Edinburgh to host SAY Award for the first time
The SAY Award will be making its debut in the capital at The Assembly Rooms in September
The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award is heading to Edinburgh for the first time when the event takes place in September.
Previously held in Paisley, the night will celebrate the best Scottish albums released across the year, with the winner receiving a £20,000 prize. Previous winners of the award have included Young Fathers’ Cocoa Sugar, Sacred Paws’ Strike a Match, Anna Meredith’s Varmints and Kathryn Joseph’s Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled.
Award organisers the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) will be bringing both Live at the Longlist, a ticketed live music event announcing the 20 albums nominated for the prize, and the final award ceremony to Edinburgh in 2019; the former will take place in July at The Queen’s Hall while the final award ceremony will be held at The Assembly Rooms.
Robert Kilpatrick, General Manager of SMIA said of the news: “The SMIA is absolutely delighted to be bringing the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award to Edinburgh in 2019. Edinburgh has no shortage of fantastic cultural events, but as Scotland’s national music prize, we’re delighted to see one of our country’s most exciting music events make its debut in the capital city.
"As has been well documented, live music in Edinburgh has faced challenging times in recent years with the loss of several key grassroots venues. Edinburgh excels at providing a platform for many other cultural strands, so we are delighted to be working with Edinburgh City Council to amplify the cultural importance of live music in our capital city.”
Edinburgh Councillor Donald Wilson, meanwhile, said: “Edinburgh is delighted to be the host city for the Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2019. Now in its 8th year, the Scottish Album of the Year Award has gone from strength to strength and now represents the pinnacle of creative achievement in contemporary Scottish music. With Young Fathers winning last year’s award, it feels very exciting and relevant to be the host city for 2019.
"We are committed to making Edinburgh a great city for music on all fronts – from grass roots all the way through to our world famous festivals and venues. Live at the Longlist will be hosted in the Queen’s Hall – a great way to celebrate its 40th anniversary – and the final award ceremony will take place in the historic Assembly Rooms now in its 231st year! We feel that this will provide a great addition to the exciting 2019 calendar of music lined up across in the city.”
The Scottish Album of the Year Award will be held in Sep at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh
Artists, industry and music fans will be able to submit eligible albums for the 2019 SAY Award via sayaward.com from 1 May