| 2025 | Ricky Riccardi (Centennial)beat 4 others- Tim Brooks (After Midnight)
- Lauren Du Graf (The Carnegie Hall Concert)
- Dominic Fyfe (John Culshaw: The Art of the Producer – The Early Years 1948–55)
- Josh Kun (SONtrack Original de la Pelicula "Al Son de Beno")
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| 2024 | Robert Gordon and Deanie Parker (Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos)beat 4 others- Ashley Kahn (Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy (Live))
- Scott B. Bomar (I Can Almost See Houston: The Complete Howdy Glenn)
- Vik Sohonie (Mogadishu's Finest: The Al Uruba Sessions)
- Jeff Place and John Troutman (Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958–1971)
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| 2023 | Bob Mehr (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition))beat 4 others- Fernando González (The American Clavé Recordings)
- Gareth Murphy (Andy Irvine & Paul Brady (Special Edition))
- John Schneider (Harry Partch, 1942)
- Ted Olson (Life's Work: A Retrospective)
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| 2022 | Ricky Riccardi (The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions, 1946–1966)beat 4 others- Ann-Katrin Zimmermann (Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas)
- Kevin Howes (Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology)
- David Giovannoni, Richard Martin and Stephan Puille (Etching the Voice: Emile Berliner and the First Commercial Gramophone Discs, 1889–1895)
- Robert Marovich (The King of Gospel Music: The Life and Music of Reverend James Cleveland)
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| 2021 | Bob Mehr (Dead Man's Pop)beat 4 others- Tim Brooks (At the Minstrel Show: Minstrel Routines from the Studio, 1894–1926)
- Scott B. Bomar (The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West, 1940–1974)
- Colin Hancock (The Missing Link: How Gus Haenschen Got Us from Joplin to Jazz and Shaped the Music Business)
- David Sager (Out of a Clear Blue Sky)
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| 2020 | Steve Greenberg (Stax '68: A Memphis Story)beat 4 others- Judy Cantor-Navas (The Complete Cuba Jam Sessions)
- Robert Marovich (The Gospel According to Malaco)
- Brendan Greaves (Pedal Steal + Four Corners)
- Jeff Place (Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection)
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| 2019 | David Evans (Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris)beat 5 others- Richard Martin and Ted Olson (4 Banjo Songs, 1891–1897: Foundational Recordings of America's Iconic Instrument)
- Ben Ratliff (The 1960 Time Sessions)
- James P. Leary (Alpine Dreaming: The Helvetia Records Story, 1920–1924)
- David Gilbert (The Product of Our Souls: The Sound and Sway of James Reese Europe's Society Orchestra)
- Amanda Petrusich (Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 / 1979–1981 (Deluxe Edition))
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| 2018 | Lynell George (Live at the Whisky a Go Go: The Complete Recordings)beat 5 others- Wayne Bledsoe and Bradley Reeves (Arthur Q. Smith: The Trouble with the Truth)
- Ted Olson (Big Bend Killing: The Appalachian Ballad Tradition)
- Bryan S. Wright (The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin)
- David Giovannoni (Edouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, Inventor of Sound Recording: A Bicentennial Tribute)
- Michael Corcoran (Washington Phillips and His Manzarene Dreams)
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| 2017 | Ken Bloom and Richard Carlin (Sissle and Blake Sing Shuffle Along)beat 4 others- Mikal Gilmore (The Complete Monument & Columbia Album Collection)
- Ted Olson and Tony Russell (The Knoxville Sessions, 1929–1930: Knox County Stomp)
- Rob Sevier and Ken Shipley (Ork Records: New York, New York)
- Richard Martin (Waxing the Gospel: Mass Evangelism and the Phonograph, 1890–1900)
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| 2016 | Joni Mitchell (Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced)beat 4 others- James P. Leary (Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937–1946)
- Jeff Place (Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection)
- Ted Olson (Portrait of an American Singer)
- Ryan Barna (Songs of the Night: Dance Recordings, 1916–1925)
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| 2015 | Ashley Kahn (Offering: Live at Temple University)beat 5 others- David Sager (Happy: The 1920 Rainbo Orchestra Sides)
- Alec Palao (I'm Just Like You: Sly's Stone Flower 1969–70)
- Scott B. Bomar (The Other Side of Bakersfield: 1950s & 60s Boppers and Rockers from 'Nashville West', Vol. 1)
- Jon Kirby (Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound)
- Scott Blackwood (The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917–27))
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| 2014 | Neil Tesser (Afro Blue Impressions (Remastered & Expanded))beat 5 others- Sean Wilentz (360 Sound: The Columbia Records Story)
- Ben Young (Call It Art 1964–1965)
- Alec Palao (Electric Music for the Mind and Body)
- Jonathan Cott (Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps)
- Nathan Salsburg (Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard: Hard Time, Good Time & End Time Music 1923–1936)
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| 2013 | Billy Vera (Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles)beat 4 others- Stephen Wade (Banjo Diary: Lessons from Tradition)
- Hans Olof Gottfridsson (First Recordings: 50th Anniversary Edition)
- Holly George-Warren (The Pearl Sessions)
- Fernando Gonzalez (Piazzolla in Brooklyn)
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| 2012 | Adam Machado (Hear Me Howling!: Blues, Ballads & Beyond as Recorded by the San Francisco Bay by Chris Strachwitz in the 1960s)beat 4 others- Neil Diamond (The Bang Years 1966–1968)
- Ted Olson and Tony Russell (The Bristol Sessions, 1927–1928: The Big Bang of Country Music)
- Alec Palao (The Music City Story: Street Corner Doo Wop, Raw R&B and Soulful Sounds from Berkeley, California 1950–75)
- Ken Shipley (Syl Johnson: Complete Mythology)
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| 2011 | Robert Gordon (Keep an Eye on the Sky)beat 4 others- Gage Averill (Alan Lomax in Haiti: Recordings for the Library of Congress, 1936-1937)
- Ashley Kahn (Side Steps)
- Doug Seroff (There Breathes a Hope: The Legacy of John Work II and His Fisk Jubilee Quartet, 1909-1916)
- Will Sheff (True Love Cast Out All Evil)
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| 2010 | Dan Morgenstern (The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946))beat 4 others- Mark Berresford (Dance-O-Mania: Harry Yerkes and the Dawn of the Jazz Age, 1919-1923)
- Douglas Brinkley and Johnny Depp (Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson – Music from the Film)
- Ed Cray and Bill Nowlin (My Dusty Road)
- Lloyd Ecker and Susan Ecker (Origins of the Red Hot Mama, 1910-1922)
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| 2009 | Francis Davis (Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition)beat 4 others- Art Rosenbaum (Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum)
- Patrick Feaster and David Giovannoni (Debate '08: Taft and Bryan Campaign on the Edison Phonograph)
- David Ritz and Jerry Wexler (Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul)
- Henry Sapoznik (The Unsung Father of Country Music: 1925-1934)
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| 2008 | Bruce Nemerov (John Work, III: Recording Black Culture)beat 4 others- Patrick Feaster and David Giovannoni (Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s)
- Loren Schoenberg (Classic Chu Berry Columbia and Victor Sessions)
- David Sager (Off the Record: The Complete 1923 Jazz Band Recordings)
- Ricky Jay (Ricky Jay Plays Poker)
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| 2007 | Dan Morgenstern (If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It!)unverifiedbeat 4 others- Marshall Wyatt (Good for What Ails You: Music of the Medicine Shows, 1926-1937)
- Tim Brooks (Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry 1891-1922)
- Ben Edmonds (Pirate Radio)
- David Fricke (There Is a Season)
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| 2006 | John Szwed (The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax)beat 4 others- Adam White (Heaven Must Have Sent You: The Holland/Dozier/Holland Story)
- Patrick Carr (The Legend)
- David Ritz (Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959))
- Henry Sapoznik (You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music)
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| 2005 | Loren Schoenberg (The Complete Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman and His Orchestra & Woodchoppers (1945-1947))beat 4 others- Sean Wilentz (The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall)
- Barry Alfonso (Carry It On)
- Paul Krassner (Let the Buyer Beware)
- Chris Morris (No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion)
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| 2004 | Tom Piazza (Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey)beat 4 others- Loren Schoenberg (Count Basie and His Orchestra: America's #1 Band! The Columbia Years)
- Ashley Kahn (Four Women: The Nina Simone Philips Recordings)
- Will Friedwald (Peggy Lee: The Singles Collection)
- Daniel Wolff (Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers: The Complete Specialty Records Recordings)
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| 2003 | David H. Evans Jr. (Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton)beat 4 others- Artie Shaw (Artie Shaw: Self Portrait)
- Dennis McNally (The Golden Road (1965-1973))
- Will Friedwald (Sinatra in Hollywood (1940-1964))
- Tim Page (A State of Wonder: The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981)
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| 2002 | Walter Mosley (...And It's Deep Too! The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968–1992)) and Elijah Wald (Arhoolie Records 40th Anniversary Collection: 1960–2000 The Journey of Chris Strachwitz)beat 3 others- Mari Evans (The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music)
- Gerald Early (Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words from the Harlem Renaissance)
- Rob Bowman (The Stax Story)
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| 2001 | Bob Blumenthal (Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961)repeatbeat 5 others- Jeff Place (The Best of Broadside 1962–1988: Anthems of the American Underground from the Pages of Broadside Magazine)
- John Chilton (The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve)
- Bud Scoppa (Hotcakes & Outtakes: 30 Years of Little Feat)
- Dr. Demento (The Remains of Tom Lehrer)
- Gerald Early (Yes I Can! The Sammy Davis Jr. Story)
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| 2000 | Bob Blumenthal (John Coltrane: The Classic Quartet – The Complete Impulse! Recordings)beat 4 others- Rick Bragg (Hank Williams: Live at the Grand Ole Opry)
- Rob Bowman (The Last Soul Company)
- Daniel Cooper (Ray Charles: The Complete Country & Western Recordings (1959-1986))
- Marc Kirkeby (Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century)
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