Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens has announced a new award to celebrate the year's best album by a Welsh artist. Modeled on Scandinavia's Nordic Council music prize and Canada's Polaris prize, the Welsh music prize will be presented at October's Swn festival in Cardiff.
"The Welsh music prize is a chance to highlight incredible albums made by Welsh musicians, and bring their music to a wider attention," Stephens told BBC News.
"We've long thought Wales should have a critically judged music prize that celebrates the great diversity in genre and language from this country," explained Swn's John Rostron, who co-founded the prize with Stephens.
"We'll have a wider remit than the Mercury," Rostron said. "[The Mercury] doesn't seem to favour rock and metal, and we'll also include bilingual albums and Welsh-language releases."
The 12 albums shortlisted for the award will be revealed before the end of the month, Stephens said. Although this year's Mercury shortlist includes only one Welsh nominee – jazz pianist Gwilym Simcock – "there's been so much great music coming out of Wales in the last 12 months," Rostron said. "It's going to be a difficult shortlisting 12."
On the Welsh music prize Facebook page, fans are lobbying for acts including the Reads and Jonathan Powell.
