Meteor Announced as Title Sponsor of
The Choice Music Prize – Irish Album of the Year
The Choice Music Prize was established to highlight and promote the work of Irish musicians. It is unique in that the judging process focuses simply and solely on the music, as opposed to sales or airplay. The Meteor Choice Music Prize, Irish Album of the Year will be selected by well known music industry experts, with the winner receiving €10,000. The short list of nominees will be announced on 11th of January 2012.
The winning album will be selected at the Meteor Choice Music Prize live event in The Olympia, Dublin on Thursday 8th March 2012. The event will be broadcast live in a special Paul McLoone Show on Today FM with exclusive behind the scenes content and highlights of the gig through the operator’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/meteor.
Meteor and Choice Music Prize also today announced a series of exclusive events to celebrate the best of Irish music. The first will take place on 1st November when Meteor Choice Music Prize Presents…. an evening with Snow Patrol in the Button Factory, Dublin.
Tickets to this exclusive gig can only be won via Meteor’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/meteor, its twitter profile, @meteor_mobile and through Meteor’s Goodie Bag customer loyalty programme www.meteorgoodiebag.ie. Snow Patrol will play tracks from their new album along with fond favourites from their back catalogue of worldwide hits.
Commenting on the sponsorship, John Anslow, Meteor’s Head of Brand & Advertising said, “Meteor and music is a combination that works for our brand and resonates with our customers. After ten successful years with over one million euro raised for charity from the Meteor Ireland Music Awards, we are now delighted to move our focus to the grass roots Irish music landscape, celebrating the wealth of home grown talent within the country.
“Our association with Choice Music Prize will bring us even closer to music and better still our customers will get the opportunity to win tickets to our exclusive series of gigs, kicking things off with Snow Patrol. Music brings people together in the best way possible, and as your social network, this sponsorship is a perfect fit for Meteor”.
David Reid, the founder and organiser of the Choice Music Prize commented, “Meteor’s welcome involvement as title sponsor of the Choice Music Prize will enable the project to continue to highlight, showcase and promote the best of Irish music both domestically and abroad. We are excited at the prospect of expanding the project further and celebrating a new wave of Irish Artists over the coming years.”
The 7th annual prize will once again celebrate and acknowledge the best in Irish recorded music. The prize has become one of the highlights of the Irish musical calendar since its inception in 2005 and is awarded to the Irish Album of the Year, as chosen from a shortlist of ten releases by a panel of eleven Irish media professionals.
The Meteor Choice Music Prize websitehas published a comprehensive list of Irish albums released in 2011. It already represents the biggest number of releases in a year since the inception of the award. This list can be viewed and updated by logging onto www.choicemusicprize.com.
The recipients of the Choice Music Prize thus far are as follows:
2010: Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History (Kitsune)
2009: Adrian Crowley – Season of the Sparks (Chemikal Underground)
2008: Jape – Ritual (V2/Cooperative Music)
2007: Super Extra Bonus Party – Super Extra Bonus Party(Alphabet Set)
2006: The Divine Comedy – Victory for the Comic Muse (Parlophone)
2005: Julie Feeney – 13 Songs (Julie Feeney)
Irish Times music journalist and critic Tony Clayton-Lea is the chairman of the judging panel. The project's organiser is David Reid of Broadcast Management & Events.
