THE Scottish Album of the Year award have today announced the opening date for the public vote and the panel of judges who will debate over the Shortlist following the public vote.

Music fans are being asked to ‘have their SAY’ in 2020’s award, by casting their votes to influence who gets a spot on the highly-anticipate Shortlist to be announced on October 8th. Voting opens at 00:00 on Monday 5th October until midnight on Wednesday 7th October, giving fans 72 hours to vote for their favourite album from the Longlist here. The longlisted album which secures the most public votes in guaranteed a place on the shortlist, and a minimum prize of £1,000, with the remaining nine shortlist places being decided by this year’s panel of judges.

Ensuring a 50:30 gender split for the second consecutive year, The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award judging panel shows a broad range of influential and experienced individuals from across the creative industries who will eventually decide who wins this year’s title and the £20,000 first prize. The 2020 panel is Ally McCrae (Producer, BBC), Charlotte Dryden (CEO, NI Music Prize), Dirk Löwenberg (Head of Member Services, GVL), Edith Bowman (Broadcaster), Fay Milton (Founder of SAY Award charity partner, Music Declares Emergency),  Jack Saunders (Presenter, BBC Radio 1),  Jess Brough (Founder/Director, Fringe of Colour), Kieran Hurley (Playwright), Maurits Westerik (Director, Best Kept Secret Festival), Solène Lorry (Head of Label & Artist Relations (France), YouTube), Wezi Mhura (Creative Producer & Founder of AfriFest & BLM Mural Trail).

Edith Bowman said, “I’m honoured to be part of this year’s SAY Award Judging panel – to be able to enthuse about music as part of my career is something I am very grateful for and I’m looking forward to discovering some of my new favourite albums as part of the judging process. Scotland has always had such creativity across music and the arts, and it’s never been more important for us to support and celebrate these artists. The hardest part is going to be to narrow down the list – congrats to all of this year’s Longlist!”

Jack Saunders said, “I’ve been playing endless talent out of Scotland on my Future Artists show on Radio 1 so to be involved in picking the Scottish Album of the Year is a real honour. The talent coming out of Scotland right now is some of the best when it comes to music.”

Following 362 album submissions, 100 impartial nominators from across the country and genres built the 20-strong Longlist. This Longslist will soon become a Shortlist of 10, one of which will eb chosen by YOU, the fans. View the full Longlist below.

The SAY Award 2020 Longlist, in alphabetical order, is:
Anna Meredith FIBS
Blanck Mass Animated Violence Mild
Bossy Love Me + U
Callum Easter Here Or Nowhere
Cloth Cloth
Comfort Not Passing
Declan Welsh & The Decadent West Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold
Elephant Sessions What Makes You
Erland Cooper Sule Skerry
Fat-Suit Waifs & Strays
Free Love Extreme Dance Anthems
Honeyblood In Plain Sight
Karine Polwart Karine Polwart’s Scottish Songbook
Lewis Capaldi Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
Mezcla Shoot the Moon
The Ninth Wave Infancy
NOVA RE-UP
Sacred Paws Run Around The Sun
SHHE SHHE
Vistas Everything Changes In The End

Find out more about the SAY Award here.