Voting is open to the public now at vodafonemusic.co.uk, by text or via MMS.  In tandem with this, a selection of prestigious awards has been selected by live music industry experts.  The Vodafone Live Music Awards judging panel includes legendary former member of The Undertones and chairman of the Live Music Forum, Feargal Sharkey; Terry Felgate, MD of EMI Records; Steve Sasse, Head of A&R at Atlantic; Conor McNicholas, Editor of NME and Music Week’s publisher Ajax Scott. The judging panel has been voting for the winners in eight Vodafone Live Music Awards categories and the public will decide who wins the other awards.

Feargal Sharkey says: "I can't think of a time in recent history when the UK's live music scene has been in such rude health. Gigs, large and small, continue to sell out in record time proving there's a huge public appetite for our outstanding bands and artists. It's only right that we applaud this success. The Vodafone Live Music Awards give us a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the best that the UK has to offer."

Featuring a whole host of categories from Live Act (UK and International) to Tour of the Year, music fans can nominate their favourite artists and reward them for bringing the best in live music to the UK this year.  For one night only, the renowned live venue that is the Roundhouse will host the Vodafone Live Music Awards, witnessing an incredible show of live performances and acoustic sets from the hottest artists around.  Over 1,000 guests will be part of this extraordinary evening including artists, music industry associates, media and music fans.

The significance of the Vodafone Live Music Awards is also recognised by the BPI, “We welcome Vodafone's support of live music with this initiative.  The live music scene in Britain is vibrant and exciting as never before.  It merits the recognition that Vodafone seek to bestow,” says Peter Jamieson, Chairman of the BPI.

Vodafone is uniquely placed to put mobile at the heart of live music offering streaming of the awards themselves, downloads of memorable moments from the show, voting on SMS and WAP and mobile ticketing.  Whatever the live music fan wants from their music, Vodafone is able to deliver a service to suit.

The Vodafone Live Music Awards will be the UK’s first televised live music awards show broadcast on Channel 4 and ‘as live’ on E4 the night of the show.  The Vodafone Live Music Awards is the culmination of a series of six Vodafone TBA impromptu secret gigs in the UK and Ireland featuring live performances from bands including Snow Patrol, The Zutons, Razorlight and Franz Ferdinand.  The Vodafone TBA gigs have all been individually broadcast on Channel 4 as part of a series of hour-long shows and will be repeated each night in the run-up to the awards.  Part documentary, part live gig, the programme will capture the energy of the night and will include exclusive interviews with the judging panel and nominated artists.