Polaris Music Prize Announces 2015 Long List

Published Jun 16, 2015

One of the biggest moments on the Canadian music calendar has arrived, as the Polaris Music Prize has unveiled the long list of 40 nominees who are vying for the 2015 instalment of the prestigious annual award.As always, the Polaris Music Prize honours the year's best Canadian album. The records up for the 2015 award were all released between June 2014 and May 2015, and they were selected by a national jury of journalists, broadcasters and bloggers. The nominees were chosen based solely on artistic merit.Without further ado, this year's nominees are:Absolutely Free -The Acorn -Lydia Ainsworth -Alvvays -Arkells -Rich Aucoin -BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah -Bahamas -The Barr Brothers -Braids -Steph Cameron -Caribou -Jazz Cartier -Jennifer Castle -Cold Specks -Louis-Jean Cormier -Death From Above 1979 -Drake -Frazey Ford -Tobias Jesso Jr. -B.A. Johnston -Pierre Kwenders -Lee Harvey Osmond -Jean Leloup -METZ -Milk & Bone -Tre Mission -The New Pornographers -Joel Plaskett -Buffy Sainte-Marie -Elizabeth Shepherd -Siskiyou -Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld -Various Artists -Viet Cong -Patrick Watson -The Weather Station -White Lung -Whitehorse -Young Guv -These names were unveiled today (June 16) at the Carleton in Halifax. After this, the jury will vote again, and the short list of 10 finalists will be revealed on July 16 at the Carlu in Toronto. It will all culminate in a gala at the Calu on September 21, when the ultimate winner will be named.This year's winner take home a grand prize of $50,000 (up from the previous prize of $30,000). The nine runners up will each get $3,000.Past winners of the Polaris Music Prize are Final Fantasy (2006), Patrick Watson (2007), Caribou (2008), Fucked Up (2009), Karkwa (2010), Arcade Fire (2011), Feist (2012), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013) and Tanya Tagaq (2014).Polaris is also planning to launch the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, honouring Canadian albums released in the decades prior to the prize's inaugural instalment in 2006.