Best Self-Produced CD Official Rules

Artists wishing to enter their CD please submit your CD to:

Mark White
KCOS Digital Media
6818 Dusty Miller Way
Colorado Springs, CO 80908

Your entry will automatically be considered for play on kcosdigitalmedia.com as well as entered for consideration in the Pikes Peak Blues Competition for submission as our affiliate entry. The following competition rules will apply:

Entries for the Best Self-Produced CD are permitted by Blues Foundation Affiliated Organizations only.
Each Affiliate is permitted one entry.
The CD entered may be recorded and performed by an act other than is entered in the current year’s International Blues Challenge.
Compilations are not eligible.
Only CDs released between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022 are eligible for consideration as the 2023 Best Self-Produced CD.
While we encourage a competition at the Affiliate level to determine the CD it will sponsor for Best Self-Produced CD, we do not require one. If an Affiliate does not conduct a competition to determine who it will sponsor but instead appoints a CD, that CD may not include a board member or officer of the sponsoring Affiliated organization.
A performer who has previously been nominated for a Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handy Blues Award) shall not be eligible for this competition. A CD issued in the name of an otherwise eligible performer which also includes the contributions of a Blues Music Award nominee may be ineligible, depending on the extent of the contribution. Please contact The Blues Foundation directly to confirm eligibility.
A CD on a record label that has been previously nominated for a Blues Music Award (formerly the W.C. Handy Blues Award) shall not be eligible for this competition.

If your CD is Chosen by PPBC:

Judging will take place in three rounds. Judges will remain anonymous in order to protect them from outside influences and represent a cross-section of professionals from the blues radio and print industry. The final results will be announced at the finals of the 38th International Blues Challenge on Saturday, January 28, 2023 held at the historic Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN.

While CD’s are preferred, digital files in MP3 format may be submitted to mark@kcosdigitalmedia.com. Please note as outlined in the bold print below 4 CD’s will be required for submission to The Blues Foundation to enter the IBC.

You will be required to supply four (4) copies of the CD for submission to the Blues Foundation in Memphis. The deadline for submission along with a letter of support from PPBC is November 1, 2022. The following will apply to CD judging by The Blues Foundation.

IBC Registration Fee