Scotland’s National Music Prize Returns To Dundee For 15th Edition
Submissions Now Open For £20,000 Prize Plus, Say Award Design Commission Call For Entries
Scotland’s national music prize, the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award has opened entries for 2026, which marks its 15th anniversary. Set to return to Dundee for the second year in a row, The SAY Award invites artists, industry professionals and fans alike to submit eligible albums for free, to be in with a chance of winning the ultimate £20,000 prize.
Submit eligible albums for free now via www.sayaward.com – submissions close 11.59pm Thursday 30th July 2026
The SAY Award has also opened expressions of interest for its Design Commission, calling on local Dundee creators to design prizes for this year’s nominees and winners, which will go on to be distributed at the Ceremony and displayed in V&A Dundee. Submit an expression of interest via www.sayaward.com/designcommission
Produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), The SAY Award Ceremony will return to Dundee’s Caird Hall on Thursday 5th November 2026 to celebrate its 15th year, following a hugely successful inaugural event in the city which saw Kai Reesu take the top prize. Kai Reesu will return to the Caird Hall to perform as part of this year’s Ceremony in front of over 1,500 fans and industry professionals, alongside 2025 Sound of Young Scotland winner Alice Faye. Early-bird tickets for 2026’s SAY Award Ceremony are now on sale via www.sayaward.com
Artists, music fans, record labels and more are encouraged to submit eligible albums for free, from 30 June, to be in with the chance of winning The SAY Award. To be considered for 2026’s award, eligible albums must have been released between 1st June 2025 and 31st May 2026 and meet The SAY Award’s eligibility criteria.
Previous winners include Kai Reesu, rEDOLENT, Young Fathers, Kathryn Joseph, Mogwai, Anna Meredith, Fergus McCreadie and more, with The SAY Award having distributed over £425,000 in prize money to Scottish artists since its inception in 2012. Albums released in the past twelve months, which could be submitted for consideration this year include Amy Macdonald, Barry Can’t Swim, Biffy Clyro, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Nicola Benedetti, Rianne Downey, Valtos, Vlure and more.
In its 15th year, The SAY Award will reflect on its role in celebrating the cultural impact and contribution of outstanding Scottish albums, having now distributed over £425,000 in prize money to artists ranging from Young Fathers, Paolo Nutini, CHVRCHES and Kathryn Joseph, to Alice Faye, Dillon Barrie and more. ,
The SAY Award 2026 winner will receive a £20,000 prize and the coveted title of Scottish Album of the Year, whilst nine runners up will each receive £1,000, as well as bespoke prizes created by a Dundee-based designer through The SAY Award Design Commission. Accompanying the main album of the year prize, the Modern Scottish Classic Award will recognise an iconic album from Scotland’s past that still inspires Scottish musicians today, and the Sound of Young Scotland Award – supported by the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative through Creative Scotland and Youth Music – will provide a young and emerging artist with a funding package to support the creation of their debut album, including manufacturing support from Seabass Vinyl; Scotland’s first vinyl pressing plant. 2025’s Modern Scottish Classic winner was KT Tunstall’s ‘Eye to the Telescope’, with Alice Faye collecting The Sound of Young Scotland Award.
As the UK’s first, and only, UNESCO City of Design, Dundee will celebrate its status as a cultural powerhouse in partnership with The SAY Award, with this year’s prizes once again created by a local Dundee designer. Highlighting the enduring links between music, art and design, The SAY Award Design Commission invites local Dundee makers to create bespoke prizes for the winning artists at this year’s Ceremony. The SAY Design Commission offers a fee of £3,000 for the design and manufacture of the awards, with a key focus on sustainability. Previous awards have included sand-cast glass sculptures, jesmonite arches and low-carbon concrete totems, with local designers encouraged to consider a zero-waste approach and take inspiration from the city of Dundee for their submissions.
Robert Kilpatrick, CEO and Creative Director of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) said, “It’s hard to believe that 2026 marks 15 years of SAY. To date, 280 Longlisted albums have been celebrated and championed, and over £425,000 in prize money has been distributed to outstanding Scottish artists.
“When I think about what the award does – what it says about who we are as a nation and how we value our music and culture – I’m really proud of the continued commitment from our partners in making everything we do possible.
“We’re delighted to be returning to Dundee’s Caird Hall this November for a landmark celebration, and to be welcoming Fettercairn on board as our headline partner.
Best of luck to all artists who submit eligible albums, and we look forward to what will be another incredible celebration of the strength and diversity of Scottish music later this year.”
Anna Day, Head of Culture and Libraries at Leisure & Culture Dundee said, “After a hugely successful first year in Dundee, The SAY Award quickly became one of the standout nights at Caird Hall, bringing outstanding performances and a real sense of occasion to the heart of the city. As it returns for its 15th anniversary, we’re encouraging people to visit Dundee and come together at Caird Hall to celebrate our city and Scotland’s music and we’re inviting Dundonians to get behind the event and be part of an exceptional night with some of the best musicians working in Scotland today.”
Thom Watt, Global Brand Controller at Fettercairn said, “We are passionate believers in celebrating the creativity, ingenuity and inclusive culture of Scotland, not to mention the joy of discovering a life-changing new album. These shared values are why everyone at Fettercairn is absolutely delighted to be supporting The SAY Award as it returns to Dundee in its landmark 15th year. We can’t wait to support and celebrate some fantastic Scottish albums.”
Once all eligible albums have been collated for The SAY Award, 100 impartial ‘Nominators’, chosen from sectors including journalism, music retail and music venues across Scotland, nominate and rank their five favourite albums in order of preference. The SMIA assigns a score to each title in a Nominator’s Top 5, before announcing the 20 highest scoring albums as The SAY Award Longlist.
The Longlist will then be whittled down to a Shortlist of 10 albums, one of which will be chosen by music fans via a 72-hour online public vote. The remaining nine albums will be chosen by The SAY Award judging panel, before judges then choose the winning album, exclusively announced at 2026’s ceremony.
The SAY Award is a Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) production. The SAY Award 2026 is delivered in partnership with Fettercairn, Creative Scotland, Leisure & Culture Dundee, V&A Dundee, Dundee City Council, UNESCO Dundee City of Design, Seabass Vinyl, PPL, HMV, FOPP, the Scottish Government’s Youth Music Initiative, Youth Music, Apex Hotels, Malmaison and Music Declares Emergency.
Previous winners of The SAY Award include; Kai Reesu ‘KOMPROMAT Vol.i’ (2025), redolent ‘dinny greet’ (2024), Young Fathers ‘Heavy Heavy’ (2023), Fergus McCreadie ‘Forest Floor’ (2022), Mogwai ‘As The Love Continues‘ (2021), Nova ‘Re-Up’ (2020), Auntie Flo ‘Radio Highlife’ (2019), Young Fathers ‘Cocoa Sugar’ (2018), Sacred Paws ‘Strike A Match’ (2017), Anna Meredith ‘Varmints’ (2016), Kathryn Joseph ‘Bones You Have Thrown Me And Blood I’ve Spilled’ (2015), Young Fathers ‘Tape Two’ (2014), RM Hubbert ‘Thirteen Lost & Found’ (2013) and the inaugural winner Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat ‘Everything’s Getting Older’ (2012).
Now in its fifth year, previous winners of the Modern Scottish Classic Award are: KT Tunstall ‘Eye to the Telescope’ (2025), Martyn Bennett ‘Grit’ (2024), Paolo Nutini ‘These Streets’ (2023), Cocteau Twins ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ (2022) and Frightened Rabbit ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ (2021).
Follow The SAY Award on social media across Instagram @sayaward, Facebook @SAYaward , TikTok @thesayaward and X @SAYaward