We believe music can move people, shift and reflect culture, and bring us together. This is where we share winner announcements, Long/Short Lists, festival news, artist interviews, and behind-the-scenes updates from the Polaris season.
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CBC presents the 2025 Polaris Music Prize has revealed the 20 nominee Long List for its first-ever SOCAN Polaris Song Prize. Polaris, celebrating its 20th anniversary, and SOCAN, celebrating its 100th anniversary, announced the new Song Prize with the winning song taking home $10,000 split between the song’s Canadian performers and the song’s credited Canadian […]
CBC presents the 2025 Polaris Music Prize, has revealed its 40 nominated album Long List. The organization, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, also announced the launch of two major new initiatives, the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize and 2025 Polaris Festival. The album Long List, presented by Canada Council for the Arts, is […]
Two decades after releasing their full-length self-titled debut, Prince Edward Island pop rock quartet Two Hours Traffic are back with the I Never See You Anymore EP. The group featuring singer/guitarist Liam Corcoran, bassist Andrew MacDonald, drummer Derek Ellis and guitarist (and new member) Nick Donneff, were Polaris Short-Listed in 2008 for Little Jabs. But after their fourth […]
The Polaris Music Prize is proud to continue its commitment to celebrating artistic excellence in Canadian music. Each year, Polaris brings together music lovers, artists, and a diverse jury to discover, discuss, and honour the most compelling albums released in Canada — based solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre, sales, or commercial popularity. […]
Interview with Moses Petros, aka Droophead This season’s Polaris creative direction comes courtesy of Toronto-based digital artist Moses Petros, aka Droophead. Known for his surrealist world-building and genre-fluid visual style, Petros brings a dreamlike sensibility to everything from rave flyers to high-fashion visuals. For this year’s Polaris design, he leaned into the reflective and elemental—turning […]
Polaris Music Prize 2025 20th Anniversary Event Season Announced Polaris is turning 20. And we’re reflecting with gratitude, pride — and hope. Since 2006, the Polaris Music Prize has championed albums based on artistic merit, not genre or sales. We’ve amplified bold Canadian voices, sparked career-defining moments, and created space for stories that might not […]
Polaris 2024 Short List nominees NOBRO have covered PUP’s “Reservoir for the latest edition of the SiriusXM Polaris Cover Sessions. A video performance of the song complete with an awkward civilian cameo and a celebratory side quest to a nearby bar is now available on the Polaris YouTube and Facebook channels. For those seeking an […]
Buffy Sainte-Marie won the 2015 Polaris Music Prize for the album Power In The Blood; this win came with a $50,000 cash prize. The criteria for this award was strictly based on artistic merit, without regard for commercial factors such as sales or popularity. It was solely based on the strength of the music. Additionally, […]
Tegan And Sara’s So Jealous and Jackie Mittoo’s Macka Fat are the two most recent albums to receive Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize designation. The Polaris Heritage Prize is a hall of fame-minded critics prize and public support campaign meant to celebrate classic Canadian albums created before Polaris began in 2006. Like the Polaris Music […]
Voting for the 2024 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize has opened. The companion award to the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are also Canadian albums of artistic distinction, without regard to sales, genre or affiliation. This is our version of a hall of fame where we honour meritorious Canadian albums […]
