The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard has revealed a demographic breakdown and analysis of its 2026 Voting Academy following the annual refresh, ahead of voting opening at 1pm today (December 5).
The ceremony celebrates the success of the year in British music, recognising both British and international artists based on their UK releases and chart performance.
The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard will take place Saturday, February 28, live on ITV1 and ITVX from Co-op Live in Manchester. It marks a new era for The BRITs as it heads up North and out of the capital for the first time in the event’s nearly 50 year history.
The Voting Academy – responsible for determining the nominees and the overall winners of categories including Artist of the Year, Mastercard Album of the Year and Breakthrough Artist – is comprised of approximately 1,200 members who are responsible for shaping the creative and commercial success of the British music industry, including artists, producers, labels, retailers, publishers, managers, media, live, social and DSPs.
Since 2017, the BRITs Voting Academy has undergone an annual refresh to ensure its membership is inclusive and relevant, as well as being representative of today’s industry with members aligned on an artist-first approach.
The BRITs’ commitment to diversity is supported with a balanced split of women and men, as well as representation of members who identify outside the gender binary, and with a quarter of those who vote identify as being from a Black, Asian or ethnic minority background.
Each sector has a team of specialists who help the BRITs consistently maintain and review the list. Every year, once the long list has been refreshed, the BRITs formally invite people across these sectors to join the Voting Academy.
The 2026 BRITs Voting Academy
Out of 1,530 invitations, 1,270 have been successfully registered to be on the BRITs Voting Academy for 2026. All data is correct as of December 3.
The Voting Academy breaks down into the following sectors across the industry:
Agents – 24 = 1.89%
Artists – 47 = 3.7%
Affiliates/Trade Associations/Business – 78 = 6.11%
Concert Promoters / Venues – 60 = 4.72%
Digital Music Services – 58 = 4.57%
Independent record companies – 88 = 6.93%
Managers – 86 = 6.77%
Major Distributors – 28 = 2.2%
Major record companies x 3 – 293 = 23%
Press & Media – Print/Online, Broadcast – 345 = 27.1%
Producers – 57 = 4.49%
Publishers – 60 = 4.72%
Retailers – 26 = 2%
Social Media – 20 = 1.57%
The 2026 BRITs Voting Academy breakdown by gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability and neurodiversity:
47% of this year’s Voting Academy identify as female/woman, with 48% identifying as male/man and 1% identifying as non-binary (others are not disclosed).
For 2026, 25% of Voting Academy Members are from a Black, Asian or ethnic minority background. 10% identify as Black, 4% identify as South Asian, 1% identify as East and South East Asian, 9% identified as from Mixed or Multiple Ethnicities and 1% selected ‘Any Other Ethnic Background’. 70% of the Voting Academy identify as White.
According to the latest figures, 30% of those that have registered are aged 25-34, with 35% aged 35-44. 19% are aged 45-54, 9% are aged 55-64, 2% are 65+ and 1% are 18-24.
In addition, 75% identify as Heterosexual/Straight with 5% identifying as a Gay Man, 4% identifying as Bisexual, 3% identifying as Queer, 2% identifying as a Gay Woman/Lesbian and 1% identifying Pansexual, Questioning or Preferring to Self-describe. Others are not disclosed.
For the 2026 Voting Academy, 4% have indicated they consider themselves Deaf or disabled and 13% identify as neurodivergent.
This data – collected upon registration – enables The BRITs to continue its review of the Voting Academy membership each year and ensures it reflects a strong, representative cross section of industry experts whose direct experience allows them to make informed decisions.
“With the privilege of voting comes the responsibility of making selections that recognise excellence and achievement in music alongside the rich diversity of talent that has made such a memorable impact in the past 12 months,” said a statement. “Academy members have once again been offered complimentary and optional conscious voting guidance.”
The Academy, and the voting process, is overseen by Civica Election Services, an independent voting scrutineer.
In a statement, BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE and BPI chair YolanDa Brown OBE DL, said: “The BRIT Awards with Mastercard is the biggest night in British music, and with this comes a responsibility to ensure it continues to set the highest standards and represent the music community in the best possible way. This means ensuring the independent BRITs Voting Academy is able to draw on our industry’s strongest commercial artist-facing expertise and on the breadth of its rich diversity. We thank the Academy members for their participation and for the considered selections we know they will make.”
Changes to the BRITs voting process and categories for 2026
As the UK music industry’s showcase to the rest of the world, each year The BRITs review all aspects of the show including award categories. Voting Academy members select from a longlist of eligible entries, based on Official Charts Company criteria.
The BRIT Awards with Mastercard is the biggest night in British music, and with this comes a responsibility to ensure it continues to set the highest standards and represent the music community in the best possible way
Dr Jo Twist & YolanDa Brown
For 2026, the five genre awards (Alternative/Rock, Dance, Pop, R&B, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap) – introduced in 2022, to ensure more artists could be nominated for a BRIT and to celebrate the breadth of musical genres and talent within British music – will be decided on by The BRITs Voting Academy panel. The categories were previously decided by public vote.
The categories for Song Of The Year with Mastercard and International Song Of The Year will be decided by public vote exclusively on WhatsApp following a partnership with Meta for the last two BRITs campaigns.
Giuseppe De Cristofano, director of digital, BPI, & Digital Committee co-chair, BRIT Awards, said: “Building on the huge success of the WhatsApp public vote last year as part of our partnership with Meta, we are looking forward to driving even more interaction and conversation with the fans by allowing them to decide on the winners for Song of the Year with Mastercard and International Song of the Year. Voting on WhatsApp offers the perfect global solution to help us drive engagement in these public voted categories to the next level for the 2026 show.”
The BRIT Awards 2026 with Mastercard – Awards Categories
Artist of the Year
Group of the Year
BRITs Critics’ Choice
Breakthrough Artist
Song of the Year with Mastercard *public vote
Mastercard Album of the Year
International Artist of the Year
International Song of the Year *public vote
International Group of the Year
Alternative / Rock Act
Pop Act
R&B Act
Dance Act
Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
Producer of the Year (honorary award as decided by a separate expert panel)
Songwriter of the Year (honorary award as decided by a separate expert panel)
BRITs Critics’ Choice Award
The shortlist for The BRITs Critics’ Choice award was earlier this week revealed to be Jacob Alon, Rose Gray and Sienna Spiro.
The Critics’ Choice name has been revived for 2026 to underline the importance of critical acclaim.
The prize is designed to highlight artists at the foundational point of their career. It was introduced in 2008 to identify the future stars of British music and is decided by an expert panel of new music champions across media, broadcast and industry.
The award has previously been presented to artists including Adele, Sam Smith, Sam Fender, Celeste, Jorja Smith, The Last Dinner Party and Myles Smith. The winner of the 2026 award will be announced in January ahead of the main show.
Further campaign announcements will be made in the coming months.
