Mercury Prize

Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize logo
Awarded for	Best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland
Location	United Kingdom
First awarded	1992
Official website	mercuryprize.com

The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards. The prize was originally sponsored by Mercury Communications, a brand owned by Cable & Wireless,^[1] from which the prize gets its name. It was later sponsored by Technics^[2] (1998 to 2001), Panasonic^[1] (2002 and 2003), Nationwide Building Society (2004 to 2008) and Barclaycard (2009-2014).^[3][4] Since 2015 the prize has been sponsored by the BBC.^[4]

Any album released by a British or Irish artist, or by a band where over 50% of the members are British or Irish, may be submitted for consideration by their record label. The shortlist is chosen by an independent panel of musicians, music presenters, music producers, music journalists, festival organisers and other figures in the music industry in the UK and Ireland.^[5][6][7] The prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, urban, dance, jazz, blues, electronica and classical. Presentation of the awards usually takes place at an Awards Show in October, after the shortlist is announced at the Album of the Year Launch in September. It is often observed that bands whose albums are shortlisted, or win the prize, experience a large increase in album sales, particularly for lesser known acts.^[8] Each shortlisted artist receives a specially commissioned 'Albums of the Year' trophy at the Awards Show. Unlike some other music awards, the overall winner of the Mercury Prize also receives a cheque; as of 2014, the value of the prize money is £20,000. The winner also receives an additional winner's trophy.^[9]

To date, PJ Harvey is the only artist to have won the award on more than one occasion (in 2001 and 2011). She was also the first female solo artist to receive the award and ties with Radiohead as the most shortlisted artist, although Radiohead has never won the prize.^[10]

Criticism

The Mercury Prize can have a considerable effect on sales for those artists who are shortlisted. Elbow saw a 700% sales increase of their album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' after winning the Prize in 2008.^[11][12] In their winner's speech, Elbow's frontman Guy Garvey said that winning the Mercury Prize was 'Quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us'.^[13][14] Similarly, sales of The xx's winning album rose by 450% the day after they won the 2010 Mercury Prize^[15][16] and 2013 winner James Blake saw a 2,500% sales increase on Amazon after he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Mercury Prize.^[17][18] 2011 winner PJ Harvey's album 'Let England Shake' jumped from number 181 to 24 in the UK official charts the week after the 2011 Awards Show.^[19]

Despite being regarded by many as highly prestigious, it has been suggested that having an album nominated for or winning the Mercury Prize could be a curse on a career in music.^[20][21]

In 2001, the band Gorillaz requested that their eponymous debut album be withdrawn from the shortlist, with cartoon bassist Murdoc Niccals saying that winning the award would be "like carrying a dead albatross round your neck for eternity".^[22][23]

All genres of music are eligible for entry, and it is stated that all are treated equally, with only the music on the album being taken into account.^[5] Simon Frith, chair of the Mercury Prize judging panel, has said that albums are chosen because they are the "strongest" each year, rather than according to genre.^[24] However, the presence of classical, folk and jazz recordings has been cited by some as anomalous, arguing that comparisons with the other nominees can be invidious.^[25] Classical acts to have an album nominated have included Sir John Tavener, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gavin Bryars and Nicholas Maw. None has ever won, and there has not been a shortlisted classical album since 2002.

The Mercury Prize also has a reputation for being awarded to outside chances rather than the favourites.^[26][27] The 1994 award winner was Elegant Slumming by the pop act M People, which some felt was a controversial decision considering the shortlist included popular albums from Britpop figureheads Paul Weller, Blur and Pulp, and electronica band The Prodigy.^[28][29][30]

Other music journalists critical of the awards stated that the 2005 award should not have been given to Antony and the Johnsons for their album I Am a Bird Now as, although they are British-born and therefore eligible for the Prize, the band were based in the United States.^[31][32] In 2006, Isobel Campbell's collaboration with Mark Lanegan, Ballad of the Broken Seas, was included in the shortlist, despite Lanegan being American, as the album was eligible due to Campbell's British citizenship, while Guillemots, whose album was also shortlisted in 2006, contained band members from Brazil and Canada, although the majority were from the UK.^[33]

Current eligibility criteria state that all albums must be available to buy as a full release on CD in the UK and as a digital download.^[5] In September 2013, My Bloody Valentine vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields expressed concerns about the award in an interview with The Guardian, accusing the Mercury Prize's organisers of "banning" the band's self-released album, m b v, from the shortlist nominations and addressing the nomination criteria, which he claimed branded the album "virtually illegal".^[34]

It has also been noted that heavy metal has been overlooked by the prize. A 2013 article by Vice on the Mercury Prize said "Metal certainly never gets a look-in, not even on the official entry information form: 'The Prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, urban, dance, jazz, blues, electronica, classical…'"^[35] Of all the Mercury Prize shortlisted acts from 1992 to 2014, only Therapy? (1994) has been from the genre of heavy metal. In 2011, Mercury chair of judges Simon Frith said "[Metal] is a niche that a lot of people don't listen to."^[36] However, Mercury Prize shortlists have featured albums from the rock genre, including Royal Blood (2014), Biffy Clyro (2010) and Glasvegas (2009).

Winners and shortlisted nominees

Inaugural winners Primal Scream

Suede won in 1993.

Heather Small of M People, winners in 1994

Portishead, winners in 1995

1997's winner Roni Size

Gomez, winners in 1998

2000 winner Badly Drawn Boy

PJ Harvey, winner in 2001 and 2011, the only artist to win the award twice

2003 winner Dizzee Rascal

Franz Ferdinand, winners in 2004

2005 winner, Antony and the Johnsons

Arctic Monkeys won in 2006.

2007 winners Klaxons

2008 winners Elbow

2009 winner Speech Debelle

2010 winners The xx

2012 winners Alt-J

2013 winner James Blake

2015 winner Benjamin Clementine

Year	Winner	Shortlisted nominees	Ref(s)
1992	Primal Scream – Screamadelica	Barry Adamson – Soul Murder Erasure – Chorus Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart – Rising Above Bedlam The Jesus and Mary Chain – Honey's Dead Bheki Mseleku – Celebration Saint Etienne – Foxbase Alpha Simply Red – Stars U2 – Achtung Baby John Tavener & Steven Isserlis – The Protecting Veil Young Disciples – Road to Freedom	[37]
1993	Suede – Suede	Apache Indian – No Reservations The Auteurs – New Wave Gavin Bryars – Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet Dina Carroll – So Close East 17 – Walthamstow PJ Harvey – Rid of Me New Order – Republic Stereo MCs – Connected Sting – Ten Summoner's Tales Stan Tracey – Portraits Plus	[38]
1994	M People – Elegant Slumming	Blur – Parklife Ian McNabb – Head Like A Rock Shara Nelson – What Silence Knows Michael Nyman – The Piano Concerto/MGV Primal Scream – Give Out But Don't Give Up The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation Pulp – His 'n' Hers Take That – Everything Changes Therapy? – Troublegum Paul Weller – Wild Wood	[39]
1995	Portishead – Dummy	Guy Barker – Into the Blue The Boo Radleys – Wake Up! Elastica – Elastica PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love Leftfield – Leftism James MacMillan – Seven Last Words from the Cross Van Morrison – Days Like This Oasis – Definitely Maybe Supergrass – I Should Coco Tricky – Maxinquaye	[40]
1996	Pulp – Different Class	Artists for War Child – Help Black Grape – It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah Peter Maxwell Davies/BBC Philharmonic – The Beltane Fire / Caroline Mathilde Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack Oasis – (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Courtney Pine – Modern Day Jazz Stories Underworld – Second Toughest in the Infants Norma Waterson – Norma Waterson	[41]
1997	Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms	The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole Beth Orton – Trailer Park Primal Scream – Vanishing Point The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land Radiohead – OK Computer Spice Girls – Spice Suede – Coming Up John Tavener – Svyati Mark-Anthony Turnage – Your Rockaby	[40]
1998	Gomez – Bring It On	4hero – Two Pages Asian Dub Foundation – Rafi's Revenge Eliza Carthy – Red Rice Catatonia – International Velvet Cornershop – When I Was Born for the 7th Time Massive Attack – Mezzanine Propellerheads – Decksandrumsandrockandroll Pulp – This Is Hardcore John Surman – Proverbs & Songs The Verve – Urban Hymns Robbie Williams – Life thru a Lens	[40]
1999	Talvin Singh – Ok	Thomas Adès – Asyla Denys Baptiste – Be Where You Are Black Star Liner – Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! Blur – 13 The Chemical Brothers – Surrender Faithless – Sunday 8PM Manic Street Preachers – This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours Beth Orton – Central Reservation Kate Rusby – Sleepless Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails Underworld – Beaucoup Fish	[42]
2000	Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast	Richard Ashcroft – Alone with Everybody Coldplay – Parachutes M. J. Cole – Sincere Death in Vegas – The Contino Sessions The Delgados – The Great Eastern Doves – Lost Souls Helicopter Girl – How to Steal the World Leftfield – Rhythm and Stealth Nicholas Maw – Violin Concerto Nitin Sawhney – Beyond Skin Kathryn Williams – Little Black Numbers	[43]
2001	PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea	Basement Jaxx – Rooty Elbow – Asleep in the Back Goldfrapp – Felt Mountain Gorillaz – Gorillaz (nomination withdrawn at the request of the band)[44] Ed Harcourt – Here Be Monsters Tom McRae – Tom McRae Radiohead – Amnesiac Susheela Raman – Salt Rain Super Furry Animals – Rings Around the World Turin Brakes – The Optimist LP Zero 7 – Simple Things	[45]
2002	Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper	Guy Barker – Soundtrack The Bees – Sunshine Hit Me David Bowie – Heathen The Coral – The Coral Doves – The Last Broadcast The Electric Soft Parade – Holes in the Wall Gemma Hayes – Night on My Side Beverley Knight – Who I Am Roots Manuva – Run Come Save Me Joanna MacGregor – Play The Streets – Original Pirate Material	[46]
2003	Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner	Athlete – Vehicles and Animals Eliza Carthy – Anglicana Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head The Darkness – Permission to Land Floetry – Floetic Soweto Kinch – Conversations with the Unseen Lemon Jelly – Lost Horizons The Thrills – So Much for the City Martina Topley-Bird – Quixotic Radiohead – Hail to the Thief Terri Walker – Untitled	[47]
2004	Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand	Basement Jaxx – Kish Kash Belle & Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress Jamelia – Thank You Keane – Hopes and Fears Snow Patrol – Final Straw Joss Stone – The Soul Sessions The Streets – A Grand Don't Come for Free Ty – Upwards Amy Winehouse – Frank Robert Wyatt – Cuckooland The Zutons – Who Killed...... The Zutons?	[48]
2005	Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now	Bloc Party – Silent Alarm Coldplay – X&Y Hard-Fi – Stars of CCTV Kaiser Chiefs – Employment KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope MIA – Arular Maxïmo Park – A Certain Trigger Polar Bear – Held on the Tips of Fingers Seth Lakeman – Kitty Jay The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers	[32]
2006	Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not	Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballad of the Broken Seas Editors – The Back Room Guillemots – Through the Windowpane Richard Hawley – Coles Corner Hot Chip – The Warning Muse – Black Holes & Revelations Zoe Rahman – Melting Pot Lou Rhodes – Beloved One Scritti Politti – White Bread Black Beer Sway – This Is My Demo Thom Yorke – The Eraser	[49]
2007	Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future	Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford – Basquiat Strings Bat for Lashes – Fur and Gold Dizzee Rascal – Maths + English Maps – We Can Create New Young Pony Club – Fantastic Playroom Fionn Regan – The End of History Jamie T – Panic Prevention The View – Hats Off to the Buskers Amy Winehouse – Back to Black Young Knives – Voices of Animals and Men	[50]
2008	Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid	Adele – 19 British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? Burial – Untrue Estelle – Shine The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of the Understatement Laura Marling – Alas, I Cannot Swim Neon Neon – Stainless Style Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raising Sand Portico Quartet – Knee Deep in the North Sea Radiohead – In Rainbows Rachel Unthank and the Winterset – The Bairns	[51]
2009	Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy	Bat for Lashes – Two Suns Florence and the Machine – Lungs Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires Glasvegas – Glasvegas Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew The Horrors – Primary Colours The Invisible – The Invisible Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum La Roux – La Roux Led Bib – Sensible Shoes Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men	[52]
2010	The xx – xx	Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea Dizzee Rascal – Tongue n' Cheek Foals – Total Life Forever I Am Kloot – Sky at Night Kit Downes Trio – Golden Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation Villagers – Becoming a Jackal Wild Beasts – Two Dancers	[53]
2011	PJ Harvey – Let England Shake	Adele – 21 Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi Elbow – Build a Rocket Boys! Everything Everything – Man Alive Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam Gwilym Simcock – Good Days at Schloss Elmau James Blake – James Blake Katy B – On a Mission King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine Metronomy – The English Riviera Tinie Tempah – Disc-Overy	[54]
2012	Alt-J – An Awesome Wave	Ben Howard – Every Kingdom Django Django – Django Django Field Music – Plumb Richard Hawley – Standing at the Sky's Edge Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again Lianne La Havas – Is Your Love Big Enough? Sam Lee – Ground of its Own The Maccabees – Given to the Wild Plan B – ill Manors Roller Trio – Roller Trio Jessie Ware – Devotion	[55][56]
2013	James Blake – Overgrown	Arctic Monkeys – AM David Bowie – The Next Day Disclosure – Settle Foals – Holy Fire Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg Jon Hopkins – Immunity Laura Marling – Once I Was an Eagle Laura Mvula – Sing to the Moon Rudimental – Home Savages – Silence Yourself Villagers – {Awayland}	[57][58]
2014	Young Fathers – Dead	Anna Calvi – One Breath Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots East India Youth – Total Strife Forever FKA twigs – LP1 GoGo Penguin – V2.0 Jungle – Jungle Kate Tempest – Everybody Down Nick Mulvey – First Mind Polar Bear – In Each and Every One Royal Blood – Royal Blood	[59]
2015	Benjamin Clementine – At Least for Now	Aphex Twin – Syro Gaz Coombes – Matador C Duncan – Architect Eska – Eska Florence and the Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful Ghostpoet – Shedding Skin Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys Slaves – Are You Satisfied? SOAK – Before We Forgot How to Dream Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool Jamie xx – In Colour	[60]

See also

• Scottish Album of the Year Award (Scotland)
• Choice Music Prize (Ireland)
• Polaris Music Prize (Canada)
• Prix Constantin (France)
• Shortlist Music Prize (United States)
• Australian Music Prize (Australia)
• Nordic Music Prize (Nordic countries)

References

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2. "Manics lead Mercury shortlist". BBC News. 27 July 1999. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
3. "Barclaycard Mercury Prize sponsorship announced". European Sponsorship Association. 30 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
4. Adam Sherwin (16 October 2015). "Mercury Prize 2015: Florence + The Machine tipped for success as Blur miss out on a global shortlist". The Independent.
5. "Mercury Prize – About". Mercury Prize. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
6. "Mercury Prize 2008". BBC Music. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
7. Beech, Mark (9 September 2008). "U.K. Band Elbow Wins Mercury Prize as Judges Surprise Again". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
8. Innes, John (15 September 2004). "Band's debut album soars back into charts after Mercury success". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
9. "About Us – Barclaycard Mercury Prize". mercuryprize.com. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
10. "PJ Harvey wins Mercury Music Prize for second time". BBC News. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
11. "Young Fathers likely to be touched by unreliable magic of Mercury prize". The Guardian. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014. Mancunian band Elbow, who won in 2008, enjoyed a 700% rise in sales of their album The Seldom Seen Kid in the week following their Mercury victory
12. "Mercury Prize 2010: The xx are left stunned as they scoop the coveted music award for their debut album". Daily Mail. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2014. And their win tonight could bring a huge boost in sales, just like it did for the 2008 winner's Elbow, who saw their album sales increase by 700% that year.
13. "Elbow elated at Mercury Prize win". BBC News. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2014. "This is quite literally the best thing that's ever happened to us," singer Guy Garvey told the ceremony in London.
14. "Elbow: 'Mercury win is best thing that's ever happened to us'". NME. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2014. Elbow claimed that their Nationwide Mercury Prize victory is "the best thing that's ever happened to us" during their acceptance speech tonight
15. "Young Fathers likely to be touched by unreliable magic of Mercury prize". The Guardian. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014. It was a similar tale for the XX after their 2010 win. Sales of their debut album soared 450% the day after they won, according to figures from music retailer HMV
16. "The xx "terrified" after Mercury win". Digital Spy. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2014. Their debut album, which had sold 125,000 copies prior to winning the prize, has experienced a jump in sales of almost 450% since Tuesday's award ceremony.
17. "Young Fathers likely to be touched by unreliable magic of Mercury prize". The Guardian. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014. After winning the 2013 prize, James Blake saw sales of his album Overgrown jump more than 2,500% on Amazon.
18. "James Blake album sales increase 2500% on Amazon since Mercury Prize win". Music Week. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
19. "Pixie Lott and Example – all about number one!". Official Charts. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2014. Finally, the double Mercury Award winning PJ Harvey sees Let England Shake, last week's prize winner, jump a phenomenal 151 places from last week 181 to this week's 24.
20. Gill, Andy (14 July 2006). "Curse of the Mercury". The Independent. Retrieved 18 June 2009. ...the Mercury Prize has acquired a well-established reputation for destroying its winners' futures...
21. Williamson, Nigel (13 July 2003). "Uneasy listening". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
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23. "Gorillaz taken off Mercury list". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
24. "Mercury prize puts black artists to the fore". The Guardian. 23 July 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2014. .Simon Frith, the head of the judges, yesterday rejected the age-old complaint that the Mercury shortlist featured "token" jazz, folk, classical and soul acts who do not stand a chance. "We are not tokenist, we chose the albums that are strongest,"
25. Petridis, Alexis (20 September 2002). "Back to basics". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
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30. Youngs, Ian (4 December 2003). "Does the Mercury Prize get it right?". BBC News. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
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33. Sutherland, Mark. "Who can beat the Arctic Monkeys to win the Mercury Prize?". BBC 6 Music. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
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38. "The London Suede". MTV. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
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42. "Talvin Singh: Closing the divide". BBC News. 8 September 1999. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
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44. Youngs, Ian (30 July 2002). "Mercury Prize's guessing game". BBC News. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
45. "PJ Harvey wins Mercury prize – after witnessing Pentagon attack". The Guardian. 12 September 2001. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
46. Chrisafis, Angelique (18 September 2002). "Ms Dynamite's victory blasts Mercury norms". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
47. Imagee, Matthew (7 September 2004). "Still going strong after Dizzee rise to Mercury's peak". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
48. Barkham, Patrick (8 September 2004). "Mercury rises for art pop of Franz Ferdinand". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
49. "Arctic Monkeys win 2006 Mercury Music Prize". NME. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
50. Smart, Gordon (25 July 2011). "Amy Winehouse: 1983–2011". The Sun. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
51. Paphides, Pete (10 September 2008). "Pete Paphides salutes Elbow's Mercury Prize victory". The Times. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
52. Swash, Rosie (21 July 2009). "Mercury Prize 2009 Nominations Announced". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
53. "Mercury Prize 2010 Nominations Announced". NME. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
54. Topping, Alexandra (19 July 2011). "Adele leads Mercury prize 2011 shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
55. Butterly, Amelia (13 September 2012). "Plan B hopes for his 'Dizzee Rascal' moment at Mercurys". BBC News. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
56. Topping, Alexandra (2 November 2012). "Mercury prize celebrates 20 years with award for Alt-J's debut album". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
57. Clark, Nick (11 September 2013). "Mercury Prize 2013: List of nominees in full". The Independent. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
58. "Mercury Prize: James Blake wins with Overgrown". BBC News. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
59. Beauchemin, Molly (30 October 2014). "Young Fathers Win the Mercury Prize". Pitchfork Media. Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
60. "Mercury Prize 2015 shortlist". BBC. Retrieved 2015-10-16.

General

• "Highs and Lows of the Mercury Prize". BBC News. 20 June 2005. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
• "Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2012". 4Music.

External links

• Official website
• Mercury Prize at BBC Online
• Mercury Prize winners at Discogs