Hailie Hay
Introduced in 2010, the Nordic Music Prize is presented annually to the artist who has come out with the best album of the last calendar year. Having been created in order to raise awareness of and unify the Nordic music scene, the award is presented only to artists from Nordic countries, and is decided upon by a panel of both Nordic and international music moguls.
Presented by WiMP (the Norwegian music player, not the insult), the nominees for the 2012 Nordic Music Prize are as follows:
Selvhenter; Frk. B. Fricka (Denmark)
Choir of Young Believers; Rhine Gold (Denmark)
Pää Kii; Pää Kii (Finland)
Kerkko Koskinen Kollektiivi ; Kerkko Koskinen Kollektiivi (Finland)
Ásgeir Trausti ; Dýrð í dauðaþögn (Iceland)
Retro Stefson; Retro Stefson (Iceland)
Susanne Sundfør; The Silicone Veil (Norway)
Tønes; Sån av salve (Norway)
Lindstrøm ; Smalhans (Norway)
Neneh Cherry & The Thing; The Cherry Thing (Sweden)
First Aid Kit; The Lion’s Roar (Sweden)
Anna von Hausswolff; Ceremony (Sweden)
When asked about the Nordic music scene and the Prize, “jury” member Audun Vinger stated that the panelists, “learn from the knowledge of each other and discover great new music from the local scenes that (they) didn’t know existed.” He then went on to say that the prize is about, “ breaking down barriers, both musical and cultural,” and that it, “gets more important every year.” The Nordic scene has, in fact, seemed to have grown exponentially in the past few years. Along with the growing importance of the Prize, it may as well continue to garner more and more global recognition in the months and years to come.
