Mercury Music Prize 2012 nominations: How it will impact sales

OfficialCharts.com takes a look at how the Mercury Music Prize is likely to impact sales of the 12 nominees.

The 12 finalists for the Mercury Music Prize 2012 were announced in London last night (Wednesday, September 13). The shortlist, chosen from over 250 submissions, was revealed by BBC 6 Music DJ Lauren Laverne at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden.

This year’s nominations include Plan B's Ill Manors, the soundtrack to the London-born rapper and actor’s crime drama film of the same name, South London indie rockers The Maccabees’ third album, Given To The Wild, BBC Sound Of 2012 award winner Michael Kiwanuka’s Home Again, and London singer / songwriter Ben Howard’s Every Kingdom.

The annual awards ceremony, which seeks to celebrate recorded music by British and Irish artists, is noted for shining the spotlight on some lesser known acts, too. The music on the album is the only thing taken into account, offering a level playing field to artists of all genres and styles.

Some of this year’s (currently) lesser known nominees include Leeds-based jazz act Roller Trio’s debut self-titled album, folk singer Sam Lee’s Ground Of Its Own, and SBTRKT collaborator Jessie Ware’s Devotion.

While the Mercury Music Prize isn’t necessarily about big selling albums, a by-product of being nominated is often a dramatic uplift in sales. During the nominations period last year, nominated releases enjoyed sales increases from between 5 to 75%, with smaller titles such as Ghostpoet’s Peanut Butter Blues And Melancholy Jam and King Creosote And John Hopkins’ Diamond Mine benefitting the most.

The current sales of 2012’s nominees (as of midnight on Saturday, September 8) based on Official Charts Company sales data, is as follows. OfficialCharts.com will be tracking the progress of each artist up until the winner is revealed on November 1. Be sure to check back to see how the Mercury Music Prize 2012 has impacted their sales, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

ARTIST	ALBUM	CURRENT SALES	PEAK CHART POSITION
ALT-J	AN AWESOME WAVE	40,600	19
BEN HOWARD	EVERY KINGDOM	263,100	6
DJANGO DJANGO	DJANGO DJANGO	29,100	33
FIELD MUSIC	PLUMB	8,300	49
JESSIE WARE	DEVOTION	15,200	5
LIANNE LA HAVAS	IS YOUR LOVE BIG ENOUGH?	28,900	4
THE MACCABEES	GIVEN TO THE WILD	92,000	4
MICHAEL KIWANUKA	HOME AGAIN	93,800	4
PLAN B	ILL MANORS	97,000	1
RICHARD HAWLEY	STANDING AT THE SKY'S EDGE	37,300	3
ROLLER TRIO	ROLLER TRIO	LESS THAN 10K	N/A
SAM LEE	GROUND OF ITS OWN	LESS THAN 10K	N/A