The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the US Grammy and British BRIT Award. Officially created in 1994 and presented for the first time in 1995, the award was initially conferred by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (Związek Producentów Audio-Video, ZPAV). Since 1999, nominees and winners have been selected by a body called Phonographic Academy (Akademia Fonograficzna) which by now consists of nearly 1000 artists, journalists and music industry professionals. Voting is anonymous and takes place in two rounds: In the first round, all Academy members can nominate five artists in each category, in the second round, members can vote for one candidate in each category from the most successful nominees established in the first round. The Fryderyk statuette is reminiscent of the Academy Awards' "Oscar", but with wings, arms stretched backwards, and with headphones. The statuette was designed and created by Dorota Dziekiewicz-Pilich.

Categories

The categories in which Fryderyk awards are presented have been steadily extended and modified since its inception in 1994. There are three main sections – popular music, classical music, and jazz. At present (2010) the following categories are used:

Popular music

Classical music

Jazz

Most successful artists

As of 2009, the most successful artists in the ten-year-history of the Fryderyks are (nominations and awards for 2009 that never included):

Popular music

Note: Awards for individual artists may include awards for their groups and vice versa.

Classical music

Jazz

Best foreign album

This category is particularly interesting as it reflects the Polish public's reception of international artists. The award was last given out in 2012 and the awardees were: