The shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize, an annual award honoring Canada’s best albums of the year, was released today. The nominations include Alvvays, Feist, and Daniel Caesar. See the complete list of nominees below. The $50,000 grand prize winner will be announced on September 19 at Massey Hall in Toronto.

The finalists are chosen by a panel of 205 journalists, programmers, and broadcasters who reviewed 221 albums and, after careful consideration, narrowed them down to a shortlist before today’s 10-album announcement. Pierre Kwenders received the award for his CD José Louis and the Paradox of Love at last year’s ceremony.

The Polaris Music Prize is an annual award for the best Canadian full-length album based on artistic merit, irrespective of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash reward; for the 2011 award, the prize was increased to $30,000.In May 2015, the Polaris Music Prize was increased to a total of $50,000, an increase of $20,000. Slaight Music sponsored this increase. In addition, the second-place awards for the remaining nine acts on the Short List rose from $2,000 to $3,000. Polaris officials also announced The Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize, a prize that “will annually honor five albums from the five decades preceding the label’s 2006 launch.” The selection procedure for this award has not yet been disclosed.

Polaris Music Prize Short List 2023

Alvvays – Blue Rev
Aysanabee – Watin
Begonia – Powder Blue
Dan Mangan – Being Somewhere
Daniel Caesar – Never Enough
Debby Friday – Good Luck
Feist – Multitudes
Gayance – Masquerade
The Sadies – Colder Streams
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – I’m Good, HBU?