Northern Ireland Music Prize 2022 Shortlists Announced

The Northern Ireland Music Prize for 2022 reaches its conclusion this Wednesday 16 November 2022. At a special ceremony in the Ulster Hall, the winners of each prestigious category will be announced along with a sparling array of live performances.

Former NI Music Prize winner SOAK alongside CHERYM, Leo Miyagee, Rory Nellis, Robocobra Quartet, Dea Matrona. There will of course also be a special appearance from Horslips as Barry Devlin collects the Legend Award. Sheridan Tongue will also be presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award.

The main prize on the night is of course the Album of the Year. The shortlist of albums features twelve wonderful releases and the eventual winner will walk away with a trophy and a monetary prize of £3000.

Also up for grabs is Single of the Year. The winner will be decided following a public vote (now closed) and will take home a cool £1000 and all the plaudits. The final shortlist is:

Beauty Sleep – Go
CHERYM – Gone Girl
Dani Larkin – Heron Until We’re Free
Ferna – Wasting
Joshua Burnside and Laura Quirke – Rana the Fortunate
Robocobra Quartet – Wellness

With live music back in full flow following the pandemic, the Live Act of the Year makes a welcome return. Bicep, Junk Drawer, Leo Miyagee, Problem Patterns & Wynona Bleach are the shortlisted artists and this category will also be decided following a public vote (this is now closed).

There is one category that you can still vote on and that’s the ATL Artist of the Year award. The public vote is available on the BBC Across the Line website here. You can vote for the following artists:

The final category on the evening is a brand new one, Video of the Year. This one is full of interesting entries and will hopefully encourage more artists in the future to come up with unique and eye-catching videos to accompany their releases. You can view all seven shortlisted videos in the playlist below.