It's that time again! October is the month labels that are desperate to feature on the list start pushing their new acts harder with endless #buzzsingles and online positioning, so it seems a good enough time for this thread. The list is compiled by journalists and 'tastemakers' (i.e. nobody who actually buys records), so it's sometimes easy to spot who's going to feature on the list by the way new acts are positioned, talked about and the amount of Soundcloud uploads and lame remixes desperately pushed out over a 12 week period. Previous winners include Years and Years, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding. Previous nominees include luminaries such as Chloe Howl, George The Poet, and Daley. Remember: nobody with a top 20 record is eligible. Your predictions please...
It'll probably contain some of these names- Lion Babe Jack Garratt BØRNS Alessia Cara Rationale Pretty Vicious Wet VANT Petite Meller Nao Melé Zara Larsson would be a contender, though I can easily see Never Forget You reaching the Top 20 beforehand Rationale & Wet are the ones I primarily want to see on it!
I thought anyone who doesn't have an album and a top 20 single is eligible? Hopefully: Alessia Cara, Grace Mitchell, and Petite Meller.
A female will probably win since we had Sam and Years in a row. Although to be honest, I could see this year being a more of a Little Boots/Haim/Michael Kiwanuka year in which the winner doesn't reach mass appeal, but still does okay in the long run.
So many of these never even release an album (MNEK, Sunset Sons anyone?). Or they get attention at the album release, but cannot sustain (Shamir). If I were an artist, I would run screaming.
It's sort of a risk because you're setting yourself up for the expectation that Radio 1 are going to playlist your music, which is potentially huge. If you don't win though, the risk is high that it's a toss up of whether they actually will or not. So it's a great tool if it all works out. And there usually about 4 or 5 acts every year who go on to have pretty great careers in the long run.
I feel very out of touch this year. I would say Rhodes should make the list but it sounds like he's ineligible as he's already released his album. Surprised it wasn't pushed back to get him in the mix.
I can't tell if this is a joke about Radio 1 being too white, or if there's a new buzz band called White.
This was pretty big in Australia: On the male front and probably the Sam Smith entry would be Tor Miller: Hopefully Charlotte OC makes it too.
