THE Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is once again asking music fans to ‘have their SAY’ and vote for their favourite Scottish album from the recently announced Longlist to secure its place in 2022’s 10-strong Shortlist.

Music fans are given a 72-hour window to vote at sayaward.com, and the album with the most votes will secure a minimum prize of £1,000 and remain in the running for the £20,000 grand prize and coveted title of Scottish Album of the Year. The nine other Shortlisted albums will be selected by this year’s SAY Award judging panel, who will then together consider the Shortlist and determine 2022’s SAY Award winner.

Robert Kilpatrick, Creative Director of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) / The SAY Award, said: “The SAY Award public vote is the chance for music fans to have their SAY in the determination of the Shortlist. From the 20 outstanding Scottish albums that made up this year’s Longlist, the public’s choice will automatically be guaranteed a place in the 10-strong Shortlist along with a minimum prize of £1,000.

In any year prize money is significant for artists, but in the face of the current financial crisis, this support will make an instrumental difference. Now’s the time to get behind your favourite record, and we look forward to revealing and then championing 10 of the best Scottish albums of the last year in the lead up to 2022’s SAY Award Ceremony on Thursday 20 October.”

Alan Morrison, Head of Music at Creative Scotland said:  “The SAY Award does more than throw a spotlight on the best albums of the past year. It celebrates the fact that, right now in 2022, Scotland’s music is defined by its diversity, as artists from so many different backgrounds make outstanding music in every genre imaginable. This year’s longlist is proof that the pressure of the pandemic added fuel to the creative fire – the work of Scotland’s musicians stands shoulder to shoulder with the best the world has to offer.

“I’m proud to note that Creative Scotland directly funded the recording or promotion of half of the longlisted albums, while also providing a helping hand of support to almost all these artists at key points earlier in their career. At the end of the day, though, what matters is that fans keep listening to brilliant new music. Taking part in the public vote is the best way to share your favourite with audiences everywhere.”

The SAY Award online public vote via www.sayaward.com is free to enter and is restricted to one vote per person. This spirit of fairness is at the heart of the SAY Award, which doesn’t require participation fees from artists and considers bodies of work that are at least 6 tracks and/or 30 minutes long as eligible albums to reduce barriers to entry. One of the most lucrative prize funds in the UK, the winner of The SAY Award – announced at the final ceremony on Thursday 20 October at The Albert Halls in Stirling – will take home £20,000, while the nine runner’s up receive £1,000 each along with bespoke art prizes created via The SAY Design Commission.

The album that triumphs at the public vote will join 9 other albums on the Shortlist, which is whittled down by a panel of cultural tastemakers and industry professionals. Yesterday The SAY Award announced the judges for 2022’s prize – selected from a range of backgrounds and specialisms – who will together decide 2022’s Scottish Album of the Year. The panel includes Amina Shah (CEO, National Library of Scotland); Anneliese Harmon (General Manager, MMF); Corbyn Asbury (Label Relations Manager, YouTube); Dave Francis (Director, TRACS); Jackie Wylie (CEO / Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland); Jude McArdle (Membership Manager, AIM); Khaleda Noon (Executive Director, Intercultural Youth Scotland); Paul Black (Writer / Director / Comedian); Shereen Cutkelvin (Presenter, BBC Introducing) and Will Page (Author and Economist).

20 outstanding Scottish albums were announced as The SAY Award Longlist on Thursday 15 September; whittled down from 369 eligible albums by 100 impartial music industry Nominators. The Longlist is available to explore on www.sayaward.com, as well as in-person at a free exhibition in the award-winning music venue Tolbooth in Stirling which features enlarged album artworks displayed across the walls. The twenty albums featured represent one of the most diverse genre spreads in the eleven years of the award, showcasing Scotland’s eclectic musical landscape and highlighting a range of subcultures and artistic styles.

In alphabetical order, The SAY Award Longlist for 2022 is as follows:

  •      AiiTee – ‘Better Days’
  •      Andrew Wasylyk – ‘Balgay Hill: Morning In Magnolia’
  •      Annie Booth – ‘Lazybody’
  •      Bemz – ‘M4’
  •      C Duncan – ‘Alluvium’
  •      Callum Easter – ‘System’
  •      Constant Follower – ‘Neither Is, Nor Ever Was’
  •      Declan Welsh and the Decadent West – ‘It’s Been A Year’
  •      Duncan Lyall – ‘Milestone’
  •      Fergus McCreadie – ‘Forest Floor’
  •      Hamish Hawk – ‘Heavy Elevator’
  •      Hen Hoose – ‘Equaliser’
  •      Kathryn Joseph – ‘For You Who Are The Wronged’
  •      Kobi Onyame – ‘Don’t Drink The Poison’
  •      The Ninth Wave – ‘Heavy Like a Headache’
  •      Niteworks – ‘A’Ghrian’
  •      Proc Fiskal – ‘Siren Spine Sysex’
  •      Rebecca Vasmant – ‘With Love, From Glasgow’
  •      Seonaid Aitken Ensemble – ‘Chasing Sakura’
  •      Walt Disco – ‘Unlearning’

The 72-hour public vote is open from 00:00 on Monday 3 October until midnight on Wednesday 5 October, and the SAY Award Shortlist will be announced on Thursday 6 October. On the same day, for the second year, the five Sound of Young Scotland Award finalists and the Modern Scottish Classic Award winner will also be revealed – in which a Scottish album with lasting influence is chosen by the Longlisted artists to be honoured at the ceremony.