November 28th, 2005
New Irish Music Award announced
Forget the rather uninspiring Meteor Awards: a new Irish music prize has been announced to celebrate the work of Irish musicians. The Choice Music Prize will be awarded to an Irish album of 2005 chosen by a panel of 12 media professionals representing Irish print, radio and TV. From an inaugural shortlist of 10 albums released by Irish acts for the first time in 2005, a winner will be selected.
The press blurb outlines the thinking behind the prize:
“Every single year, hundreds of albums are released by Irish artists in every genre, from indie, trad and pop to electronic and jazz. The Choice Music Prize aims to highlight those albums which deserve some extra time in the spotlight and, ultimately, to select the album which best sums up the year in Irish music. Instead of using sales or airplay as criteria, the Choice Music Prize will focus, simply and solely, on the music.”
The shortlist will be announced in January 2006 and an event to announce the winner will be held at Dublin’s Vicar Street, on February 28th 2006.
The prize is apparently co-ordinated by a chap called Dave Reid and The Ticket’s own Jim Carroll, who will be the judging panel’s non-voting chairman.