The SAY Award

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The SAY Award

Scotland's national music prize; celebrating the cultural impact of outstanding Scottish albums. Learn more at sayaward.com

Produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), The SAY Award exists to:

– Enrich Scotland’s cultural identity by recognising, rewarding and championing the strength and diversity of Scotland’s recorded output; past, present and future.
– Stimulate a national focus on music by providing an annual focal point to celebrate it; driving audiences, instilling civic pride and increasing cul

tural confidence.
– Inspire the listening, learning, playing and creation of music, especially by young people, to ensure the continued vibrancy of Scottish music both now and in the future.
– Enhance the profile, reputation and credibility of Scotland’s artists and music industry; both domestically and internationally.
..in order to strengthen and increase the value of Scotland’s music industry on the world stage: economically, socially and culturally. Placing artistic merit before sales history, genre or record label affiliation, The SAY Award dispenses with categorisation, opting instead for the creation of a bold, unifying platform from which Scotland’s most outstanding albums – across all genres – can be celebrated, discovered and championed. With previous Longlist titles featuring hip-hop, rock, alternative, traditional, folk, classical, dubstep, reggae, pop and jazz, The SAY Award accommodates Scottish music in all its influential, inspiring and idiosyncratic glory. Wielding a £20,000 prize for the winner, 9 runner-up prizes of £1,000 each and a design commission which highlights the enduring links between music, art and design in Scotland, The SAY Award is respected by artists, valued by the industry and is responsible for both a surge in musical discovery and an explosion of impassioned debate on social media.

07/07/2025

Let's kick off a new week by creating the greatest Scottish album playlist of ALL TIME.

Drop your answer and we'll post the playlist soon. We can't wait for this one!

04/07/2025

The SAY Award Ceremony always delivers memories to last a lifetime 🤩

We're very excited for Dundee's chapter 🙌

02/07/2025

We are buzzing to see so many incredible Scottish albums submitted for this year's Scottish Album of the Year Award.

Anyone can enter an album released between 1st June 2024 and 31st May 2025 FOR FREE.

Submit yours now at - https://www.sayaward.com/submit

29/06/2025

We're reflecting on our launch week, revealing Dundee as the new home of The Scottish Album of the Year Award!

We're so delighted at the reaction and cannot wait for the Ceremony on 6th November in 📍Caird Hall. 🤩 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Early Bird tickets on-sale now at sayaward.com

26/06/2025

Submissions for the 2025 open on 1 July. The winning album receives £20,000 🎉 🎶

Submit your favourite Scottish album released between 1st June 2024 and 31st May 2025. Who will be this year's Scottish Album of the Year?

Join us for this year's Ceremony in Dundee on 6th November. Early Bird tickets are on-sale now via our website sayaward.com 🤩

25/06/2025

Would you look at our new venue looking stunning Caird Hall Dundee.

Also big up our 2024 winners Redolent who will perform at this very venue in Dundee at this year's ceremony on 6th November 2025.

Grab your early bird tickets now via the link in bio.

📸 Grant Anderson

24/06/2025

Dundee based artists, designers and makers!

Expressions of Interest are now open for SAY Award Design Commission 2025!
A £3k fee is up for grabs for the creation of the 14 bespoke awards which will be given to the bands and artists being recognised at Scotland’s national music prize ceremony.

The project will be amplified by our host city partners, Leisure and Culture Dundee, V&A Dundee, Dundee City Council and UNESCO Dundee City of Design.

Submit your Expression of Interest by midnight on 15 July 2025 by visiting sayaward.com/designcommission

24/06/2025

The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award Ceremony will take place in our new host city of Dundee on Thursday 6 November 2025

Ft. a special live performance from The winners Redolent + more TBA, don't miss the ultimate celebration of Scottish music.

Early bird tickets are on-sale now at sayaward.com

23/06/2025

The Sound of Somewhere New is Coming... 📍 🎶

23/05/2025

We're bringing you another standout performance from Bemz from The SAY Award 2024 Ceremony, with ‘Mula’ live at the The Albert Halls, Stirling 💸 ✨

Full video - https://bit.ly/4dveGkU

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Since its inauguration in 2012, The SAY Award has grown to become Scotland’s most popular and prestigious music prize.

Wielding a £20,000 prize for the winner, 9 runner-up prizes of £1,000 each and a design commission which highlights the enduring links between music, art and design in Scotland, The SAY Award is respected by artists, valued by the industry and is responsible for both a surge in musical discovery and an explosion of impassioned debate on social media. Placing artistic merit before sales history, genre or record label affiliation, The SAY Award dispenses with categorisation, opting instead for the creation of a bold, unifying platform from which Scotland’s most outstanding albums – across all genres – can be celebrated, discovered and championed.

With previous Longlist titles featuring hip-hop, rock, alternative, traditional, folk, classical, dubstep, reggae, pop and jazz, The SAY Award accommodates Scottish music in all its influential, inspiring and idiosyncratic glory. From mainstream platinum sellers to self-released left-field debut records, The SAY Award has illuminated Scotland’s music scene with the ambition, credibility and commitment our artists’ endeavours so richly deserve.

The SAY Award is a Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) production, delivered in 2020 in partnership with Creative Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, YouTube Music, Sweetdram, 54EP, PPL, Ticketmaster and Summerhall, with Music Declares Emergency being the award’s Charity Partner.

As we all try to navigate new challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The SAY Award campaign will go digital in 2020. In line with Government guidelines and with audience and artists’ safety at the forefront, The SAY Award's live events will move online this year, meaning music fans across the country will have the chance to be part of the traditionally exclusive final award ceremony.

All over the world, the music industry is striving to ascertain how to operate in this new normal, as the ramifications of the massive economic and cultural impacts continue to be felt. The SAY Award is committed to providing Scottish artists and music fans with an inspiring campaign which embodies the passion and resolute nature of Scotland's ever evolving music scene.

The albums celebrated by The SAY Award, spanning all genres and sounds, are the stories of Scotland’s people. At this time of crisis, when much of our culture is confined to our borders, it is more important than ever before to shine a light on the incredible talent Scotland has to offer. With international opportunities and visibility for Scottish music significantly limited at present, this year The SAY Award will feature Judges from four selected international territories for the first time in the award’s history; building upon and maintaining vital and valued international links for Scottish music.

It is without doubt that the past few months of lockdown have created significant challenges at all levels within the music industry, however, the resilience and determination of the musical community within Scotland has proven that music truly has no boundaries, as The SAY Award brings people together to celebrate the passion, value and diversity of Scottish music in 2020.

The Process

Once all eligible albums have been collated, 100 impartial ‘Nominators’, chosen from sectors including journalism, broadcast and radio, music retail and live music venues, will consider the titles from The SAY Award’s Eligible Albums list, nominating their five favourite albums and ranking them in order of preference. ‘Nominators’ include specialists in a variety of genres, such as jazz, classical, hip-hop, electronic and traditional folk, as well as key influencers from elsewhere in the arts, and cannot have a commercial interest in any of the albums being discussed. The SMIA assigns a score to each title in a Nominator’s Top 5 (#1 – 10 points, #2 – 8 points, #3 – 6 points etc.), before announcing the 20 highest scoring albums as The SAY Award Longlist.

The Longlist is then whittled down to a Shortlist of 10 albums, one of which will be chosen by music fans via a 72-hour online public vote and the others decided by The SAY Award judging panel.

Previous SAY Award judges have included the composer Craig Armstrong, Turner Prize winning artists Douglas Gordon and Susan Philipsz, filmmaker Lynne Ramsey, Music Editor of The Skinny Tallah Brash, DJ and Promoter Sarra Wild, Edinburgh International Festival Director Fergus Linehan, Sub Club Partner/Director Barry Price and Scottish Ballet’s Sophie Laplane.

The SAY Award ceremony will be broadcast on Thursday 29 October 2020, with more details to be announced. The winning artist will pick up a £20,000 cash prize, with the 9 runners up each being awarded £1,000. Each Shortlisted artist will also receive an exclusively designed piece of artwork from The SAY Award Design Commission.

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