Best Self Produced CD Competition

Best Self Produced CD Competition

All rules and eligibility are based on The Blues Foundation “Best Self-Produced CD” competition.

Rules for the Cincy Blues Society Best Self-Produced CD Competition

  1. The CD must be released between November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025.
  2. The artist must be a current member of the Cincy Blues Society. If you’re not already a member, you can sign up here.
  3. Compilation CDs are NOT eligible
  4. If no more than one CD is submitted, it may NOT be from a board member or officer
  5. A performer who has previously been nominated for a Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handy Blues Award) shall not be eligible for this competition. A CD issued in the name of an otherwise eligible performer which also includes the contribution of a Blues Music Award nominee may be ineligible, depending on the extent of the contribution.  We will consult the Blues Foundation for a final ruling on this rule.
  6. A CD on a record label that has been previously nominated for a Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handy Blues Award) shall not be eligible for this competition
  7. Recordings with established or “known” producers within the industry are eligible as long as the recording is on the artist’s independent label and NOT on an established blues label.
  8. A singer, band or local producer may produce the actual CD as long as the performer is a singer, band or other individual entity

Judges will evalute the following points

The criteria are in order of importance

  1. Blues Content (is this a blues music recording?)
  2. Musical Performance (musicianship)
  3. Audio Quality of the Presentation (production values, audio level)
  4. Cover Art and Design (professional packaging, ready for the rack at your favorite music outlet?)
  5. Credit and Liner Information. (informative, professional)

To reflect the relative importance of each category in the success of a CD, the scoring in each category is weighted before final tabulations. Raw scores for Blues Content are multiplied by 4, both Musical Performance and Audio Quality of the Presentation are multiplied by 3 and Cover Art and Design is multiplied by 2 to give weighted scores in each category. The attached score sheet should demonstrate this clearly.

In the event of a tie, the winner’s name will be put in hat, and the name pulled from the hat will be the winner.

To enter, contact Debby Manning at newfie@fuse.net.

The deadline is October 1, 2025.

Note the reason for 5 CDs: 1 to be used in the judging and 4 (winning CD) to be sent to the Blues Foundation for judging in the Blues Foundation’s “Best Self-Produced CD” competition. If you would desire your CDs to be returned after the competition, contact us at newfie@fuse.net to arrange a time and place to pick them up.