The following selection criteria are used to select the award winning acts:

• First international release outside the home territory of an artist or group from the 34 countries participating in the EU cultural program;
• Success outside the home territory during the last year (between 01/09 and 31/08/2011);
• Success is measured by information from Nielsson Soundscan and votes from EBU radiostations and ETEP Festivals. These data are compiled by EMO http://www.emo.org