Mercury Prize 2024: What is the Mercury Prize, who has won it before and can you watch the ceremony on TV?

• The 2024 Mercury Prize ceremony is set to take place later this evening (September 5 2024.)
• This year’s finalists include Charli XCX, Nia Archives and Corinne Bailey Rae vying for the hallowed award
• But what exactly is the Mercury Prize, what do the winners get and who has previously won the award?

It’s been called by some the musical equivalent of the Turner Art Prize, and for one lucky artist tonight, they will be the latest to win the vaunted Mercury Prize.

This year’s set of finalists are once again an eclectic mix of sounds across the musical divide, with Charli XCX, Berwyn, Beth Gibbons, English Teacher, The Last Dinner Party, Nia Archives, CMAT, Corinne Bailey Rae, Corto.alto, Cat Burns, Ghetts and Barry Can’t Swim all up for the award this evening. 

But while the event this year will not be a public affair, there’s still the opportunity to follow all the action online and on TV, but for some newer to the world of music awards, there might be some questions raised about the Mercury Prize.

For example, is it judged like a BRIT or a Grammy Award? What do the winners of the Mercury Prize earn after being announced the winner, and for those who fancy a flutter what are the current betting odds to make a “safe” bet this year - or an outside bet, owing to the criteria the albums are judged on.

Well, ahead of this evening’s event being broadcast on TV and radio, we’re here to help answer some of those burning questions you may have before this year’s winner is announced. 

What is the Mercury Prize?

The final betting odds have been made ahead of this evening’s Mercury Prize - but who would this year’s winner join from previous years? | Mercury Prize

The Mercury Prize was established in 1992 as a musical counterpart to the vaunted Turner Art Prize; an award for music that did not take into account chart sales and superstardom, but instead for the artists merits of both the album and the artist themselves. 

A shortlist of twelve finalists are then compiled from submissions across the musical spectrum, be it electronica, classical, rock and pop. The only prerequisites for consideration is that the album was released within the time period for that year’s award, that the album was released by a British or Irish artist or if a band has over 50% of their lineup British or Irish.

What do the winners of the Mercury Prize win?

Asides from the adulation of the audience and music press for winning the hallowed award? They get to take home the prestigious Mercury Prize trophy itself, alongside a cash prize (at one stage valued at £25,000) and their album joining previous winners in an almost “hall of fame” of British music.

There is also the renewed interest in the winning album after the ceremony, as explained by Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, who told the BBC after their win with “The Seldom Seen Kid” in 2008 saw a 700% increase in album sales. 

Don’t feel too bad for the runners up though - by virtue of their album being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, evidence has shown that they too have enjoyed a spike in interest and album sales or streams. 

Who has previously won the Mercury Prize?

Primal Scream were the first winners of the award in 1992 for their album “Screamadelica,” while the most recent holders of the prize are Ezra Collective for their album “Where’s I’m Meant To Be.”

PJ Harvey remains to date the only musician to win the Mercury Prize twice, with her first win coming in 2001 for “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” and a decade later with 2011’s “Let England Shake.” Though she does not hold the record for most nominations - that “honour” is tied between Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys, who have been nominated five times. 

While Arctic Monkeys were successful, winning the award in 2006 with their debut album “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,” Radiohead are still awaiting their first Mercury Prize win.

Full list of previous Mercury Prize winners

• 1992: Primal Scream - “Screamadelica”
• 1993: Suede - “Suede”
• 1994: M People - “Elegant Slumming”
• 1995: Portishead - “Dummy”
• 1996: Pulp - “Different Class”
• 1997: Roni Size & Reprazent – “New Forms”
• 1998: Gomez – “Bring It On”
• 1999: Talvin Singh – “Ok”
• 2000: Badly Drawn Boy – “The Hour of Bewilderbeast”
• 2001: PJ Harvey - “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea”
• 2002: Ms. Dynamite – “A Little Deeper”
• 2003: Dizzee Rascal - “Boy in da Corner”
• 2004: Franz Ferdinand – “Franz Ferdinand”
• 2005: Antony and the Johnsons – “I Am a Bird Now”
• 2006: Arctic Monkeys – “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not”
• 2007: Klaxons – “Myths of the Near Future”
• 2008: Elbow – “The Seldom Seen Kid”
• 2009: Speech Debelle – “Speech Therapy”
• 2010: The xx – “xx”

• 2011: PJ Harvey - “Let England Shake”
• 2012: alt-J – “An Awesome Wave”
• 2013: James Blake – “Overgrown”
• 2014: Young Fathers - “Dead”
• 2015: Benjamin Clementine – “At Least for Now”
• 2016: Skepta – “Konnichiwa”
• 2017: Sampha – “Process”
• 2018: Wolf Alice – “Visions of a Life”
• 2019: Dave – “Psychodrama”
• 2020: Michael Kiwanuka – “Kiwanuka”
• 2021: Arlo Parks – “Collapsed in Sunbeams”
• 2022: Little Simz – “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert”
• 2023: Ezra Collective - “Where I’m Meant To Be”

Who is the favourite in 2024 to win the Mercury Prize?

Bookmakers think that the “Brat Summer” is set to continue throughout September, with Charli XCX’s “Brat” the heavy betting favourite heading into this evening’s ceremony. 

Oddschecker, who compile an aggregate of betting odds across many betting websites, have “Brat” currently at 2/1, with the nearest rival, English Teacher’s “This Could Be Texas,” currently with odds of 4/1

Complete betting odds for Mercury Prize 2024

• Charli XCX - “Brat” - 2/1
• English Teacher - “This Could Be Texas” - 4/1
• The Last Dinner Party - “Prelude To Ecstasy” - 6/1
• CMAT - “Crazymad, For Me” - 7/1
• Beth Gibbons - “Lives Outgrown” - 7/1
• Nia Archives - “Silence is Loud” - 8/1
• Corinne Bailey Rae - “Black Rainbows” - 10/1
• Corto.alto - “Bad With Names” - 14/1
• Barry Can’t Swim - “When Will We Land?” - 16/1
• Cat Burns - “Early Twenties” - 16/1
• Ghetts - “On Purpose, With Purpose” - 20/1
• Berwyn - “Who Am I” - 22/1

Can I watch the Mercury Prize 2024 ceremony online or on TV?

It’s the only way you can see the Mercury Prize this year, as the organisers scrapped the public ceremony in favour of a more widespread digital approach to this year’s ceremony. Nonetheless - you can follow all the action of the Mercury Prize this evening on BBC 4 from 8pm until 9:15pm BST.

BBC 6 Music will also have expanded coverage from the event from 7pm, with Tom Ravenscroft and Deb Grant on hand at the event until 11pm BST.

Who do you think will win this year’s Mercury Prize, or who do you hope will win this year’s award? Leave your predictions as a comment down below or suggest who you think should have been shortlisted but didn’t.