RTÉ Documentary On One has scooped its first ever dedicated music award.
At the 2026 Icelandic Music Awards, composer Úlfur Eldjárn won Release of the Year in the coveted Cinema and Theatre Music Soundtrack category for the original score he wrote for the Documentary On One podcast series Where is Jón?
This is particularly notable as it's the first time music for a podcast series has been recognised at the Icelandic music awards.
Where is Jón? a co-production between RTÉ and RÚV (the public broadcaster in Iceland), told the story of Jón Jónsson, an Icelandic poker player who disappeared in Dublin in 2019.
As a result of the podcast series, Europol became involved in the investigation, which has since seen Gardaí visit Iceland to interview over 50 persons of interest. The investigation into Jón's dissapperance continues.
The Icelandic Music awards have been running for over 30 years; previous winners include Sigur Rós, Björk, Olafur Arnalds. This year's big winner was two-time Grammy winner, Laufey.
Televised live on RÚV from Harpa, the renowned concert hall in Reykjavík, Úlfur Eldjárn accepted his award saying "The one thing I'm not going to forget in this speech is to thank the people behind this podcast: Anna Marsibil and Liam who is excitedly streaming this ceremony from Ireland. I would also like to thank RÚV and RTÉ for having the ambition to include an original soundtrack in a podcast, and then I would like to dedicate this award to Jón, his family and loved ones. It was a great honor to be a part of telling your story."
Co-producer of the Where is Jón? series, Anna Marsibil Clausen said "Úlfur's work on the podcast was phenomenal and we are all very excited and proud. This is the first time music from a podcast is celebrated at all at the Icelandic Music Awards, and it definitely encourages us to include more original score in our future storytelling."
Liam O'Brien from RTÉ Documentary On One said: "it's brilliant to see the music we're commissioing for our series succeed outside of the series themselves. Original music soundtracks have become such an intergral part of our storytelling and Úlfur did an exceptional job with this soundtrack. In a very competitive category, it's gratifying to see music for a podcast series outshine some big film and TV drama soundtracks. Special mention also to our marketing and graphics team who did a super job on the cover art design for Where is Jón?, including this album cover!"
To date, under the RTÉ Music label, RTÉ Documentary On One has now released six music albums of original soundtracks commissioned for its podcast series, namely Finding Samantha, The Real Carrie Jade, Runaway Joe, Where is Jón? Stolen Sister and First Conviction.
