text: what is the difference between the cma's & the acm awards?   the cma's stands for country music association and all of the winners is voted on by the industry not the fans  the cma membership consists of over 6,000 music industry professionals from 43 countries around the world. cma membership is available to anyone working in the country music industry. there are many categories of membership for anyone from behind-the-scenes engineers to front-of-the-camera artists.  the cma award winners are voted on by industry professionals of the country music association.   and the acm's is the academy of country music who are the acm members? acm members are comprised of anyone who currently makes their living or in the past has made their living from country music. the affiliate categories are: artists, entertainers, club operators and employees, composers, on-air personalities, managers, musicians, band members, instrumentalists, music publishers, publications, publicists, public relations, record labels, talent agents, talent buyers, tv/motion pictures.