Voting Academy


About The BRIT Awards Voting Academy

The BRIT Awards Voting Academy are responsible for determining the shortlists and the overall winners of the majority of the awards categories (except for Rising Star which is voted on by a separate panel).

The Voting Academy is composed of around 1,200 individuals from a wide cross-section of the UK music industry, and since 2017 the Academy has undergone and annual refresh.

The Voting Academy consists of representatives drawn from across the music community including: artists/creators, affiliates/trade associations, record labels, managers, press, media and journalists (print, online, TV, radio and social media), publishers, producers, retailers, concert promoters, venues, digital music services and other music business services.

For many of the sectors listed above, the BRITs work with relevant trade associations representing those sectors, inviting their members to register for the BRITs Voting Academy. These trade associations include the Music Managers Forum (MMF), the Music Publishers Association (MPA), the Music Producers Guild (MPG), the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the Concert Promoters Association (CPA) as well as BPI members and our colleagues at the Official Charts Company (OCC).

The Academy and the voting process, including all public voting is overseen by Civica Election Services – an independent voting scrutineer.


Voting Academy Demographics

The Voting Academy is refreshed annually to ensure it remains reflective of the industry and society as a whole.  The Voting Academy is composed of approximately 1,200 individuals drawn from across the music industry.

Out of 1,650 invitations, 1,338 have taken up the invitation and been successfully registered to be on the BRITs Voting Academy for 2025.

Breakdown by Gender

49% of the BRIT Awards Voting Academy identify as female/woman, with 46% identifying as male/man, 1% identifying as non-binary and 1% preferring to self describe. 3% of those registered preferred not to say.

 

Breakdown by Ethnicity

26% of the Voting Academy identify as Black, Asian, or of ethnic minority background – 11% identify as Black, 4% identify as South Asian, 1% identify as East & South East Asian, 9% identify as being from mixed or multiple ethnicities, and 1% selected 'any other ethnic group'. 69% of the Voting Academy identified as White.

Breakdown by Age

29% of those registered are aged 25-34, with 34% aged 35-44. 20% are aged 45-54, 9% aged 55-64, 2% are 65+ with 2% aged 18-24. 

Breakdown by Sexual Orientation

73% identify as heterosexual/straight, with 5% identifying as a Gay Man, 5% identifying as Bisexual, 2% identifying as Queer, 2% identifying as a Gay Woman/Lesbian and 2% identifying as Pansexual, Questioning or Preferring to Self-describe.

Breakdown by Disability

3% of the 2025 Voting Academy consider themselves disabled and 14% identify as neurodivergent.

 

Breakdown by Neurodiversity

BRIT Awards Categories

The BRITs are committed to equity and inclusion, and we strive to see representation and diversity reflected across the voting categories. The BRITs seek to continually evolve to reflect our dynamic music scene, and underpinning this approach is an annual review of the voting and nominations mechanics and eligibility criteria.

The full list of categories for The BRIT Awards 2025 with Mastercard are:

  • Artist of the Year
  • Group of the Year
  • BRITs Rising Star
  • Best New Artist
  • Song of the Year with Mastercard
  • Mastercard Album of the Year
  • International Artist of the Year
  • International Song of the Year
  • International Group of the Year
  • Alternative/Rock Act
  • Pop Act
  • R&B Act
  • Dance Act
  • Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
  • Producer of the Year
  • Songwriter of the Year

 

How does Voting Work? Who decides the Winners?

The Voting Academy are invited each year to determine the nominees and winners for the majority of the categories, including:

  • Artist of the Year
  • Group of the Year
  • Best New Artist
  • Song of the Year with Mastercard
  • Mastercard Album of the Year
  • International Artist of the Year
  • International Group of the Year
  • International Song of the Year

 

For the five genre categories, the Voting Academy selects the top five nominees for each category. The winner is determined via a public vote, the details of which will be announced in the new year.

Genre Categories:

  • Alternative/Rock Act
  • Dance Act
  • Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
  • Pop Act
  • R&B Act

 

The following categories are exceptions and are not voted for by the Voting Academy:

Producer of the Year - Honorary award as decided by a separate expert panel.

Songwriter of the Year - Honorary award as decided by a separate expert panel.

BRITs Rising Star

Invited panel of music editors and critics from the national press, online music editors, heads of music at radio and music TV stations plus songwriters, producers and live bookers.

Voting typically takes place towards the end of the calendar year, ahead of the Nominations. 

Nationality Criteria

Artists will need meet one of three criteria to be eligible for the British Award categories:

1. They were born in the UK.

2. They are a UK passport holder (this includes those that hold more than one passport).

3. They have been permanently resident in the UK for more than five years.

To be eligible for British Group and other British Award categories, 50% of artist’s individual signed members must qualify as British in accordance with the above.

The International Award categories encompass all artists who do not qualify as British.