Following a piece in The Herald (see our press roundup) inspired partly by a discussion on the Popcop blog in the run-up to the Mercury awards, The Scotsman’s Radar minisite has set up its own, Scottish alternative to the Mercurys (with the article headed “it’s not a Scottish Mercury”.)
However, the competition, which any band can enter simply by submitting an mp3, is designed to benefit the winner without putting everyone involved in serious debt. The winners in the free-to-enter bunfight will get, among other prizes, a day’s recording session at Chem19, a slot at the next Radar night in Edinburgh on November 13th and the chance to release their own singe through Tunefire – plus a photoshoot and a Soundcloud Pro account thrown in as essentials for any aspiring artist.

And in the same week, a rather more heavy-duty awards ceremony – The Scottish Music Awards, which are set to debut in November next year, are now accepting nominations for their 2011 event. The evening will see 25 of a total of 60 awards handed out on the night, covering all areas of music including jazz, root, rap, country, blues and punk and rap as well as alternative – there’s even a category for covers/function bands. More at:
scotmusicawards.co.uk