Canadian Music Week is pleased to announce nominations for the 17th annual Canadian Radio Music Awards. Drake, Metric and Tegan and Sara, are among those honoured. This year’s award show will take place on Wednesday May 7th at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club. Sponsored by Bell Media Radio, the Canadian Radio Music Awards celebrate first-time charted artists and honour individuals or groups with some of the most played songs on Canadian radio. The show will feature performances by Walk off the Earth, Trevor Guthrie, Head of the Herd, Tyler Shaw and Brett Kissel. Full list of nominees below.
In addition to their performances at this year’s ceremony, both Armin Van Buruen Feat. Trevor Guthrie and Burlington’s Walk off the Earth lead this year’s nominations with four apiece.
The Canadian Radio Music Awards offer an opportunity to honour national and international artists who have gained significant traction at radio over the past year. Radio has long served as a significant platform for artists to be heard. This year’s nominees fittingly reflect that the door is open for both major and independent artists to break into national playlists.
Other notable nominations include several Canadian acts that have received considerable international success this past year including, Drake for “Hold On, We’re Going Home”, Robin Thicke for “Blurred Lines” and Tegan and Sara for “Closer” and “I Was A Fool”.
This year’s award categories include: Mainstream AC, Hot AC, Rock, CHR, Dance/Urban/Rhythmic, and Country as well as the SOCAN Song of the Year, Fans’ Choice and International Single of the Year. Nominees for the Heatseeker Award will be announced at a later date.
Nominees include artists who have hit the Canadian charts for the first time and who have achieved top airplay in different formats based on radio “spins”, as recorded by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) in 2025. Votes cast by program directors, music directors, and on-air personalities determine the winners.
Radio listeners from across the country can vote online for the Fans’ Choice Award, SOCAN Song of the Year and International Single of the Year at: www.cmw.net.
Two additional non-voting awards will also be presented at this year’s ceremony: the FACTOR Breakthrough Award for top airplay for a new FACTOR supported artist; and the Sennheiser Chart Topper Award for top overall airplay.
FULL LIST OF NOMINEES
BEST NEW GROUP OR SOLO ARTIST: MAINSTREAM AC
ARMIN VAN BUUREN FEAT. TREVOR GUTHRIE, THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
METRIC, BREATHING UNDERWATER
TEGAN & SARA, I WAS A FOOL
TYLER SHAW, KISS GOODNIGHT
WALK OFF THE EARTH, RED HANDS
BEST NEW GROUP OR SOLO ARTIST: HOT AC
ARMIN VAN BUUREN FEAT. TREVOR GUTHRIE, THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
CLASSIFIED, INNER NINJA
ROBIN THICKE, BLURRED LINES
TYLER SHAW, KISS GOODNIGHT
WALK OFF THE EARTH, RED HANDS
BEST NEW GROUP OR SOLO ARTIST: CHR
ARMIN VAN BUUREN FEAT. TREVOR GUTHRIE, THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
METRIC, BREATHING UNDERWATER
TYLER SHAW, KISS GOODNIGHT
VITA CHAMBERS, FIX YOU
WALK OFF THE EARTH, RED HANDS
BEST NEW GROUP OR SOLO ARTIST: DANCE/URBAN/RHYTHMIC
ARMIN VAN BUUREN FEAT. TREVOR GUTHRIE, THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
GLENN MORRISON, GOODBYE
JV PROJECT, MIRACLE
TYLER SHAW, KISS GOODNIGHT
VITA CHAMBERS, FIX YOU
BEST NEW GROUP OR SOLO ARTIST: ROCK
GLORIOUS SONS, MAMA
HEAD OF THE HERD, BY THIS TIME TOMORROW
JULY TALK, GUNS & AMMUNITION
MOUNTIES, HEADPHONES
ONE BAD SON, SCARECROWS
BEST NEW GROUP OR SOLO ARTIST: COUNTRY
ALEE, DON’T SAY YOU LOVE ME
AUTUMN HILL, ANYTHING AT ALL
BRETT KISSEL, STARTED WITH A SONG
TIM HICKS, GET BY
WES MACK, DUET
SOCAN SONG OF THE YEAR
CLOSER, WRITTEN BY: SARA QUIN, TEGAN QUIN, GREG KURSTIN; PERFORMED BY TEGAN & SARA
HOLD ON, WE’RE GOING HOME, WRITTEN BY: DRAKE, NOAH SHEBIB, MAJID AL MASKATI, JORDAN ULLMAN, NINETEEN85; PERFORMED BY DRAKE
INNER NINJA, WRITTEN BY: LUKE BOYD (CLASSIFIED), MIKE BOYD, DAVID MYLES, MARK PELLIZZER; PERFORMED BY CLASSIFIED FEAT. DAVID MYLES
RED HANDS, WRITTEN BY: SARAH BLACKWOOD, RYAN MARSHALL, GIANNI LUMINATI, THOMAS ‘TAWGS’ SALTER; PERFORMED BY WALK OFF THE EARTH
STOMPA, WRITTEN BY: SERENA RYDER, JERROD BETTIS; PERFORMED BY SERENA RYDER
FANS’ CHOICE
ROBIN THICKE
SERENA RYDER
TEGAN AND SARA
TREVOR GUTHRIE
WALK OFF THE EARTH
INTERNATIONAL SINGLE OF THE YEAR
AVICII, WAKE ME UP
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MIRRORS
LUMINEERS, HO HEY
P!NK, JUST GIVE ME A REASON
RIHANNA, STAY