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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.

Jury (and Jury Secrets!) Revealed

The Polaris Music Prize is a juried award. What does that mean, you ask? It means the winner, as well as the short listed and long listed records, are selected by an independent group of jury members. Who are these people? How are they selected? What do they do? Read on!

Searchlight! Don't vote for us!

We are, of course, honoured to have been nominated for this award and we must thank whoever put us forward for consideration. But here's the thing. Or things.

1) We do think our site's pretty awesome. But so many do it so much better with more regularity. We suggest you peep BangBang, ChartAttack, ChippedHip, Chromewaves, CokeMachineGlow, ExploreMusic, FromBlownSpeakers, HeroHill, i(Heart)Music, MidnightPoutine, NXeW, QuickBeforeItMelts, RadioFreeCanuckistan, SaidTheGrammophone, Soundproof, TinyMixTapes, and Zoilus. And those are just the ones that are also on our jury. You could also visit the sites of any of our nominees from the past, also linked in this here site, as are our those of our jury members. Make sure you have an hour or two of discovery time to kill.

It's the End of the Year as we Know it

Year-end music lists are staple of the muzo journo diet in December. Most of our jury members have posted their versions by now (see the handy links down on the right, but beware that exploring all their recommendations might chew up what's left of your holiday time). And, most excitingly, Polaris Short Listers have also shown up on Best of the Year lists well beyond our borders. With puffed up chests, here are some of our faves:

There are two ways to get your hands on the Polaris posters.

There's the high-roller option. This is an auction. These are limited in number and are signed by each of the nominated musicians. All of the proceeds from this auction go to MusiCounts.

Or, you can get one of the reproductions, slightly smaller, directly from our site for just $15. Just click on the Posters link to the right of this post! 2$ of each sale of this version also go to MusiCounts.

Much Music broadcast!

It looks and sounds amazing! There are dramatic and emotional performances from each of the 2010 Short List artists. Be sure to tune in to Much Music Saturday at 9pm and midnight EST!

What are you doing this weekend? You should buy some records!

We specialize in lists. This may be our favourite: a list of all the records stores in the country who are giving away a free iTunes download card with one track personally selected by each of the Short List nominees. They're in stores from coast to coast. If you like any of what you hear, go back and buy the whole record! Record stores! Still the first and best social networks!

From east to west.

Fred's (St. John's)
Obsolete Records (Halifax)
Frank's Music (Moncton)
Audition Musik (Rimouski)
Archambault (Quebec)
Sillons (Quebec City)
Frequences le disquaire (Saint-Hyacinthe)
Frequences le disquaire (Granby)
Phonopolis (Montreal)