It's May 2005 and two lads are sitting in the upstairs room of the Odessa, a Dublin city-centre establishment still open at that time. Neither are drinking, but both are talking and gesturing.
One of them is Dave Reid. A music manager, promoter and do-er, Dave has been kicking around an idea for an Irish album prize for a few years, but no-one has taken the Kilkennyman up on it.
The other lad is me. At the time, I was paying the bills by writing about music and the music business for The Irish Times. I was doing other things too, so I was always up for a spot of tyre-kicking when the opportunity came around.
What we wanted to do was establish a prize which profiled, applauded and highlighted Irish albums. We knew the start of each year was a quiet, fallow period in the industry so it made sense to have it on then. We knew enough media people that we could press-gang a dozen into acting as judges. We felt there was a gap for something which was a bit like the Mercury Music Prize (though we’d aim to be far more transparent in how we did things), but which was uniquely Irish. We knew there would be a live event to go with it and we needed a great room for this.
By the time we leave the room that day, we’d established a few things. For a start, the idea was a good one. We’ve made a few calls and enough people we rated had given us the thumbs up. We had a date in the diary for Dublin’s Vicar Street (then and now the best live venue on the island) and a few people were up for being a backroom team to help us out.
We knew we’d do the first one in early 2006 - and we knew it would be called the Choice Music Prize. For reasons I don’t quite remember now, coming up with the name was actually the easiest bit of all.
OK, I know what you’re thinking: there is no way it was as simple as that. Of course, it wasn’t – I’m not going to tell you about some of the other meetings which happened with partners and would-be partners and gangsters and the like - but we got the bulk of the guideropes and parameters in place on that first day and we rolled on from there. It was a simple idea and the best ideas are simple ideas.
This year, we’ll be putting on what is still called the Choice Music Prize for the 20th time. 19 events done and we’re still standing. Still going.
If you ask me, there are two reasons for this longevity. The first is the simplicity alluded to above – the Prize is awarded to an album released in a calendar year which a group of 12 music media pros consider to be the best in that 12-month period. That’s it.
Watch: RTÉ Choice Music Prize Album of the Year 2019 Highlights
Of course, there are rules and regulations about what is an album and there’s a shortlist of 10 albums and all of that, but the main criteria is the same now as it was in 2005. Yes, there are other categories now but the album prize remains the big one, the don-dada, the big kahuna, the main deal.
The other reason for our long run? The acts. From the very start, the acts have bought into this. They saw something in this which we took a few years to cop. I remember talking to Messiah J and The Expert in the aftermath of the 2007 event. They’d been nominated, but they hadn’t won. I was commiserating with them but they would hear nothing of it. They pointed out all that had happened since they were nominated – radio sessions, gig bookings, media attention. To them, that was as good as the big win.
Choice Music Prize in 2023, accempting the Irish Classic Album award
Every year, a bunch of acts say yes when they get a call and are asked to turn up at Dublin's Vicar Street to play a few tunes. They do interviews where they talk about the Choice shortlist and the like. They may see a bump in their profiles and a growth in their fanbase and a jump in media attention. But most of all, they turn up, they hang with their fellow nominees and they do their thing. We’re honoured every single time that happens.
We’re also honoured that so many people have got involved in this escapade over the years. I’m not going to name them all because I know I’d leave someone out and there would be hell to pay, but anyone who was part of this knows who they are and knows the part they’ve played. I will, though, namecheck three people who were part of the Choice story along the way and who are sadly no longer with us: judges Tony Fenton (2009) and Nick Kelly (2006), and RTÉ’s Brian Geraghty, who was instrumental in bringing Choice and the broadcaster together. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.
🎤 Live Event Line-up 🎤
— RTÉ Choice Music (@choiceprize) January 29, 2025
Vicar Street, Dublin - Thursday 6th March 7.30pm
A Lazarus Soul
Curtisy
Orla Gartland (Acoustic)
NewDad
Niamh Regan
Róis
Silverbacks
SPRINTS
🎫 : https://t.co/nEqxmxiQuF#RTEChoicePrize pic.twitter.com/jQ0SQrFa5n
And sin é. We go again on Thursday March 6th. Eight of the 10 nominated acts will play live at Vicar Street. The show will be broadcast on 2fm and televised a few days later on the telly. At the end of the proceedings, the winner will be announced for the 20th time.
The moral of the story? Always keep it simple.
Find out more about this year's Choice Music Prize shortlist here.
