This is a shame. The future of America's Shortlist Music Prize is in doubt after seeming disagreements between the two co-founders of the award. A bit like an American version of the Mercury Music Prize, the Shortlist celebrated a 'best album of the year', picked from an eclectic shortlist which in turn was selected from a 'longlist' of commended long players. An equally eclectic judging panel selected the winning albums.
However, no Shortlist Music Prize is planned for this year and there seems to be some disagreement as to what the future holds for the scheme. One founder says the programme is just on hold due to disagreements in the organisation that manages it, while the other founder says he is launching a new award scheme to replace it.
Tom Sarig says his new award - the New Pantheon - will replace the Shortlist Music Prize. Following a pretty similar format in terms of voting, Sarig says the new award will be promoted to the public at large rather than the industry audience that tended to take notice of the Shortlist. Sarig: "I thought starting with a new entity with a sort of bolder initiative would be a fresh way to do it".
However fellow co-founder Greg Spotts, told Billboard he was surprised Sarig was launching a new award: "The only reason why we haven't put on a Shortlist this year is because Tom and I don't seem to be able to agree on how. It seems to be just like as bands get more successful, the egos get more complicated to manage. That same process seems to be happening with the management with our company." Spotts says he may sue if Sarig goes ahead with his new award, adding: "It isn't something that I feel is legally possible for him ... you can't compete against a company that you co-own."