Mercury Prize

The Mercury Prize, formerly the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Nationwide Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland. It was established by the BPI and BARD (the British Association of Record Dealers) in 1992 as an alternative to the industry-dominated BRIT Awards. It was originally sponsored by the now-defunct telecoms company Mercury, followed in 1998 by Technics and starting in 2004 the Nationwide Building Society. It is often observed that bands who are nominated for, or indeed win the prize experience a large increase in album sales, particularly for the lesser known nominees. Nominations are chosen by a selected panel of music executives in the music industry in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The Mercury Prize also has a reputation for being awarded to outside chances rather than the favourites.

The 2001 awards were held on September 11, and when it was announced that PJ Harvey had won the prize for her album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Harvey herself was staying in a hotel in Washington DC which overlooked The Pentagon, which had been hit by one of the hijacked aeroplanes.

The cartoon band Gorillaz resigned from the shortlist in 2001. Bassist Murdoc said winning would be "like carrying a dead albatross round your neck for eternity". Following this, no Damon Albarn-related release -- including albums by Gorillaz, Blur and The Good, the Bad & the Queen -- has since been entered for the Mercury.

The awards usually take place in September but nominated albums are announced in July. In 2007 the shortlist was announced on July 17 at The Hospital in London's Covent Garden. The awards ceremony took place on September 4. The winners were Klaxons with their album Myths Of The Near Future. The list of nominees for 2007 included two previous winners. The Arctic Monkeys were victorious in 2006, winning with their album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. Dizzee Rascal took home the prize in 2003 for his album Boy in Da Corner.

Less well known were the nine bands and artists that fielded debut albums: Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford, Bat for Lashes, Jamie T, Klaxons, Maps, New Young Pony Club, Fionn Regan, Young Knives and The View. The other nominee was Amy Winehouse, who was nominated for her debut album Frank in 2004.

Shortlists

Each year's winner (where confirmed) is in bold.

2008

• Adele - 19
• British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
• Burial - Untrue
• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
• Estelle – Shine
• Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim
• Neon Neon - Stainless Style
• Portico Quartet - Knee Deep In The North Sea
• Rachel Unthank - The Bairns
• Radiohead - In Rainbows
• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
• The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement

2007

• Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
• Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford - Basquiat Strings
• Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
• Dizzee Rascal - Maths and English
• Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
• 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
• The Young Knives - Voices of Animals and Men

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 and Revelations
• Zoe Rahman – Melting Pot
• Lou Rhodes – Beloved One
• Scritti Politti – White Bread Black Beer
• Sway – This Is My Demo
• Thom Yorke – The Eraser

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
• M.I.A. – 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

2004

• Basement Jaxx – Kish Kash
• Belle & Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress
• Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
• 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?

2003

• Athlete – Vehicles and Animals
• Eliza Carthy – Anglicana
• Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
• The Darkness – Permission to Land
• Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner
• 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

2002

• 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
• Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper
• The Streets – Original Pirate Material

2001

• Basement Jaxx – Rooty
• Elbow – Asleep in the Back
• Goldfrapp – Felt Mountain
• Gorillaz – Gorillaz (nomination withdrawn at the request of the band)
• Ed Harcourt – Here Be Monsters
• PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
• 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

2000

• Richard Ashcroft – Alone with Everybody
• Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
• Coldplay – Parachutes
• MJ 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

1999

• Thomas Adès – Asyla
• Denys Baptiste – Be Where You Are
• Black Star Liner – Bengali Bantam Youth Experience!
• Blur – 13
• Chemical Brothers – Surrender
• Faithless – Sunday 8PM
• Manic Street Preachers – This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
• Beth Orton – Central Reservation
• Kate Rusby – Sleepless
• Talvin Singh – Ok
• Stereophonics – Performance and Cocktails
• Underworld – Beaucoup Fish

1998

• 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
• Gomez – Bring It On
• Massive Attack – Mezzanine
• Propellerheads – Decksandrumsandrockandroll
• Pulp – This Is Hardcore
• John Surman – Proverbs & Songs
• The Verve – Urban Hymns
• Robbie Williams – Life Thru a Lens

1997

• 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
• Roni Size/Reprazent – New Forms
• The Spice Girls – Spice
• Suede – Coming Up
• John Tavener – Svyati
• Mark-Anthony Turnage – Your Rockaby

1996

• 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
• Pulp – Different Class
• Underworld – Second Toughest In The Infants
• Norma Waterson – Norma Waterson

1995

• Guy Barker – Into the Blue
• 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
• Portishead – Dummy
• Supergrass – I Should Coco
• Tricky – Maxinquaye

1994

• M People – Elegant Slumming
• Blur – Parklife
• Ian McNabb – Head Like A Rock
• Shara Nelson – What Silence Knows
• Michael Nyman – The Piano Concerto and MGV
• The Prodigy – Music for the Jilted Generation
• Pulp – His'n'Hers
• Take That – Everything Changes
• Therapy? – Troublegum
• Paul Weller – Wild Wood

1993

• Apache Indian – No Reservations
• The Auteurs – New Wave
• Gavin Bryars – Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
• Dina Carroll – So Close
• PJ Harvey – Rid of Me
• New Order – Republic
• Stereo MC's – Connected
• Sting – Ten Summoner's Tales
• Suede – Suede
• Stan Tracey – Portraits Plus

1992

• Barry Adamson – Soul Murder
• Jah Wobble – Rising Above Bedlam
• The Jesus and Mary Chain – Honey's Dead
• Bheki Mseleku – Celebration
• Primal Scream – Screamadelica
• Saint Etienne – Foxbase Alpha
• Simply Red – Stars
• U2 – Achtung Baby
• John Tavener & Steven Isserlis –The Protecting Veil
• Young Disciples – Road To Freedom

Controversy

Some winners of the prize have proved controversial. One example is the 1994 awards, where what would prove to be popular albums from Britpop figureheads Paul Weller, Blur and Pulp, and electronica leaders The Prodigy were shortlisted but the winners were the pop act M People . Some controversy has been generated from the fact that the groups Oasis and Radiohead have been nominated multiple times but have never actually won the award, despite having been nominated for albums that are often cited as some of the greatest British albums ever released ((What's the Story) Morning Glory and OK Computer, respectively) while the albums that were chosen over theirs are generally not recognized as such in retrospect.

Other music journalists critical of the awards stated that the 2005 award should not have been given to Antony and the Johnsons because they were a British-born and American-based act. In 2006 Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell's Ballad of the Broken Seas was included in the shortlist, despite Lanegan not being British and fellow 2006 nominees Guillemots had band members from Brazil and Canada.

The presence of classical, folk and jazz recordings has been cited by some as rather anomalous, arguing that comparisons with the other nominees can be invidious. Classical nominees 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.

See also

• Shortlist Music Prize
• Choice Music Prize (Republic of Ireland)
• Polaris Music Prize (Canada)

External links

• Mercury Music Prize Official Site