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The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award has opened applications for their award to support new Scottish talent; the Sound of Young Scotland Award.
Emerging Scottish artists can now apply to win a funding package worth over £10,000 to support the creation of their debut album, with the award supported by Help Musicians, Youth Music and the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative through Creative Scotland.
Artists can apply for The Sound of Young Scotland Award for FREE via www.sayaward.com until midnight on Monday 14th August.
Introduced by The SAY Award in 2021 to mark 10 years of Scotland’s national music prize and stimulate the future of Scottish music, the Sound of Young Scotland Award provides a young and emerging artist with vital financial support to enable the creation of their debut album.
To be eligible for the award, artists must be: 18 – 25, have never released an album and be a ‘Scottish’ artist (born in Scotland, 50% of band/group born in Scotland, or have made Scotland their creative base for the past two years). View full eligibility criteria and prize fund details at www.sayaward.com
Berta Kennedy, 2022 winner of Sound of Young Scotland Award signed with Youth Music supported record label Enough Records last year and is currently working on her debut album. Berta said, “Winning The Sound of Young Scotland Award in 2023 was one of the most monumental moments in my career so far - it gave me a whole new platform to showcase my music and the whole experience was massively encouraging. It's so important for young musicians to feel embraced and supported by the Scottish music community and that's what this award can do for emerging artists. I definitely recommend getting involved.”
The cash grants provided via the Sound of Young Scotland Award include support directly from Youth Music's NextGen Fund and Music's Help Musicians’ Recording & Release fund.
Previous Sound of Young Scotland Award winners include Berta Kennedy (2022) and Youth Music's 2023 One To Watch LVRA (2021), with LVRA’s debut album now in the running for 2023’s SAY Award - testament to the importance of the Sound of Young Scotland’s support of new artists.
The Sound of Young Scotland Award winner will be unveiled at the prestigious SAY Award Ceremony in Stirling’s Albert Halls on Thursday 26th October, alongside the winner of The Scottish Album of the Year Award and the Modern Scottish Classic Award. A limited number of early-bird tickets are on sale now via www.sayaward.com.