The juries of the German Jazz Prize determine the nominees and award winners in a transparent and independent process. The selection of the winners takes place in a two-stage process. First, from all applications and suggestions of the jury members, four deserving artists or projects are nominated for each award category. This is done by the expert jury, if not separately determined for the prize category. In a second step, the main jury for each prize category selects the award winner of the award category from the four nominees. The juries are appointed by the advisory board on the basis of a proposal by the advisory board. As a rule, jury members of both the expert jury and the main jury are appointed for two years. More information on the composition of the main and expert juries can be found below. All former jury members can be found here.

The main jury is made up of a total of 10 representatives of the 5 expert juries as well as 7 other members who are outstanding and recognized personalities of cultural public life with an affinity for jazz. The main jury determines the winners of the German Jazz Prize from the four nominated artists and performances in an award category. The members of the main jury for the fifth edition will be announced once the selection process for nominees and award winners is completed in early 2025.

The expert jury of the German Jazz Prize is composed of a total of 25 personalities from the field of jazz and improvised music. In order to reflect all perspectives of this lively and multifaceted music scene, the jury is formed as a representative cross-section of five people from each of the following areas: Artists, labels/publishers, clubs/festivals, management/agencies and journalists/media representatives. The expert jury determines the nominees of an edition, independently, expertly and in a dynamic dialog. The members of the expert jury for the fifth edition will be announced once the selection process for nominees and award winners is completed in early 2025.

The jury statutes of the German Jazz Prize can be found here.