Carlos Ares and Valeria Castro lead the nominations for the 18th Independent Music Awards (MIN), revealed this Wednesday during a press conference held at the Sala El Sol in Madrid. Each one is up for six awards, and they are followed with five each by Repion and Rufus T. Firefly, and with four by Zahara and Sanguijuelas del Guadiana.
On March 25, the awards will be presented in a ceremony that will take place at the Gran Teatro de Córdoba and will be presented by Tamara García and Masi Rodríguez.
The presentation of the nominations was accompanied by live performances. Elem performed a solo performance, which was debated between the intimacy of the ballad and the electronic dance explosion; while Ona Mafalda opted for a rock show with drums and her own guitar, crowned by her version of Mari Trini.
The MIN Awards nominations leave curiosities such as the names that are competing for the Best International Artist category, among which are Hayley Williams or Perfume Genius. The Honor Award will go to Ana Curra.
In addition to the nominations in the 22 award categories, the list of artists who will perform at the March 25 ceremony has been revealed. Among them is Rufus T. Firefly, authors of the song ‘Premios de la Música Independiente’. Queralt Lahoz, Sanguijuelas del Guadiana, Çantamarta, Ruth, Vera Fauna and Las Rodes will also take the stage.
ONERPM AWARD ALBUM OF THE YEAR
“Toast”, from Cala Vento
“The Mouth of the Wolf”, by Carlos Ares
“9:30 PM”, by Queralt Lahoz
“201”, by Repion
“The body after all”, by Valeria Castro
RADIO 3 PRIZE SONG OF THE YEAR
‘Dog Days’, by Carlos Ares
‘X’, by Repion
‘Song of Peace’, by Rufus T. Firefly
‘Revolá’, by Leeches del Guadiana
‘It has to be easier’, by Valeria Castro
AIE AWARD BEST ARTIST
Kiko Veneno
Repion
Rufus T. Firefly
Valeria Castro
Zahara
MIN 2026 AWARD BEST EMERGING ARTIST
Lia Kali
Carlos Ares
Guadiana leeches
Gray Merino
Queralt Lahoz
MIN 2026 PRIZE BEST VIDEO CLIP
Duel for ‘What it will be like to live in the country’, by Depresion Sonora
Ismael de la Trinidad for ‘Renacer’, by Lia Kali
Fran Granada for ‘Full lace and the tuck’, by Samantha Hudson
Pablo Hoyos for ‘Revolá’, by Sanguijuelas del Guadiana
Irene Baqué for ‘It has to be easier’, by Valeria Castro
INGRESSE AWARD BEST DIRECT
Carlos Ares Sonorama Ribera Plaza del Trigo, by Carlos Ares
Repion – 201 at the Barceló Theater, Repion
Tour with Headphones: All Good Things by Rufus T. Firefly
Verbena in vein, from Sanguijuelas del Guadiana
Slow Tenderness Tour, by Zahara
AGEDI AWARD POP ALBUM
“Tell me where we are”, by Vera Fauna
“Slow tenderness”, by Zahara
“The Mouth of the Wolf”, by Carlos Ares
“Zuloa”, by Merina Gris
“Don’t let go of the ephemeral”, by Pumuky
MIN AWARD 2026 BEST ROCK ALBUM
“Dogs don’t understand the internet (…and I don’t understand feelings)”, by Depresion Sonora
“III”, by Grande Amore
“1973”, by Quique González
“201”, by Repion
“All Good Things” by Rufus T. Firefly
MIN AWARD 2026 BEST ROOT MUSIC ALBUM
“Icarus”, by Dulzaro
“Consistency”, from El Nido
“The body after all”, by Valeria Castro
“Judit Neddermann & Pau Figueres”, by Judit Neddermann & Pau Figueres
“Robina”, by La Maria
SGAE FOUNDATION AWARD FOR BEST JAZZ ALBUM
“The Trio”, by Alex Conde
“Mutatis Mutandis”, by EME EME Project
“Lights and Shadows”, by Ivan Melon Lewis
“Mestura”, by María Toro
“Al Cante”, by Pablo Martín Caminero and David Carpio
MIN 2026 AWARD BEST FLAMENCO ALBUM
“Let’s adventure in life”, by José de los Camarones
“Kiko Veneno in the Carbonería”, by Kiko Veneno
“Pura vida”, by Laura Vital
“Vertical Anthem”, by Rocío Márquez and Pedro Rojas Ogáyar
“Pureza Street” by Rubio de Pruna
MIN 2026 AWARD BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM
«Spain on Fire», by Accademia del Piacere with Quiteria Muñoz
“The chants of muses”, by Anna Urpina
“Gaetano Brunetti: String Quartets Op.3”, from Concerto 1700
“Mozart & Schubert”, by Josep Colom and Javier Laso
“Mozart: The horn concertos”, by La Real Cámara with Javier Bonet and Emilio Moreno
MIN 2026 PRIZE BEST URBAN MUSIC RECORDING
“Totosaki”, by Euskoprincess & Mattin
“The Secret” by Juicy Bae
“Kaelis” by Lia Kali
“Miss Understood” by l0rna
“9:30 PM”, by Queralt Lahoz
MIN AWARD 2026 BEST ELECTRONICS RECORDING
“Neu om”, by Amanda Mur
«Xorieri», by Baiuca & Izaro with Oreka Tx
“Halo”, by Bruma
«2025», by GAZZI
“Free baby” by Restinga
MIN 2026 PRIZE BEST ALBUM IN CATALAN
«The first song of the matí», by Alosa
“Vigilia”, by Anna Andreu
“Eril Eril Eril”, from El Petit de Cal Eril
“Paradís”, by Júlia Colom
“Katana” by Maria Hein
MIN 2026 PRIZE BEST ALBUM IN BASQUE
“Kabakriba” by EZEZEZ
“Zuloa”, by Merina Gris
“Miruenea”, by Mirua
“Zerrautsa”, by Olaia Iniziarte
“Lurra ikutu barik”, by Ruper Ordorika
MIN 2026 AWARD BEST ALBUM IN GALLEGO
“Lovismo”, from A banda da loba
“Feira”, by De Ninghures
“Alvela”, by Faia Díaz Novo
“III”, by Grande Amore
“Mestura”, by María Toro
MERLIN PRIZE BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTIST
Silvana Estrada
Hayley Williams
Genius Perfume
pulp
Big Thief
SAE MADRID AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION
Alejandro Guillán for “Xorieri”, by Baiuca & Izaro with Oreka Tx
Carlos Ares for “The Wolf’s Mouth”, by Carlos Ares
Sergio Salvi and Sandra Delaporte for “Rendición”, by Delaporte
Jordi Matas for “Bakan (II)”, by Gorka Urbizu
Carles Campi Campón for “The body after all”,
by Valeria Castro
MARILIANS PRIZE BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN
Bandiz Studio for “Dogs don’t understand the Internet (…and I don’t understand feelings)”, by Depresion Sonora
Julia Martin-Maestro for “All Good Things” by Rufus T. Firefly
Raúl Rodríguez Orgaz and Jorge de Cruz for “The only being without talent”,
by Stivijoes
Emilio Lorente, Guillermo Guerrero and Zahara for “Lento ternura”,
by Zahara
Guillermo Arias for “Mañana y siempre”, by Nadadora
MIN 2026 PRIZE BEST ORIGINAL LETTER
‘Everything is going well for me’, by Albert Pla and Kase.O
‘What it will be like to live in the country’, by Depression Sonora
‘It could have been’, from La Bien Querida
‘The Astonishers’, by Nacho Vegas
‘Blue Velvet’, by Quique González
PUBLIC AWARD
‘Letters’, by Cas de Rojas
‘The words’, from Siloé
‘Oxytocin’, by Cepeda
‘Fire’, by Brock Ansiolitiko
‘Links – Anj’hara’, by Olvido Lanza
