Beginning in 1987, recording industry professionals including songwriters, recording engineers, working musicians and producers 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 (NM MIC) and the annual MIC Awards banquet and show celebrating the best of recorded music from New Mexico. This awards program, for original music productions recorded and mixed primarily within the state of New Mexico, recognizes excellence for recorded music produced in the previous calendar year.

In successive years, the program expanded to include entertainment law, copyright and songwriter’s workshops.

The awards banquet is held annually in Albuquerque where awards are presented in a Grammy style ceremony that includes guest presenters and live performances.  

The New Mexico Music Awards program 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 in memory of one of the awards program’s founders. The endowment was established to 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. The NMMA contributes annually to the endowment.