The 2024 Mercury Prize nominations are set to be announced later this week, and it has been confirmed that the live final ceremony has been scrapped.
- READ MORE: Ezra Collective on their impact on the jazz scene and plans to celebrate their Mercury Prize win
The shortlist of 12 albums will be unveiled live on BBC Radio 6 Music from 11am by Tom Ravenscroft on Thursday (July 25).
As always, they will be chosen by an independent judging panel which this year includes Jamie Cullum and Mistajam for albums released between July 15, 2023 and July 12, 2024.
The overall winner of the 2024 Mercury Prize will be revealed in September, with the Prize’s broadcast partner BBC Music providing television and radio coverage but not the usual live performance at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Further details on this will be announced closer to the event.
Introducing the judging team for the 2024 Mercury Prize. ✨ @PhilAlexanderUK @jamiecullum @sianelerievans @Willjhodgkinson @mistajam @danielleperry @jeffxsmith @Lea_fm @jamzsupernova @fluorescentsoph#MercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/ctaqF1UwML
— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 22, 2024
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of the BPI, home to The Mercury Prize, said: “The Mercury Prize is a cherished part of our cultural landscape, celebrating the art of the album and recognising the exceptional creative achievements of diverse British and Irish artists across the many different genres that make up our thriving and global-facing music scene.
“We are delighted to deepen our relationship with our long-term partner BBC Music to promote the Prize across its networks, including its national broadcast and digital channels, to ensure the greatest possible impact and profile as part of a wider campaign to support the artists who produced the 12 Albums of the Year.
“For the 2024 Mercury Prize we will work imaginatively with the BBC to deliver a premium programme of music content and digital engagement that will, as ever, benefit all 12 artists in reaching a wider audience, providing an important platform for their evolving career and musical journey.”
Last year the prize was won by Ezra Collective for their album ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’.
Speaking to NME ahead of their victory, Femi Koleoso said: “I feel like it’s just wonderful to be a part of something so big and so special. We’re just a small part of such a big picture.
“It’s been really exciting just to be hearing it played in so many different avenues and places, you know? To see people enjoying it and dancing to it – that’s all you can ask for really.”
Following the victory, their album sales and streams also increased by nearly 900 per cent.
In 2022, Little Simz won the Mercury Prize for her album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’. The London rapper beat off competition from fellow favourites Self Esteem and Wet Leg at the time.
Elsewhere, Roots Manuva recently had his Mercury Prize trophy returned after moving house and accidentally leaving it behind.
Manuva – whose real name is Rodney Hylton Smith – took home the award at the 2002 Mercury Prize for his album ‘Run Come Save Me’.