.
While commercially released music is preferred, applicants may choose to submit an audio recording of a live, ticketed performance as one (1) of their two Contextual Releases.
Regional
Within one of ECMA’s five defined regions:
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Nova Scotia - Cape Breton
Nova Scotia - Mainland
Prince Edward Island
