Today’s the day – the Polaris Music Prize Short List has been declared! This is a highly anticipated announcement in the Canadian music scene, and big news for all the artists whose work is being honoured. Without further ado, here is the Short List!
Destroyer – LABYRINTHITIS
Pierre Kwenders – José Louis And The Paradox Of Love
Lisa Leblanc – Chiac Disco
Hubert Lenoir – PICTURA DE IPSE : Musique directe
Kelly McMichael – Waves
Ombiigizi – Sewn Back Together
Ouri – Frame of a Fauna
Shad – TAO
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Life After
Charlotte Day Wilson – ALPHA
A big congratulations to all of these artists, and everyone who contributed to the success of these albums!
About Polaris
Polaris is a not-for-profit organization, presented this year by CBC Music. Their mission is to celebrate the achievements of Canadian recording artists, by awarding cash, prizes and big exposure for the best albums released in the past year – based on artistic merit alone. They gathered 200 members of the music media from across the great white north to sift through hundreds of contenders. The jurors narrowed those down to the top 40 selections, which made up the Long List we wrote about last month. Now we are looking at the top ten finalists!
On Sept 19, these artists will perform at the Polaris Gala, at the Carlu in Toronto, ON (tickets now available!) The Grand Prize winner will be announced at the end of the gala, taking home $50k and some other big prizes, including a global music promotion distribution package from Play MPE valued at $3025. The remaining Short Listers will also receive Play MPE distributions worth $1000 each. We are very excited to watch this deserving music find new audiences through these promotions.
Past Winners
To give you an idea of the kind of company these artists now share, take a look at the past years’ winners: Cadence Weapon (2021), Backxwash (2020), Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015), Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy / Owen Pallett (2006).
For those of you who are new to Play MPE and want to know what it is that we do, we’ve got a snazzy new video following the Journey of a Song.
To learn more about all of the amazing prizes on offer this year – and to stay in the loop with future announcements like Polaris Gala happenings and the grand prize winner, head on over to Polaris Music Prize!
Polaris Fast Facts:
- 40 Long List nominees
- 10 Short List nominees
- 1 Polaris Music Prize winner of the $50,000 prize
- 9 runner-up winners of $3,000 courtesy of Slaight Music
- 2 Heritage Prize winners
- 196 Polaris Posters commissioned by visual artists across the country
- 200+ annual jury participants
- 1,000 annual Gala guests
- $831,000 in prize money given to musicians
- 160 Short List nominees have been provided with in-kind media attention
- 20 Not-for-Profit and charity partners supported through the Community Development Program
