Talk:Mercury Prize

How does voting work
As someone who was looking for info on how the prize is actually voted on I couldn't find anything obvious in the article - am I missing something? Is it decided by a closed panel or by the public? Loweredtone (talk) 12:25, 14 September 2017 (UTC)

move page
Given its official renaming, I propose moving this page to Mercury Prize.  DJR  ( T ) 22:00, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Or Nationwide Mercury Prize? Corebowe 22:05, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The Nationwide sponsorship is only a temporary feature - the sponsors change every few years as illustrated in the article. I personally don't like having sponsors in article titles on Wikipedia in any case.  Continue discussion on below though.   DJR  ( T ) 22:11, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Requested move
Mercury Music Prize → Mercury Prize – The official name of the Prize has been changed, so the article name should be changed to reflect this. The target article is currently a redirect to the instance article, so administator assistance would be required.  DJR  ( T ) 22:09, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Survey
Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~


 * Support - Good point made about sponsorship changing, so I support the move. Corebowe 22:13, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Support, should be at the current official name. Recury 17:03, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Support, major sources are already calling the Mercury Prize, most omitting the Nationwide part. Stu   ’Bout ye!  21:31, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

 * Re-listing the request. --Dijxtra 17:44, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The move succeeded. --Dijxtra 08:04, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

NPOV

 * "the shortlist has often been perceived as a desperate attempt by the panel to appear "cool" regardless of what the actual public's interests are. This occurred particularly in 1999, when Black Star Liner and Talvin Singh, who had been shoehorned into a non-existent "movement" created by the music press called Asian Underground[citation needed], were selected for the shortlist. The latter's album Ok went on to win the prize, yet was bought by few consumers."

This totally ignores the entire point of the MMP, which is not simply to reflect sales or populist interest. calling it 'an attempt to look cool' is rubbish, stuff like "M People" and "Antony and the Johnsons" aren't typically cool; they'd vote with the NME crowd if that was the case. it is, i believe, an attempt for them to honestly pick what they believe is the best british album of the year- sidestepping effects of marketing, (media) hype, and trying to keep an open mind etc. no, the system isn't perfect, tell me one that is. yes they made mistakes (M People over Blur's "Parklife", being the clear example), and no one has the same opinion.. but bashing it purely because it doesn't reflect mass opinion is NPOV, when this fact has already been stated. No 'credible' music award reflects 'mass opinion'. They are mutually exclusive. ~ Bungalowbill

Agreed. Annihilatenow 16:10, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Compilation Albums
Why are there no articles on the compilation albums? These are released every year and should have their own articles. Uncle Montezuma  08:26, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Accessibility
Signifying winners in bold only is not accessible - some people may have DOS-style monitors, or be hearing the page through an aural browser. We need to use a more explicit signifier, such as an asterisk, listing them first, or using the word "winner" in brackets after the succesful candidate's name. Andy Mabbett | Talk to Andy Mabbett 13:17, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

Spam
User:Indiesaur is adding links to http://albumofthemonth.com/. This seems to be a purely commercial amazon.com affiliate, and adds nothing as an external link or source. Therefore, it is purely spam. I'm not going to breach 3RR, so if anyone agrees with me could they remove the links. Stu  ’Bout ye!  14:34, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree. I just removed such links from Dizzee Rascal (added by User:Bramblemuncher), Myths of the Near Future (album) (added by User:Innkeeperage) and Kate Bush (added by User:Iloveleaves. There seem to be a lot of drive-by sockpuppets involved.
 * Use to find other article where links to this site have been planted (currently, there are over 140 of them). Regards, High on a tree 14:59, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Ugh, I'm not doing that manually! I'll try and get my AWB up and running later. Never used it though, so I'm not sure it can even do this. Stu   ’Bout ye!  15:45, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, I see you've started removing them. I'll have ago as well. Stu   ’Bout ye!  15:52, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I believe User:Rennybarker is also involved, links added to Muse for example, for which they were warned -- M2Ys4U ( talk ) 16:43, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I've been reverting a fair few of these. Don't worry. It'll get sorted. :) --SteelersFan UK06 01:14, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
 * It is on the spam blacklist now, and all links removed. Stu   ’Bout ye!  13:46, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks to everybody who worked to get this resolved. I was a bit sceptical at first if this is a case for blacklisting, but considering that the spammer has been active at least since June 2007, and promptly reinserted removed links yesterday and today I think it is an appropriate measure. (Btw note the care he took to always select the previously used sockpuppet for each article, , , ...) If more of those links crop up in other language Wikipedias, it might even be a case for the Mediawiki spam blacklist on meta. Regards, High on a tree 23:24, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Winners?
Lets have a list of the winners as well as the shortlists. On my browser (safari, mac OSX) the winners do not appear in bold as stated

A Hotel Overlooking The Pentagon?
There is a problem with this paragraph;

"The 2001 awards were held on September 11, and when it was announced that PJ Harvey had won the prize for her album Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Harvey herself was staying in a hotel in Washington DC which overlooked The Pentagon, which had been hit by one of the hijacked aeroplanes."

I am pretty sure that this is impossible. The Pentagon is not in DC, nor is it visible from DC. It is across the Potomac River in Arlington Virginia, which is where I grew up. That neighborhood is called "Pentagon City" but the only highrise there that's close enough to the Pentagon to actually "overlook" it is one of the three River House Apartment buildings, which is on a hill. These condos are where my grandma lived from before I was born until her death, in 2005. The nearest hotels would have their view of the Pentagon blocked by an elevated highway. The combination of the highway and the shape of the landscape itself block the view of the Pentagon from almost all vantage points in the "Pentagon City" neighborhood except for that one apartment building on the hill and a tiny corner of it's lawn which is at the apex of the hill, which is the highest piece of ground by far in the area. Otherwise the Pentagon is hidden from view by the highways that encircle it, unless you are in a car on the highway itself. I am currently living in California, so I can't confirm this for Wikipedia right now. However, I think that my memory as a person who grew up in the neighborhood is more accurate than that uncited anonymous assertion. Many people claim to have witnessed dramatic things on 9/11 that they could not have possibly seen. For accuracy's sake that paragraph should be removed, unless someone in the DC Metro area looks and reports back to Wikipedia that it is even physically possible for that to have happened. Is there a hotel in Arlington where you can actually look out and see the Pentagon from the windows? I think not.

Fritzflohr (talk) 11:14, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Is this actually relevant to any article about the Mercury Music Prize? It's nothing but a piece of trivia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.22.40.32 (talk) 21:54, 3 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I added two references for the statement, which includes quotes from Harvey saying that she could see the Pentagon. I note that this page states that the Sheraton overlooks the Pentagon: maybe this could have been the hotel in question? --David Edgar (talk) 17:47, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

2008 winners
I have removed Radiohead as the winners of the 2008 award for the moment, mainly because a) the awards are tonight and b) the cited site just directs to a locked page, which doesn't seem to have a trusted source either. If I or anyone can find a reliable source (NME etc.) then change it back. Le.Kwyjibo (talk) 13:11, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Namesake
Is this prize named for Freddie Mercury? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.102.26.165 (talk) 05:41, 13 May 2009 (UTC)
 * No, it's named after a Cable and Wireless product. See notes in revised lead. The Rambling Man (talk) 17:57, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

To help with getting up to FLC
The Rambling Man (talk) 17:57, 22 June 2009 (UTC)
 * BPI praised
 * BPI & BARD
 * 2003 non-sponsored winner
 * 4 more years

Curse: The Rambling Man (talk) 18:14, 22 June 2009 (UTC)
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Photo updates required
Suede's 1993 line-up included Brett Anderson, Mat Osman,Bernard Butler and Simon Gilbert. The picture shows Richard Oakes, Neil Codling, Brett Anderson, Mat Osman and Simon Gilbert.

I think we need a picture showing the actual winning line-up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dracu666 (talk • contribs) 17:17, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Fine. Get us a free-to-use one, or one that comes from Commons and we'll be all good.  The Rambling Man (talk) 17:31, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Similarly with Primal Scream, the current picture shows Mani, who wasn't in the band until 1996. 81.142.107.230 (talk) 11:25, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

FALTA THALIA!!!
CREO QUE SE OLVIDARON DE PONER A THALIA...!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 186.63.25.8 (talk) 05:56, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

Why not call the prize what it's officially to be known as???
Sorry, it seems that the Prize Formerly Known As The Mercury Prize has now decided (for "sponsorship reasons," but of course!) to be henceforth known as the "Barclaycard Mercury Prize." So...why not admit this farce? fact? Are the writers of this article so ashamed of the fact that their "coveted" prize decided to accept corporate funding in exchange for (gasp!) renaming the ACTUAL PRIZE for said corporate entity??

Please everyone get off your high horses and realize that the "Mercury Prize" is no more: like the cheapest of whores, she's sold her name to the highest bidder in an attempt to keep viable. And...here we are! Why not put truth to truth? If "Man Booker Prize" can make the corporate change, why can't you??

Ta122.26.4.167 (talk) 11:03, 10 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, well we name articles by their common name and that's most obviously the Mercury Prize. The sponsorship is noted in the lead ("... currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons ...").  Thanks for your interest in this article!!  The Rambling Man (talk) 13:54, 10 June 2012 (UTC)

DATES
Thia article doesn't mention what month (or season...)


 * A. the nominations are announced
 * B. the ceremony is

I was just wondering when reading the article these two things, but I myself don't have a clue (I presume because there is no 2012 one it is the latter months of the year...) - Poiuytre (talk) 14:27, 9 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Well it's not written in stone, but judging by most of the refs, the nominations are announced around July and the winner around September. The Rambling Man (talk) 14:32, 9 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Oh right thanks I thought they had a set month or week where these things were announced (most prizes have a set week each year). That means the nominations will be out in the next few weeks then!! :D Poiuytre (talk) 14:37, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Splitting the huge table by year?
Since I have been asked to discuss this on the talk page before "splitting the whole article [it's not the whole article but just the winners and nominations table - get it right please :)] into dozens of tiny tables" [what's so tiny about a table listing the winner and 11 nominations?? Isn't that just a normal-sized table, relevant for its purpose?], I have decided to ask here if anyone disagrees with splitting up the article winners and nomination table by year. If so, any reason? I also thought it would be better to have the winner's photo in each section by year but I don't mind if anyone has anything against this. The purpose of the split is so that one doesn't have to scroll though approximately 250 lines of text before getting to the current year (I realise that one can just click 'See also' and then just scroll up, but not everyone is savvy enough to do this). This will only increase and one would be scrolling through almost 300 lines in a few years' time. Furthermore, editing the winners or nominees, or the album details, its format, linking, or the photos requires even more scrolling in the edit page. It's completely unnecessary if it was split by year. Although only the French Prix Constantin article splits the table, the other music prizes only have at the most 9 years of awards unlike the Mercury's 23 years. Thoughts would be appreciated. Feudonym (talk) 03:35, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

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anti-metal bias bias? meta-bias?
As it stands today, there's too much concentration on the anti-metal bias. The article is skewed towards this - strip out the list of nominees, and a considerable proportion of the remaining article (30%?) is about why metal has never been nominated. I'm sure this is unintentional, but it makes it seem like the albatross around the award's neck is the lack of metal nominations, rather than in reality it just being an indifferent situation that registers with few and bothers none other than a portion of the admittedly insular and niche genre. Rayman60 (talk) 01:35, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Sponsor
I couldn't find a third-party source explicitly stating that the BBC is the current sponsor, but it's evident from the Prize's own website, which uses such awkward language as "the winner of the 2015 Mercury Prize in association with BBC Music is Benjamin Clementine". – Smyth\talk 21:18, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

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