As much as the Polaris Music Prize is about celebrating the present and building the future of Canadian Music the organizers also have one ear on the past. The inaugural Slaight Family Heritage Prize has been launched and it will celebrate one of five records from the last four and a half decades in the categories, the 60s & 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s (from 2000 to 2005). The short list picked by 25 members of the Canadian media, music historians and the Polaris jury (both past and present) will be announced Sep 18. The general public can vote on the winner of on the four lists with the winners announced Oct. 9. A tribute concert for the winning albums will take place at Massey Hall in 2016.
The Polaris is based on artistic merit regardless of sales. Previous winners include Patrick Watson, Feist, God Speed You Black Emperor, Arcade Fire and Tanya Tagaq. This year’s shortlist is Avvays, Braids, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Badbadnotgood with Ghostface Killah, Drake, Caribou, Jennifer Castle, New Pornographers, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Viet Cong. The 2016 Polaris Music Prize will be chosen by a panel of judges at a gala Sep 21.