About the New Mexico Music Awards

In 1987, a number of recording industry professionals set out to achieve cooperation among recording studios and other industry professionals in order to create a climate of professionalism and artistic excellence within the New Mexico music community.

The result was the New Mexico Music Industry Coalition (now the New Mexico Music Awards) This awards program recognizes excellence for recorded music from the previous calendar year for original music productions recorded and mixed primarily within the state of New Mexico.

An awards banquet has been held annually in the spring where awards are presented in a Grammy style ceremony that includes guest presenters and live performances.

The New Mexico Music Awards continues to encourage and enhance the recorded music industry in New Mexico. In 2005, the NMMA established the Eric Larson Endowment at the University of New Mexico as a tribute to the awards program founder, Eric Larson. This endowment will assist junior or senior UNM students who have declared music or a related field (such as the recorded arts) as their major and who maintain a 3.0 GPA or better. A portion of the proceeds from the awards program is contributed annually to the endowment.

While not a non-profit organization, all monies raised by the NMMA go to the continuation of the awards program as well as other educational endeavors related to music education within the New Mexico community. We are staffed entirely by volunteers. If you would like to volunteer, contact joseponce@aol.com.