• * Definition of Eligibility: All recordings created, produced, engineered, and recorded by a Hawai‘i resident artist(s), musician(s), or technician(s), released during the eligibility year, may be eligible for inclusion on the preliminary voting ballot provided that they are available for purchase through established retailers and/or distributors in the US. Proof of commercial availability, release date, the submission fee, and any other required materials as specified on the submission form must be received by the submission deadline.
  • All eligible* recordings released between January 1 and December 31 of each year and submitted to the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts are included in the preliminary balloting. The ballot is sent out to current paid HARA Membership. Once voting is completed, an accounting firm tabulates the votes and the five recordings with the most votes in each category proceed to the final ballot.
  • The same process is done for the Final Ballot.
  • The HARA Board of Governors do NOT determine the winners, the current paid HARA Membership determines the winners via online voting.
  • For the technical categories (graphics and liner notes) committees are established to select the five finalists on the final ballot. The accounting firm tabulates the votes for the final ballot and the winners are announced at our award ceremonies.
  • A committee of Hawaiian language and music specialists selects the adjudicated categories.
  • The Favorite Entertainer of the Year Award is selected by public voting conducted via an online voting process.