People's Choice Awards

1. The Queensland Music Awards People’s Choice Awards are for Queensland-based venues and festivals. The four categories will be:

• Metro Venue Of The Year 
• Regional Venue Of The Year
• Festival Of The Year
• Accessible and Inclusive Venue Of The Year*
  • *Accessible and Inclusive Venue Of The Year can be nominated by the public or by the venue. Unlike the other three categories, the finalists and winner will determined solely on by a panel of industry experts. 

2. Venues and festivals are eligible if they operated their venue or festival in Queensland between 1st December 2024 and 30th November 2025. 

*The finalists will be decided by public vote via a The Music, as well as the judging of an expert industry panel, weighted at 60:40 respectively.

3. The criteria for judging will be based off the following criteria:

Venues

• Frequency of shows (How often they have live original music)
• Support of local artists (How much they support and put local QLD artists on stage)
• Diversity (Do they support a wide range of artists?)
• Facilities (Bar, food, toilets, accessibility)

• Sustainability practices (Do they actively work towards plastic-free, lower carbon footprint initiatives etc)

Festivals

• Lineup (Was it a good lineup?) 
• Support of local artists (How many local QLD artists they put on their lineup?) 
• Diversity (Did they put a wide range of artists on their lineup?) 
• Facilities (Accommodation, bars, food, toilets, accessibility) 

• Sustainability practices (Did they actively work towards plastic-free, lower carbon footprint initiatives etc?) 

4. The judges’ decision is final, and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.  5. The application form must be completed by the venue/festival or a representative on their behalf to be included in the public voting and judging process. 6. Entries must not compromise QMusic's obligations to its principal sponsors for the event.  7. Venues and Festivals must have been operational at some point between 1 December 2024 - 30 November 2025.   

8. HOW TO ENTER 

• All entries must be via the online entry form on the Queensland Music Awards website  

• You will not be nominated if this form is not submitted  

• Ensure all compulsory sections of the form are completed  

• Your entry will then be given to the judging panel only to be assessed  

• Your venue/festival will be included on our The Music's voting page  

• Public voting will be given 60% weighting vs 40% for judges’ assessments  

• It is free to enter the People’s Choice Awards categories  9. The closing date for entries is 11:59pm (AEST), Monday, December 1. QMusic will NOT not be extending this deadline. 

10. Four finalists will be chosen in each category. The finalists will be notified via email in mid-late Feb 2026.

11. Judges may reallocate an entry to a different category if necessary.  

12. The same entry may not appear as a finalist in multiple categories.  

13. QMusic and Judges have the right to determine the standard of an Award and to withhold an Award in any category if, in their view, entries are not of sufficient merit.   

14. The judges' decisions are final, and no judge will enter conversation or correspondence about decisions that have been made.  

15. The winner of each category will be announced at the Queensland Music Awards ceremony. There will be no prior disclosure.  

16. All category winners agree to have their name and winning entry included on various websites. The Queensland Music Awards creates great promotional opportunities for finalists and winners. QMusic will notify you of these opportunities as they arise.   

17. Finalists will receive 2 x complimentary tickets per band/artist to the awards night. Please note the number of complimentary tickets per band/artist will be capped at two even if they are finalists in more than one category. 

18. The package of promotional activities that will be undertaken on behalf of the winning entries will include, but not be limited to: 

• Presentation of an Award trophy at the annual Queensland Music Awards  

• Profiling on the Queensland Music Awards website  

• National media release inclusion and possible interview opportunities.

19. QMusic staff and Management Committee are NOT eligible to enter the Queensland Music Awards.  

20. By accepting the Terms and Conditions during the entry process, the entrant agrees to accept the QMA rules and conditions. 

Phone: (07) 3257 0013 or email info@qmusic.com.au