ACM Partners with CMT, Announces New Artist of the Year Award Semi-Finalists

The Academy of Country Music and CMT announced a new partnership that will bring the fan voting for the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards newcomer category to VoteACM.com and voteacm.CMT.com, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. This marks the seventh consecutive year that fans will vote to determine the nominees for the newcomer category, and is the inaugural Academy and CMT partnership for the interactive fan voting experience.

As part of the new partnership, CMT will produce two television specials highlighting this year’s nominees for New Artist of the Year, with the first special featuring all eight semi-finalists scheduled to air in conjunction with fan-voting (dates/times to be announced).

In addition, the Academy and CMT announced the New Artist of the Year semi-finalists, including:

Brett Eldredge
Tyler Farr
Sam Hunt
Kip Moore
Thomas Rhett
Chase Rice
Cole Swindell
Dan + Shay

“We take pride in uncovering the best new artists in country music,” said Leslie Fram, Sr. VP of Music Strategy, CMT. “The Academy’s New Artist category represents the best in our format, and we’re thrilled to partner with them on fan-voting.”

The ACM professional membership voted to determine the eight semi-finalists. The final three nominees for the ACM New Artist of the Year Award will be determined via the first round fan voting at VoteACM.com and voteacm.CMT.com, combined with the ACM professional membership vote.

The final three nominees will then compete for the trophy, with a final round of combined fan and ACM professional membership vote to determine the winner. The winner will be revealed on the LIVE telecast of the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 8 p.m. live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

The first round of fan voting for New Artist of the Year will begin at VoteACM.com and voteacm.CMT.com on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. ET, and will close Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. ET. The final three nominees will be announced in the coming weeks and will move on to compete in the final round of voting for the New Artist category at VoteACM.com. The final round of fan voting begins April 8 and will close on April 19.