The Scottish Album of the Year Award has opened its public vote for 2022. The longlisted album with the most votes will move through to the shortlist, and also take home £1,000 in prize money. The nine other shortlisted albums will be selected by this year’s SAY Award judging panel, who will then together consider the shortlist and determine 2022’s SAY Award winner. The public vote is open for 72 hours and will close at midnight on Wednesday 5 October.
The SAY Award shortlist will be announced on Thursday 6 October. Five Sound of Young Scotland Award finalists and the Modern Scottish Classic Award winner – a Scottish album with lasting influence chose by the longlisted artists - will also be revealed.
The SAY Award does not require participation fees from artists and considers bodies of work that are at least 6 tracks and/or 30 minutes long as eligible albums to reduce barriers to entry. One of the most lucrative prize funds in the UK, the winner of The SAY Award – announced at the final ceremony on Thursday 20 October at The Albert Halls in Stirling – will take home £20,000, while the nine runners up receive £1,000 each along with bespoke art prizes created via The SAY Design Commission.
The SAY Award is developed and produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), with accessibility, inclusivity and diversity at the heart of their flagship project. Other partners for 2022 include Creative Scotland, Stirling Council, Stirling Alive With Scotland, YouTube Music, Go Forth, Ticketmaster, Spotify, PPL, Youth Music Initiative, Youth Music, Brewgooder, Stirling Distillery and Music Declares Emergency.
Robert Kilpatrick, creative director of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) and The SAY Award, says, ‘The SAY Award public vote is the chance for music fans to have their SAY in the determination of the Shortlist. From the 20 outstanding Scottish albums that made up this year’s Longlist, the public’s choice will automatically be guaranteed a place in the 10-strong Shortlist along with a minimum prize of £1,000.'
‘In any year prize money is significant for artists, but in the face of the current financial crisis, this support will make an instrumental difference. Now’s the time to get behind your favourite record, and we look forward to revealing and then championing 10 of the best Scottish albums of the last year in the lead up to 2022’s SAY Award Ceremony on Thursday 20 October.’
In alphabetical order, The SAY Award Longlist for 2022 is:
AiiTee – Better Days
Andrew Wasylyk – Balgay Hill: Morning In Magnolia
Annie Booth – Lazybody
Bemz – M4
C Duncan – Alluvium
Callum Easter –
Constant Follower – Neither Is, Nor Ever Was
Declan Welsh and the Decadent West – It’s Been A Year
Duncan Lyall – Milestone
Fergus McCreadie – Forest Floor
Hamish Hawk – Heavy Elevator
Hen Hoose – Equaliser
Kathryn Joseph – For You Who Are The Wronged
Kobi Onyame – Don’t Drink The Poison
The Ninth Wave – Heavy Like a Headache
Niteworks – A’Ghrian
Proc Fiskal – Siren Spine Sysex
Rebecca Vasmant – With Love, From Glasgow
Seonaid Aitken Ensemble – Chasing Sakura
Walt Disco – Unlearning
