The Podcast Awards have updated their rules and opened up podcasts to register to win. I entered Irish & Celtic Music Podcast (for Music) and Celtfather Music & Travel (for Society & Culture).

Right now, you don't have to do anything. The nomination period opens up on July 1st and lasts until the end of the month. If I understand the rules, then the top 10 podcasts that receive the most legit nominations in a specific category will be entered for voting.

From there, The Podcast Awards voting team will be made up of the following people:

• The Podcast Awards Committee will invite journalists, podcast thought leaders, legacy podcasters, sponsors and individuals of the committee’s choosing to vote, not to exceed 50 participants.
• Through random selection, 50 of the 2017 registered podcasters will be asked to review and vote with a backup pool of registered podcasters to ensure 50 podcasters cast ballots.
• Through random selection, 250 registered listeners who volunteered to vote during registration will be asked to review and vote with a backup pool of registered listeners to ensure 250 listeners cast ballots.

I must say, I like new method. It's not quite the popularity contest that it used to be. But it sounds a bit more fair.

In the meantime, mark your calendars to vote for Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and Celtfather Music & Travel in the 2017 Podcast Awards!