Details have been announced for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize Winner Celebration, taking place live at CBC Toronto’s Studio 211 on Monday, September 27. Hosted by CBC Music’s Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe, the 2021 Polaris Music Prize Winner Celebration will be available in Canada on the free CBC Gem streaming service, CBC Music’s Facebook, Twitter and Youtube pages and around the globe at CBCMusic.ca/Polaris on September 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. PT).
The Winner Celebration event will feature two exclusive performances from 2020 Polaris winner, Backxwash. In longstanding Polaris tradition, Backxwash will then reveal which one of the ten albums from this year’s Short List has won the 2021 Polaris Music Prize.
The albums on the 2021 Polaris Music Prize Short List are:
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Theory of Ice
Cadence Weapon - Parallel World
DijahSB - Head Above The Waters
Dominique Fils-Aimé - Three Little Words
Mustafa - When Smoke Rises
The OBGMs - The Ends
Klô Pelgag - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs
TOBi - Elements Vol. 1
The Weather Station - Ignorance
Zoon - Bleached Wavves
The Winner Celebration will also feature expert commentary from CBC Music Afterdark’s Odario Williams and CBC Music’s Jess Huddleston, as well as Polaris jurors who will provide expert insight on all of the nominated albums.
Due to the continued uncertainty around returns to public gatherings, Polaris chose not to host a winner Gala event this year. Polaris looks forward to returning to an in-person event in 2022.
The Polaris Music Prize also announced the 11-member Grand Jury who will decide this year’s winner:
MICHELLE DA SILVA - Xtra
JIM DI GIOIA - Dominionated
MARY DICKIE - Freelance Journalist / Journaliste pigiste
DJ MELBOOGIE
FRANCELLA FIALLOS - CJLO 1690 AM
MARISSA GROGUHÉ - La Presse
OMAR HUSAIN - CJLO 1690 AM
KYLE MUZYUKA - CBC
ACEY ROWE - CBC Radio, The Doc Project
YASMINE SHEMESH - Freelance Journalist / Journaliste pigiste
CALUM SLINGERLAND - Exclaim!
The Grand Jury was chosen from the greater Polaris jury pool, which includes 199 music journalists, broadcasters and related music media from across Canada.
The Polaris Winner Celebration marks the conclusion of the Short List Summer, a series of Polaris-themed initiatives which was launched in July with the Polaris Short List Special, a live CBC Music radio event where the 10 albums on the 2021 Polaris Short List were revealed. This was followed by CBC Music’s The Ten radio series, which took an in-depth look at one of the 10 nominated albums each week.
The Polaris Music Prize awards $50,000 to the artist who creates the Canadian Album of the Year, judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre or record sales. Additionally, the nine other nominated acts whose albums make the 2021 Short List will receive $3,000 each courtesy of Slaight Music. New for 2021, Polaris Music Prize has partnered with Play MPE to award the winning artist with a global music promotion distribution package for one release (single or album) worth up to $3,025 CAD. Play MPE will also gift all nine remaining Short List artists with distribution packages worth up to $1,000 CAD each.
Albums eligible for 2021 Polaris Music Prize consideration must be released between May 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021. An independent jury of music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across Canada determines the Long List and Short List. Eleven people from the larger jury pool are then chosen to serve on the Grand Jury. This Grand Jury will select the Polaris Music Prize winner.
The past winners are Backxwash (2020), Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015), Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy / Owen Pallett (2006).
We acknowledge the financial support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters.
About the Polaris Music Prize
The Polaris Music Prize is a not-for-profit organization that annually honours and rewards artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction. A select panel of music critics judge and award the Prize without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity. polarismusicprize.ca
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About CBC Music
CBC Music is the leading curator of emerging and diverse Canadian music talent across platforms, playing the most Canadian artists and genres on radio, CBC Listen and cbcmusic.ca. We prioritize Canadian artists in a wide variety of genres on over 200 playlists available on CBC Listen, and publish daily national music coverage. CBC Music Live features live music recordings from across the country. Our music partnerships and events include The JUNOS, the Polaris Music Prize, Searchlight, the CBC Music Festival, The Canadian Music Class Challenge and Canada Listens. www.cbcmusic.ca
About Play MPE
Play MPE is the leading global platform for music promotion distribution and discovery. The company now serves over 100 countries, is available in multiple languages, and has changed the way the music industry delivers and accesses content. Play MPE provides music promotion distribution for 1000s of record labels, promoters and artists connecting them to a growing community of vetted music industry decision makers. Play MPE’s coveted distribution lists include: radio, satellite, media/blogs, music supervisors, music curators and more. Long standing global clients include Universal Music Group, Warner Music , Sony Entertainment, BMG, Big Machine, [PIAS], Curb I Word, Broken Bow, eOne Entertainment, Epitaph, Criteria, The Orchard and many more. www.plaympe.com
Media Contacts:
Polaris Music Prize media:
Amanda McCauley
(905) 926-6440
amanda@indoorrecess.com
Polaris Music Prize media (Quebec):
Magali Ould
(514) 994-6295
magali@polarismusicprize.ca
CBC
Teaghan Hawke
teaghan.hawke@cbc.ca
Play MPE
Cate Horsley
cateh@plaympe.com
