It's time to nominate entries for Scottish Album Of The Year Award
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It's time to nominate what you feel is a worthy contender for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.
The award is now open for eligible album submissions with news too that the SAY Award will return to Stirling’s Albert Halls for this year’s award ceremony, where the artist with the winning album will collect a £20,000 prize.
Artists, labels and music fans can now submit eligible albums for free until midnight on Friday, July 21 at www.sayaward.com
Last year's winner, Fergus McCreadie – the first jazz/trad artist to ever collect the prize – will perform at this year’s ceremony at Stirling's Albert Halls, on Thursday, October 26.
To be considered for The SAY Award 2023, eligible albums must have been released between June 1, 2022-May 31, 2023. To submit albums for free and to view the criteria for eligibility and guidelines for 2023’s award, visit www.sayaward.com
Previous SAY Award winners include Mogwai, Young Fathers, Anna Meredith, Kathryn Joseph.
The award organisers remind music fans that the last 12 months has been another bumper year for Scottish albums, with artists including Lewis Capaldi, Joesef, Bemz, Nina Nesbitt, The Snuts, Paolo Nutini and more all releasing albums which could be submitted for consideration.
Produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), the SAY Award has distributed over £330,000 in prize money to Scottish artists since it began in 2012, with a record number of eligible albums submitted in 2022.
The SAY Award winner will receive a £20,000 prize and the title of Scottish Album of the Year, whilst nine runners up each receive £1,000, as well as bespoke prizes created by a Stirling-based artist through the SAY Award Design Commission.
Extra awards include Modern Scottish Classic and the Sound Of Young Scotland will also be distributed on the night, plus fans, journalists and artists will be treated to special live performances, including a set from 2022’s SAY Award winner, Fergus McCreadie.
Fergus McCreadie, winner of the SAY Award 2022 said: "I'm very excited to see the SAY Award make its return this year.
"Last year I was so honoured to win it with Forest Floor, and to represent the incredible jazz scene in Scotland in this way, in a mainstream industry prize. Many cross-genre awards don't pay much attention to smaller scenes and so I believe the SAY Award is really important for highlighting all types of music across the board. I look forward to seeing who takes the prize this year and performing at the ceremony itself!"
From classical, electronic, hip-hop, jazz, pop, rock and trad, the SAY Award album submissions reflect an evolving and diverse Scottish music scene.
Robert Kilpatrick, creative director of the Scottish Music Industry Association said: “As we embark on our 12th annual edition of Scotland’s national music prize, The SAY Award will once again work to celebrate and champion the strength, diversity and cultural impact of Scotland’s recorded output. Its role in instilling civic pride and driving audience development continues to play a vital part in how we understand our collective cultural identity as a nation, and it both encapsulates and articulates an ever-evolving idea of what Scottish music and culture is to those around the world.
“Just as crucially, the SAY Award prize fund continues to provide key financial support to Scottish artists. With multiple challenges caused by the cost of living crisis, this support is perhaps more vital than ever, and the SMIA is committed to seeing the continued value of music in Scotland with a firm focus on its life-affirming impact.
“As of today, eligible album submissions are open, and tickets are on sale to attend 2023’s event. We’re over the moon to have last year’s winner Fergus McCreadie performing on the night, and we look forward to championing Scottish music’s rich past, invaluable present and vibrant future in the lead up to the event.”
Two additional prizes, the Modern Scottish Classic Award and the Sound of Young Scotland Award return.
The Modern Scottish Classic Award, presented in association with YouTube Music, recognises an iconic album from Scotland’s past that still inspires today, and past winners include Heaven Or Las Vegas by Cocteau Twins (2022) and The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit (2021).
Supported by Help Musicians, Youth Music, and the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative through Creative Scotland, The Sound of Young Scotland Award will see a panel of previous SAY Award nominees choose an up-and-coming artist to receive a funding package worth up to £8,000 to facilitate the creation of their debut album.
Artists must be 18–25 to apply, have not previously released an album and have made Scotland their creative base for at least the past two years
Past winners include Berta Kennedy (2022) and LVRA (2021). Applications open in late July and further Sound Of Young Scotland Award announcements will follow.
Once all eligible albums have been collated for the SAY Award, 100 impartial Nominators, chosen from sectors including journalism, music retail and music venues across Scotland, nominate and rank their five favourite albums in order of preference.
The SMIA assigns a score to each title in a Nominator’s Top Five, before announcing the 20 highest scoring albums as the SAY Award longlist.
The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of 10 albums, one of which will be chosen by music fans via a 72-hour online public vote.
The remaining nine albums will be chosen by the SAY Award judging panel, with the judging panel then choosing the winning album at 2023’s ceremony.
The SAY Award is a Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) production and it is delivered in partnership with Creative Scotland, Stirling Council, Stirling Alive with Culture, YouTube Music, Ticketmaster, Help Musicians, HMV, FOPP, PPL, Go Forth Stirling, Youth Music Initiative, Youth Music and Music Declares Emergency.
Now in its12th year, the award's previous winners include; Fergus McCreadie Forest Floor (2022), Mogwai As The Love Continues (2021), Nova Re-Up (2020), Auntie Flo Radio Highlife (2019), Young Fathers Cocoa Sugar (2018), Sacred Paws Strike A Match (2017), Anna Meredith Varmints (2016), Kathryn Joseph Bones You Have Thrown Me And Blood I’ve Spilled (2015), Young Fathers Tape Two (2014), RM Hubbert Thirteen Lost & Found (2013) and the inaugural winner Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat Everything’s Getting Older (2012).
And if you want to book yourself a place at the special ceremony when th winner is announced, early-bird tickets for 2023’s ceremony at the Albert Halls, Stirling are on sale now via www.sayaward.com
General £18 + booking fee. Student + booking fee (must show valid student ID on entry).
You can follow the award on social media across Twitter @SAYaward, Instagram @sayaward, Facebook @SAYaward and TikTok @thesayaward
