When a musician receives an award, it’s a recognition for his or her contribution to the art form. Cultural organizations across the world institute awards to recognize outstanding talents in the field. I’ve listed a few below that are considered top awards in the music world. 

Sangita Kalanidhi award is the most prestigious award given to a Carnatic musician every year by the Music Academy in Chennai. The award consists of a gold medal and a birudu (badge resembling a medal). This year’s recipient is vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam Here is a snippet from a concert of Sanjay Subrahmanyam at Cleveland, USA.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar instituted by the Sangeet Natak Academy in New Delhi is the highest honour in the country bestowed on an artist for his or her contribution in the performing arts. The award consists of a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram (a shawl), and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque).

National Film Award for Best Playback Singer(Male/Female) are prestigious awards given by the Directorate of Film Festivals. The award includes a Rajat Kamal (Silver Lotus), certificate and a cash prize of Rs.50,000. The 2014 recipients of this award are Sukhwinder Singh for his song “Bismil” from the movie Haider and Uttara Unnikrishnan for her song “Azhagu” from the movie Saivam. Listen to this young gifted singer Uttara singing Azhagu.

Grammy Award is an award given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in California, USA to outstanding musicians in the world. The categories range from pop, rock, jazz, country, R&B, electronic, Latin, Christian to contemporary and New Age. Sam Smith (English singer and song-writer) won several Grammies this year for his music. Listen to this song by Sam Spade that won the record of the year Grammy for 2015.