Mercury Music Prize 2024 Full Shortlist: All the acts up for this year's £25,000 prize - including Charli XCX and Barry Can't Swim

Ezra Collective won the Mercury Music Prize last year. | Getty Images

The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, was created in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards and is known for its eclectic mix of musical genres.

The first prize was won by Scottish band Primal Scream for their seminal album ‘Screamadelica’, with other Franz Ferdinand and Young Fathers the only other two acts from north of the border to have won since.

Other acts to have won include Arctic Monkeys, Skepta, Dave, Wolf Alice, Ms. Dynamite, Dizzee Rascal, Klaxons, James Blake, Pulp, Elbow, The xx, Suede, and alt-J.

And last year’s winner was Ezra Collective, who became the first jazz act to win for their album Where I’m Meant To Be.

PJ Harvey is the only artist to have won the prize twice – for Let England Shake and Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea.

To be eligible for the prize over 50 per cent of a band’s members must be British or Irish, and submissions are made by record labels.

The shortlist is chosen “based solely on their musical merit and irrespective of how popular or successful an album or act that has been submitted may have been in the previous calendar year”.

This year's judges are Danielle Perry (Broadcaster & Writer), Jamie Cullum (Musician & Broadcaster), Jamz Supernova (Broadcaster & DJ), Jeff Smith (Head of Music, 6 Music & Radio 2), Lea Stonhill (Music Programming Consultant), Mistajam (Songwriter, DJ & Broadcaster), Phil Alexander (Creative Director, Kerrang!/Contributing Editor, Mojo), Sian Eleri (Broadcaster & DJ), Will Hodgkinson (Chief Rock & Pop Critic, The Times), Sophie Williams (Music Writer & Broadcaster) and chair of the judging team Jeff Smith.

The winner will be announced at an event in September.

Here are the contenders this year:

• Barry Can’t Swim - When Will We Land
• Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown
• Cat Burns - Early 20s
• Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows
• Charli XCX - BRAT
• CMAT - Crazy Mad For Me
• English Teacher - This Could Be Texas
• Ghetts - On Purpose, with Purpose
• Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
• The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy
• corto.alto - Bad With Names
• Berwyn - Who Am I