General Categories (14)
- Album of the Year (Artist and Producerʻs Award): Best produced album release of the year.
- EP (Extended Play) of the Year: Best release that contains more than 3 but no more than 8 separate tracks, and is of less than 30 minutes in total playing time.
- Hawaiian EP (Extended Play) of the Year: Best release that contains more than 3 but no more than 8 separate tracks, and is of less than 30 minutes in total playing time. 75% of the tracks must be in the Hawaiian language.
- Single of the Year: Best recorded performance of a song released as a single in either physical (CD) or digital format.
- Hawaiian Single of the Year: Best recorded performance of a song in the Hawaiian language released as a single in either physical (CD) or digital format.
- Song of the Year (Composer’s Award): Best achievement in creating a first–time recorded song including words and music.
- Instrumental Song of the Year (Composerʻs Award): Best achievement in creating a first–time recorded instrumental composition.
- Music Video of the Year: Best performance of music and video. May contain no more than two (2) distinct music tracks.
- Hawaiian Music Video of the Year: Best performance of music and video. At least 75% of the video music must contain musical performance or content in which the music of Hawai‘i is the subject. May contain no more than two (2) distinct music tracks.
- Female Vocalist of the Year: Best performance by a female artist.
- Group of the Year: Best performance by a vocal duo or group.
- Male Vocalist of the Year: Best performance by a male artist.
- Most Promising Artist of the Year: Most promising first–recorded effort as a featured artist or group.
- Favorite Entertainer of the Year: Selected by the general public.
Genre Categories (19)
- Alternative Album of the Year: Best performance of music in an alternative style.
- Anthology of the Year: Best album of previously released material.
- Christmas Album of the Year: Best performance of music with a Christmas theme.
- Comedy Album or DVD of the Year: Best comedy performance on an album or DVD.
- Compilation Album of the Year (Producerʻs Award): Best performance of newly released material by a minimum of three distinct artists.
- Contemporary Album of the Year: Best performance of music in a contemporary style, and predominantly utilizing electric and/or electronic instruments.
- Contemporary Acoustic Album of the Year: Best performance of music in a contemporary style, and predominantly utilizing acoustic instruments.
- Hawaiian Album of the Year: Best performance of Hawaiian music.
- Hip Hop Album of the Year: Best performance of music in a Hip Hop style.
- Instrumental Album of the Year: Best instrumental performance.
- Island Music Album of the Year: Best contemporary performance of music of or about Hawai‘i.
- Jazz Album of the Year: Best jazz performance.
- Metal Album of the Year: Best metal performance.
- R&B Album of the Year: Best performance of music in an R&B style.
- Reggae Album of the Year: Best reggae performance.
- Religious Album of the Year: Best performance of religious material.
- Rock Album of the Year: Best rock performance.
- Slack Key Album of the Year: Best performance of slack key or vocals with slack key accompaniment.
- ‘Ukulele Album of the Year: Best ‘ukulele performance.
Adjudicated Categories (7)
- Haku Mele (Composerʻs Award): Best first–released song or chant primarily in the Hawaiian Language.
- Hawaiian Language Performance (Artist Award): Best performance in the Hawaiian language.
- General Engineering Award: Best technical achievement in a sound recording and mix-down for all genres of music other than Hawaiian music albums, slack key, and ‘ukulele albums.
- Hawaiian Engineering Award: Best technical achievement in a sound recording and mix-down for Hawaiian music albums, slack key, and ‘ukulele albums.
- Liner Notes: Best achievement in album annotation.
- Graphics: Best achievement in album cover design.
- International Album of the Year: Best performance by non–US performer(s) on an album or DVD whose tracks are at least 75% in the Hawaiian language or performed in slack key or Island Music styles.