Screen and be seen: The HP Polaris 2011 Screening Party!
The gala is invite-only. But the Drake Hotel, HP, and MusiCounts are teaming up to bring you the second annual Polaris screening party!
Blowing his own horn: Colin Stetson at The Drake
He can't be at the gala, but catch Colin Stetson live this Friday at the Drake Hotel!
The Gala! Who's playing? Who's hosting? Who's judging?
On September 19, 2011 at 8 pm, the gala will be exclusively broadcast to North America by SiriusXM Canada on Sirius channel 152, and to the world on CBC Radio 3 live from the home of MTV Canada, The Concert Hall at Toronto's Masonic Temple. It will be webcast live on MuchMusic.com and broadcast on MuchMusic, Saturday, Sept. 24 at 10 pm and midnight EST.
Behind the Scenes: Polaris discussion list
Most familiar with the Polaris Music Prize will know that a jury of over 200 music writers, broadcasters, and bloggers is indispensible to the process that determines the award.
But what many may not know is that before the jurors make their five-album selections for the Long List and subsequent Short List, they spend much of the year discussing their picks and pans on an e-mail listserv that’s open only to jury members.
For a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the sort of exchange that goes on online between Polaris jurors, we turned to two jurors with very different opinions on the Short List: Veteran juror <a href="http://radiofreecanuckistan.blogspot.com/">Michael Barclay</a>, co-author of Canrock history <a href="http://www.ecwpress.com/havenot"><i>Have Not Been the Same</i></a>, came out strongly in favour of the Short List when it was first announced, while <a href="http://nxew.ca/">NxEW.ca</a> blogger Justin Beach (who's been on the jury for the past two years) offered up more of a shrug…
Summer showcase: Osheaga Music & Arts Festival
As the final weeks of summer fall upon us, Polaris-winning and nominated artists continue to traverse the country hitting the summer-festival circuit. One of the newer additions to the Canadian festival community is Montreal’s Osheaga Festival, which has firmly made its mark since bowing onto the scene in 2006, thanks to its consistently high-profile lineups that combine big-name headliners with local talent and rising independent acts.
Programmer Evelyne Côté took some time out in the hours before this year’s edition of Osheaga kicked off to chat about the festival’s Polaris connections.
Summer showcase: Hillside Festival
Summer is upon us, and that means one thing: music-festival time! It’s a chance to catch many Polaris nominees (and winners) – past and present – at the vast array of festivals taking place across the country during the sunny season. One festival that’s developed quite a reputation is Guelph, Ontario’s <a href="http://hillsidefestival.ca/">Hillside Festival</a>, which has showcased Canadian acts like Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and Metric (Polaris nominees all) long before they became household names.
Hillside artistic director Samir Baijal is the one responsible for the festival’s incredibly diverse (and incredibly Polaris-friendly) programming – we decided to ask him about how he manages to get some of the best artists across the country (and the globe) to play a smalltown Ontario festival year in and year out.
Short List 2011: By the numbers!
And the word is out! The list of ten albums vying for the sixth annual Polaris Prize was announced today in Toronto by gala hosts Grant Lawrence (CBC Radio 3) and Damian Abraham (lead bellower of 2009 Polaris winners Fucked Up). While we'll leave the inevitable gloating, hand-wringing, and potential wagering to all the jurors, bloggers, and music fans out there, here are some fun facts about this year's shortlist to mull over in the lead-up to the big show on September 19…
Our Long List sponsor may have money for you.
RACS is generously sponsoring the Long List this year. Polaris likes giving great artists money, and so does RACS. RACS stands for Recording Artists’ Collecting Society. They are a division of ACTRA. You know, the actor's union? But they are separate things.
Polaris 2011! Now with more money!
For the first time in our six year history, we’re increasing the prize money. We will now be presenting the winner with a cheque for $30,000, an increase of $10,000. This increase is due in no small part to our good friends and presenting sponsor Sirius Satellite Radio Canada. Welcome back Sirius!
Dear labels. Releasing in May does not necessarily increase your chances of a nomination.
Hello music releasing friends of the record label persuasion.
Today is the deadline for albums to be considered for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. The qualifying period is June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011.
It has come to light that some labels, artists and managers think that releasing your record at the end of this qualifying period helps your chances at a nomination, given the reasonable hypothesis that a May release puts a record to the top of mind of our jurists.
We just want you to know that the facts do not necessarily bear this out.
