Readers like you keep news free for everyone.
More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
# Choice Music Prize
These were the 10 best albums in Ireland last year*
*According to the RTÉ Choice Music Prize.
THE 10 NOMINATIONS for the Irish Album of the Year 2016 have been announced by the newly renamed RTÉ Choice Music Prize.
The coveted prize is among the most fiercely contested in Irish music and this year the national broadcaster has come on board to give some extra publicity along with the €10,000 prize.
All 10 nominated albums are available to stream on the RTÉ Choice Music Prize website and they are as follows:
The nominations were announced on 2FM’s Tracy Clifford Show this afternoon by Tony Clayton Lea, chairman of the judging panel, and this evening the station will broadcast a two-hour special hosted by Conor Behan from 8pm.
The winning album will be announced at a live event in Vicar Street on 9 March, as will the award for Irish Song of The Year 2016. The nominations for that award will be announced on 1 February.
The prize money for the winner comes from Irish recording industry groups IMRO and IRMA, which have long-backed the award. Culture Ireland has also pledged to fund the attendance of overseas industry executives at the Vicar Street show.
Last year’s winner of the prize was Derry singer-songwriter SOAK.
Tickets for the live event are available through Ticketmaster and it will be broadcast live on 2FM followed by a TV broadcast on RTÉ2 a week later.
Read: ‘A legend until the end of time’: Tributes paid to David Bowie on first anniversary of death >
Read: This singer made the best album in Ireland last year >
