The (not so) secret lives of Polaris Jury members

If you’ve been surfing around this site learning all about the Polaris Music Prize (and really, why wouldn’t you be?) you may ask yourself, “Who picks the winner?” If you’ve come across our rules and regs and the page called “jury” you may be asking instead, “Who picks the jury?” Well, we’re glad you asked…

The Polaris Music Prize is determined by an independent jury, which is selected each year by the Polaris Board of Directors. This year’s jury is comprised of 190 of our country’s finest journalists, broadcasters, bloggers and others who specialize in reviewing/programming new Canadian music. They have been chosen for their expertise and service to music coverage in the top daily, weekly and monthly media, be it print, radio, TV or web — in both English and French Canada. They are editors, staff writers, music directors, producers, hosts and freelancers who live and breathe music and who will take it upon themselves to seek out and vote for the best Canadian records released June 1 2008 to May 31 2009, whether those records come from their own backyards or all across the land.

While the majority of our jury members are returning, each year Polaris searches for and invites new members. To name but a few of these fine ’09 debutantes, we welcome Anne-Marie Withenshaw from AR-TV, Ben Kaplan from the National Post, Jesse Ohtake from the Cyberkrib and our first representative from Whitehorse: Elaine Corden.

We think these ladies and gents rock and we encourage you to follow their coverage year-round. For your convenience, we link to their blogs and websites down below to the right. Check them out: you might just find your favourite new record — or writer.