UK Music Video Awards Calls for Submissions

The search begins for this year’s most creative and innovative work in music videos and music visual projects as the UK Music Video Awards launches its call for submissions from today, June 12th 2024. The leading global celebration of excellence in music video, recognising directorial skill, production expertise, and technical and craft achievements is inviting entries from music video creators, directors, technical artists, production teams and crew from around the world until August 1st via the official website at www.ukmva.com

The competition will culminate in a huge night of celebration of the best visual work and the talent behind it at Magazine London on Thursday 24th October where more than 35 awards for creative excellence in music visuals will be presented.

This year, directorial achievements in single music videos will be celebrated with 16 awards defined by music genre – Pop, R&B/Soul, Dance/Electronic, Rock, Alternative, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap – including four for newcomer directing talent working with budgets under £15k. There will also be awards for direction of the Best Live Music Video and Best Special Visual Project.

Alongside these, the Best Performance award will recognise artists, actors and ensemble casts for an outstanding on-screen performance.

The celebration of craft and technical skills remains a priority for the UKMVAs, with production crew recognised with awards for Production Design, Styling and Choreography. And new for this year, there will be awards for technical achievement by up-and-coming talent: alongside the highly-contested main awards for Best Cinematography, Best Colour Grading and Best Editing, the UKMVA Jury will recognise newcomer talent in these three technical areas. There will also be separate awards for Visual Effects and Animation. 

In addition to the awards for achievement in single music video projects, a raft of categories will celebrate individuals for a body of work across the past year. The list of categories is extended this year to include an award for Executive Producers. This sits alongside the awards for Best New Director, Director, Producer, Creative Commissioner and Agent, culminating in the award for the Best Production Company, recognising the team with the most impressive body of music visual work delivered between August 2023 and July 2024. 

Event director, Louise Stevens, says, “We’re proud that, since 2008, the UKMVAs has been a platform to spotlight and honour the artistry and technical prowess behind the most compelling music visuals. We remain committed to celebrating the artform and the creators who strive to advance it despite the challenges for music video production. As we launch this year’s Awards, we look forward to celebrating this year’s best work and adding a fresh set of names to the UKMVA winners’ archive.” 

UKMVA editorial director David Knight adds, “It’s been a tumultuous year for music videos in many ways. The ability of music video makers to adapt to the changing needs of the music industry never ceases to amaze me. And that’s one reason why we have introduced new awards at the UKMVAs this year that honour both the sterling efforts of producers and the range of emerging talent in different areas of filmmaking. 

"I think we are going to see how music video production in the UK and around the world has not only risen to numerous challenges, but also helped to push music videos into an exciting new era, as a promotional tool and an artform.” 

The UK Music Video Awards 2024 is now open and accepting entries in 37 separate categories. Submissions should be made via the dedicated website until the entry deadline at midnight, August 1st 2024 (BST). 

The award categories are: 

• Best Pop Video – UK, in association with Cinelab Film & Digital 
• Best R&B / Soul Video – UK 
• Best Dance / Electronic Video – UK 
• Best Rock Video – UK 
• Best Alternative Video – UK 
• Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – UK 
• Best Pop Video – International 
• Best R&B / Soul Video – International 
• Best Dance / Electronic Video – International 
• Best Rock Video – International 
• Best Alternative Video – International 
• Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – International 
• Best Pop / R&B / Soul Video – Newcomer 
• Best Dance / Electronic Video – Newcomer 
• Best Rock / Alternative Video – Newcomer 
• Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – Newcomer 
• Best Live Video 
• Best Special Visual Project
• Best Performance in a Video 
• Best Production Design in a Video 
• Best Styling in a Video 
• Best Choreography in a Video 
• Best Cinematography in a Video 
• Best Cinematography in a Video – Newcomer 
• Best Colour Grading in a Video, in association with Studio RM 
• Best Colour Grading in a Video – Newcomer 
• Best Editing in a Video 
• Best Editing in a Video – Newcomer 
• Best Visual Effects in a Video 
• Best Animation in a Video 
• Best Creative Commissioner 
• Best Agent 
• Best New Director 
• Best Director, in association with Electric Theatre Collective 
• Best Producer, in association with WPA 
• Best Executive Producer 
• Best Production Company, in association with Kodak