The Surround Music Awards honor those who have excelled in multichannel music recording and mixing throughout the year. Previous winners include Queen, James Taylor, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Alison Krauss. The SMAs are also becoming known for the dramatic live performances that take place each year, including Graham Nash and David Crosby at the inaugural event, Dweezil Zappa two years ago, and an all-star tribute to Herbie Hancock featuring George Duke last year.

Nominees and winners will be selected by a blue-ribbon panel of judges from the Surround Sound industry. The deadline for entries is October 14. For more information on where and how to submit entries, please visit SurroundExpo.com.

In addition to the judged awards, a number of special honors will be given as well, including Best of Show, Surround Pioneer Award, Surround Artist of the Year, and Listener’s Choice, which is presented by High Fidelity Review and features a selection of titles voted on by the public.

One new category has been introduced for 2005. With the proliferation of DualDiscs hitting retail shelves over the past year, a category has been added to honor those working in the nascent format. This year’s nominated categories are as follows:

Best Made-For-Surround Title: For the most outstanding title created from its inception with multichannel in mind. This release must not have previously released in any other format. (New projects released simultaneously in surround and stereo are acceptable.)

Best Mix — Non-Orchestral: For the title that features the most compelling multichannel recording and mix.

Best Mix — Orchestral: For the title that features the most compelling multichannel orchestral recording and mix from the previous year, including orchestral film soundtracks.

Most Adventurous Mix: For the title that features the most adventurous use of all the available channels in the genre.

Best Additional Features: For the title that includes the most compelling extra features besides the primary music program.

Best Standard Resolution Title: For the best multichannel music title presented in a standard resolution (Dolby Digital, DTS, or matrixed surround) DVD-Video or 48/44.1 kHz formats.

Best Menu Design: For the title that features not only the most creative menu graphics, but the easiest to navigate as well.

Best Concert Video: For the best multichannel mix of a concert released on DVD.

Best Multichannel Reissue: For the best multichannel mix of a catalog title previously released in mono, two-channel, or matrixed surround.

Horizon Award: The Horizon Award is given to the best newcomer to surround sound. The requirements for this category is that this has to be the artist’s first release in a surround sound format.

NEW FOR 2005 — Best DualDisc Release: For the best multichannel mix on the DVD side of a DualDisc release.

To be considered, all nominated titles had to have been released between 9/1/04 and 10/1/05.

If you’re an industry member or artist and would like to submit an entry, please click here to download the SMA 2005 Nomination Form (29kb, Adobe Acrobat PDF).