South African Music Awards (SAMAs) are awarded in a series of categories, each of which isolate a specific contribution to music. The standard awards list nominees in each category from which a winner is selected. SAMA categories have been added and removed over time.
Special awards
There are special awards which are awarded without nominations, typically for achievements of longer than the past year, which the standard awards apply to:
- Lifetime Achievement Award is a Special Merit Award presented to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.
- International Achievement Award is a Special Merit Award presented to performers who, during their musical careers, have achieved notable international success.
Top 5 categories
The Top 5 categories are standard awards for musical works which do not restrict nominees by genre, but may do so by some other criteria:
Genre-specific categories
Afrikaans
Global Charts
Jazz and Classical
Technical and Video
Traditional
Urban
Other awards
References
