Your application will be considered by an independent jury, consisting of musicians and programmers, who will listen ‘blindly’ to all submissions. This means they do not know who is playing on the recordings or who has submitted them. Based on their ratings, they will determined which seven bands will advance to the final. Around November 20th you will be informed whether you’ve made it to the finals.

During the finals in January 2026, you will play live for 15 minutes in front of a new independent finals-jury. These five jury members, all of whom also work in the music scene as programmers, musicians or critics, determine the three winners. There is no top 3, but three equal winners who each receive € 10,000 to record an album in 2025 and then present this album a year later during the next edition of The Records.