THE SCOTTISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR AWARD ANNOUNCE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SHORTLIST FOR 2020 INCLUDING RECORD BREAKING 8 DEBUT ALBUMS ON THE LIST

Glasgow Science Centre said, “Glasgow Science Centre are delighted to support The Scottish Album of the Year Award this year – it was so exciting to reveal this year’s highly-anticipated Shortlist on our Big Screen. We feel so passionately about supporting Scotland’s arts and culture industry during these times and to reveal the ten most outstanding Scottish albums of the past year was a real honour. Congrats to all the Shortlisted artists!”

Nine albums on the Shortlist were chosen by this year’s esteemed Judging Panel, while the tenth was decided by music fans in a 72 hour public vote via www.sayaward.com. An incredible chance for music fans to ‘have their SAY’ in Scotland’s national music prize and influence which albums make the Shortlist, the winner of the public vote was Callum Easter’s ‘Here Or Nowhere’.

Callum Easter said, “It means a lot to win the public vote. That’s the top prize for me. Thanks to everyone that voted.”

General Manager of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), Robert Kilpatrick said, “This year’s Shortlist is an emotive list of records which shows strength, ambition and confidence in the last year of Scotland’s recorded output. It presents a strong sense of Scotland’s diverse cultural identity, particularly from a wave of new artists, with an incredible eight debut albums making up the Shortlist of ten; a first in the history of the award.

This year’s Shortlist poignantly showcases a future vision of Scottish music – of Scotland’s music industry – one which urgently needs targeted, sector-specific Government support to wave the continued storms of the COVID-19 crisis and to allow a vital industry on its knees to survive.

Music adds key economic, social and cultural benefits to our society and to each of our lives. It plays a fundamental role in driving tourism through our events and festivals, having generated £494 million for Scotland’s economy in 2018. But most importantly, our musical output helps us connect with both ourselves and each other. It provides us with emotional and mental well-being, and it often reflects the stories of our lives and the stories of our communities.

All of this is currently at risk, and while the Scottish Government through Creative Scotland have provided some emergency funding for venues and hardship funding for artists, without further targeted support, our sector faces a severe and catastrophic loss of jobs and skills which would do long-term damage to music and culture for decades to come.

As we announce this year’s SAY Award Shortlist, it also comes with a message that celebrating and championing our music and culture is more important now than ever. The strength of the albums on this year’s Shortlist gives a compelling reason for all of us to do so, not least due to the fact that it highlights the quality and strength of new Scottish talent, and how much that needs to be supported at this fundamental time.

The SAY Award will now work to connect these albums with more people both within and outwith Scotland over the coming weeks, before announcing this year’s winner on Thursday 29th October.

A huge congratulations to each of this year’s Shortlisted albums. These are 10 genuinely outstanding Scottish records, and we implore you to listen to them.”

2020’s Shortlist provides a snapshot of the strength and diversity of Scotland’s music scene, spanning a range of genres and styles to celebrate the country’s most outstanding albums, and the incredible network of people who created them. Each Shortlisted album has won a guaranteed minimum prize of £1,000 and will receive an exclusively designed art prize created by The SAY Award Design Commission.

The SAY Award Design Commission, curated by Local Heroes, highlights the enduring links between music, art and design in a country overflowing with talent. This year, Local Heroes are delighted to reveal the design commission will be made by Glasgow based designer and architect, Rekha Barry. Barry’s love for object design stems from her experience in model-making and casting at art school; something she has been refining further over recent years. Each of the ten Shortlisted artists will receive a bespoke trophy designed by Barry who has created a simple, monolithic design for this year’s award that is both functional and sculptural.

Rekha Barry said, “I’m really excited to be commissioned to design this award for Scotland’s musicians and to be working with Local Heroes – it’s a brilliant project to be involved in.”