Comprising 114 music critics, writers and editors in the German-speaking countries who are actively involved in the assessment of CDs and DVDs, the association is concerned to provide lovers of all types of music and audio-books with what, to the best of their knowledge and belief, is an honest guide to new releases of true artistic significance. It does not matter whether these have been produced by large or small, domestic or foreign record companies, whether they feature stars or not, or whether they are much-talked-about bestsellers or wallflowers.

In order to ensure that they reached their judgements independent of all commercial interests on the part of the producers, the jury had itself officially registered as a charity in 1988. Not only is it one of the cultural institutions supported by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media but, in the past, has also been supported by the Frankfurt Fair, the Frankfurt Feste and by Frankfurt's Alte Oper as well as the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. Since 2002 the German Record Critics' Award Association has close ties to the Foundation Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage) and its State Institute for Music Research with the Berlin Museum of Musical Instruments where every November the Annual Awards ("Jahrespreise") are presented to up to ten outstanding productions and Certificates of Special Merit ("Ehrenurkunden") are given to three artists and producers for their life achievement in the field of recording.