To complete your submission, have the following ready:

• .mp3 files of your single, EP, or album
• .wav files (Producer and/or Engineer only)
• Artist/Band biography (max 200 words)
• Photo of artist/band
• Photo of album artwork
• Digital booklet and/or album credits
• Contact information for: publicist, manager, and agent (if applicable)
• Contact information in the event of a nomination (best contact for nominee/ticket information)
• Demographic Information (Age, Ethnic Identity, Gender Identity) for solo artists and band members: This will be collected in mandatory questions, but you will have the option to select “Prefer not to answer.” For more information on this, please see below.
• If submitting on behalf of a Songwriter, Composer, Producer, Recording Engineer, Art Director (Album Artwork), and Video Director (Music Video), you must include:
• Photo
• Biography (max 200 words)
• If submitting to Songwriter, Francophone, Contemporary Christian/Gospel, you must include:
• Lyrics of each track (one file, except for Songwriter)
• If submitting to Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year or Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, you must include:
• The promotional photograph that was used to market the album being submitted (groups must identify their Indigenous members in the photograph). Illustrations are not acceptable and submissions in question will be asked for additional documentation. Please use this photo in the artist/band photo upload.
• Contact information for two Indigenous community references (ie. Chief or council member or community leader, Elder, local historian, etc.) that recognizes your family lineage is linked to a specific Nation. These individuals must be Indigenous.
• For Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year only, you must include a description of how you and/or your group give back to the community (max 200 words).
• For Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year only, you must include a description about the recorded music you are submitting. Ie. What Nation are you representing with this recording? Where do the songs come from? (max 200 words).
• If submitting on behalf of a Songwriter, Producer, Recording Engineer, Album Artwork (Art Director), and Video (Video Director), you must include:
• Permission (written email confirmation from all individuals)
• If you are the Songwriter, Producer, Recording Engineer, Art Director or Video Director you can indicate this in the submission. If you are submitting on behalf of someone else, please ensure to include their scanned signature or an email from them stating they are aware you are making the submission for them.
• If submitting to Album Artwork, 12 copies of the project must be in the CARAS office by 5pm ET on deadline day, or it will be disqualified. If submitting by the early bird deadline, they must be in the CARAS Office by 5pm ET on the early bird deadline day.

• A brief bio of your work as a children’s music artist (max 100 words). Include any awards/nominations, your mission and/or any career highlights.
• Documentation or links to provide evidence of ongoing community engagement with families of young children (i.e. links to Facebook or YouTube live streams or links to online shows or music videos; list of notable touring dates/shows geared towards children 0-9, etc.)
• Any other notable past shows/tours and the years.
• We have created new categories for Rap Album/EP of the Year and Rap Single of the Year. You can submit an album/EP to Rap Album/EP of the Year and select ONE single from the submitted project and submit to Rap Single of the Year in the same submission package. If you are submitting an album/EP to Rap Album/EP of the Year and would like to submit a single that does not fall on the album/EP to Rap Single of the Year, please create a new submission package.

PLEASE NOTE: You MUST create separate packages for every individual technical category that is selected in the submission process. Any other categories can be selected together in one package provided they follow all other eligibility criteria.

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: We will be collecting demographic information for solo artists and band members (Age, Ethnic Identity, Gender Identity) during the submission process. While you can select “Prefer not to answer” in the submission package, all demographic and personal information collected will be confidential, and will aid CARAS in ensuring its programs are inclusive and diverse. Personal information is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. This includes name, home address, home phone, fax and cell phone numbers, email address, birth date, age, proof of age, and credit card information. This information also can include an individual’s opinions or beliefs, as well as facts about, or related to, the individual. Business contact information and certain publicly available information, such as names, addresses and telephone numbers as published in telephone directories are not considered personal information. Read our Privacy Policy here.