The Mercury Prize is back with a full in-person ceremony for the first time in two years tonight (September 9).
The awards show hosted by Lauren Laverne takes place at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, as well as being broadcast live on BBC Four and Radio 6 Music.
Many of the dozen acts up for the award will perform on the night, including Arlo Parks, Berwyn, Black Country, New Road, Celeste, Ghetts, Hannah Peel, Laura Mvula, Mogwai, Nubya Garcia and Wolf Alice. Short films will be shown about the albums by Sault and Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the LSO.
But with several debuts up for the prize, how important a platform is the Mercury Prize as it approaches its 30th anniversary next year? As Music Week has reported, the switch from an album purchase to a consumption model is having an impact on the charts, and shortlisted acts may not experience the same kind of sales boosts as those in previous years.
Based on Music Week analysis of Official Charts Company data, the biggest uplifts in sales since the nomination week are for Laura Mvula’s Pink Noise (Atlantic), with a 50% increase; composer Hannah Peel’s Fir Wave (My Own Pleasure), up 40.1%; and the mysterious (and much fancied) Sault’s Untitled (Rise) released via indie label Forever Living Originals, which has seen sales soar by 23.7%. Berwyn’s DemoTape/Vega (Columbia) is up 18.7%.
Each of these records has a relatively low sales base and, in the case of Laura Mvula, only a few weeks to build up its tally by the time it was nominated. Nevertheless, the increases for Laura Mvula and Hannah Peel are ahead of the 37.8% uplift for Moses Boyd’s Dark Matter (Exodus), which had the biggest percentage sales gains at this point last year.
The most substantial impact in terms of absolute sales is for Wolf Alice’s No.1 album Blue Weekend (Dirty Hit), which has shifted almost 10,000 more copies since the shortlist was announced on July 22 (an impressive 17.6% increase). The widely acclaimed album by the former winners has sales to date of 61,721, including 13,884 from streams.
There has also been a double-digit gain for rising jazz star Nubya Garcia, whose LP Source (Concord) has seen sales increase by 17.7% to 6,790 since the nominations announcement. Over the same period, monthly Spotify listeners have increased 57.5% to 196,144. Garcia has obvious crossover appeal, and she guested during Lianne La Havas’ set at Cross The Tracks festival in South London at the weekend.
Arlo Parks, an AIM Awards winner, has seen sales of her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams (Transgressive/PIAS) increase by 12.9% to 43,311. Parks’ Instagram followers have grown by 14.5% to 251,789 over the same period.
For other shortlisted acts, the impact is more notable on streaming or social media. Celeste’s No.1 album Not You Muse (Polydor) has increased sales by just 6.1% to 61,980 (it was released back in January), but her monthly Spotify listeners have rocketed in the past seven weeks from 2,568,923 to 5,419,907 (up 111%). Meanwhile, her Instagram followers have grown 10.1% to 163,000.
Last year’s winning album, Kiwanuka (Polydor) by Michael Kiwanuka, had sold 70,051 copies at the point at which it was nominated. The LP has now moved a total of 125,009 copies.
This year’s prize could still deliver a major impact for the winning album based on previous years. Dave’s Psychodrama (Dave Neighbourhood) experienced a 98.5% uplift after the 2019 ceremony, and the prize arguably helped his career progress towards the stellar sales of new LP We’re All Alone In This Together.
See below for the full impact on Official Charts Company sales for Mercury Prize 2021 albums between July 22 and September 8.
Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams (Transgressive/PIAS)
SALES: 43,311
INCREASE: 12.9%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.3
Berwyn - DemoTape/Vega (Columbia)
SALES: 1,760 18.7%
INCREASE: 18.7%
PEAK CHART POSITION: N/A
Black Country, New Road - For The First Time (Ninja Tune)
SALES: 13,078
INCREASE: 9%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.4
Celeste - Not Your Muse (Polydor)
SALES: 61,980
INCREASE: 6.1%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.1
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises (Luaka Bop/K7)
SALES: 10,477
INCREASE: 9.5%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.6
Ghetts - Conflict of Interest (Warner Records)
SALES: 21,058
INCREASE: 8%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.2
Hannah Peel - Fir Wave (My Own Pleasure)
SALES: 1,767
INCREASE: 40.1%
PEAK CHART POSITION: N/A
Laura Mvula - Pink Noise (Atlantic)
SALES: 5,147
INCREASE: 50%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.21
Mogwai - As The Love Continues (Rock Action)
SALES: 20,289
INCREASE: 7.2%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.1
Nubya Garcia - Source (Concord)
SALES: 6,790
INCREASE: 17.7%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.46
Sault - Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
SALES: 2,737
INCREASE: 23.7%
PEAK CHART POSITION: N/A
Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend (Dirty Hit)
SALES: 61,721
INCREASE: 17.6%
PEAK CHART POSITION: No.1
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