Music awards weather the pandemic

A total of 100 judges on the CMIC Music Awards Committee and more than 100 members of the China Music Industry Committee from record labels and distributors took part in the voting process.

Before the awards were officially launched, Xu and his friends, including Song Ke and Jonathan Lee－all of them central figures in the development of the nation's music industry－spent a long time working on the rules and guidelines.

They studied how prestigious events such as the Grammys and the BRIT Awards operate. They then formed a jury panel consisting of nine influential figures in the music industry, including record company owners, conductors, songwriters, producers and sound engineers. Each jury member then selected 10 people from their own fields as consultants.

The voting process involved several rounds of discussion and was monitored by a professional audit company. The results were announced by the CMA Committee.

Xu had long dreamed of launching music awards. He has worked in the industry for three decades and was CEO of Sony Music Entertainment China before becoming president and CEO of Taihe Music Group.

"There are many music awards in China. They have nearly everything, such as celebrities, screaming fans and generous sponsors, but no music. They are pure entertainment－just a showcase. It was a shame that we didn't have any awards to provide an accurate picture of the music scene," Xu said.

"We know that people in the industry are watching and waiting to see how far these awards can go. They have questions and doubts. The awards are still very young and are growing. Our original and ultimate goal of presenting music awards for the sake of music will never change."