In 2025, the Polaris Music Prize celebrated its 20th anniversary. Entering its third decade, the award is undergoing what might be its biggest period of change. From funding to voting process, the organization is continuing to evolve.
The cultural not-for-profit organization has spent the better part of two decades creating a space in the industry for Canadian acts to be recognized based solely on artistic merit, rather than sales, genre or support from a record label. Founded in the 2000s as Canada’s answer to the Mercury Prize, the organization became a registered Canadian charity in 2017.
Related
In Canada: Angine de Poitrine, Peaches & More Make the Polaris Music Prize 2026 Short List
DJ Quik Says His Son 'Made a Mistake' Following Murder Conviction, Pleads With Fans to Stop Asking About It
Naoshi Fujikura of Universal Music Japan on Japan's Unique Superfan Culture & Global Ambitions: Billboard Global Power Players Interview
Over its two-decade run, the Polaris Music Prize has awarded many notable acts, including Kaytranada, Haviah Mighty, Jeremy Dutcher (Twice), Caribou, Feist and more. It’s also recognized greats like Alanis Morissette, Leonard Cohen, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Neil Young through the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize.
To commemorate its anniversary, Polaris introduced the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize and launched Polaris Festival, a multi-day event across Toronto, showcasing a range of Canadian talent.
But while new initiatives were introduced during its 2025 prize cycle, the longstanding album prize winnings dwindled from $50,000 to $30,000, while the 10 short-listed artists would no longer be awarded $3,000 — potentially indicating funding issues.
As it enters its 21st year, the Polaris Music Prize is finding new ways to persevere, experimenting with new initiatives without abandoning its guiding principles.
Last week, the Polaris Prize unveiled its 2026 short list of 10 albums competing to be named the best in Canada. It includes acts like Charlotte Cornfield, Peaches, Tanya Tagaq and Canada’s hottest band, Angine de Poitrine.
The winner, though, will be decided in a whole new way.
When the organization announced the long list at NXNE, it subtly revealed that the final album winner will be decided by a 205-person voting pool. That represents the first major process change in two decades. In previous years, that 200-plus jury voted to determine the long and short list, but an annually chosen 11-person grand jury made the winning album decision each year.
“It’s something that we’ve been thinking about for a while,” Amber Still, executive director at Polaris Music Prize, tells Billboard Canada.
Still joined the organization’s board in 2021, assuming the role from Claire Dagenais, who took over the position in March 2020 following the departure of Polaris Prize founder Steve Jordan.
“Since I’ve come on the board, we’ve been looking at everything that Polaris has been doing and seeing if there’s any way that we can improve it or find opportunity within it,” Still says, pointing to the award gala and ceremony’s move to Massey Hall back in 2023.
Still explains that the expanded jury is a part of a one-year “pilot program” to ensure that it’s successful and satisfies the existing members. “We will evaluate it at the end and then see if it will be permanent.”
Read more on the Polaris Prize’s updates here. — Heather Taylor-Singh
Angine de Poitrine Make Their Much-Anticipated Toronto Debut
The rise of Angine de Poitrine has happened so quickly, it’s hard to remember they’ve never played Canada’s biggest concert market. That changed Tuesday night (July 14) as they made their debut in Toronto twice in one night: first opening for Jack White at RBC Amphitheatre, then for their own headlining show at Mod Club.
As with many of White’s concerts, this was a no-phones show, so footage of that opening concert is already rare. However, White posted his own photo with the polka-dotted black-and-white alien duo after the show.
Related
Publishing Briefs: Angine de Poitrine Ink Deal With Third Side Music, Riley Green at WCM
But fans were ready with their cameras out at Mod Club.
There are some concerts that you know will be “I saw them when” moments: The Weeknd’s debut at Mod Club in 2011, a young Adele playing The Rivoli in 2008, even Nirvana at Lee’s Palace in 1990. Leading up to this concert, it felt like Angine de Poitrine could join those ranks.
The Saguenay, Quebec, duo have already shown they can command crowds of nearly 100,000, but they kept their first headlining Toronto show nice and intimate at about 600 people. (They returned to play there again two more times this week, will play Guelph, Ontario’s Hillside Festival on Sunday (July 19), then will return to Toronto to play the much bigger History on November 5.) You could feel the anticipation in the air for the Billboard Canada Global Breakthrough Award winners.
The crowd was ready to erupt, even cheering for the band’s crew (also dressed in black-and-white) erecting their DIY polka-dot sheet backdrop.
When the band finally took the stage, it was a minute before they started playing. Instead, they stood and turned to the crowd, soaking up their cheers, Khn raised his hands to the triangle on his signature hat igniting a light within it, and the two members spoke a few words in their made-up language (somewhere between a sci-fi B-movie robot, a hawk and WWE wrestler Kane), and then began the simple stop-start drum and bass loop that begins Vol. II closer “Angor.” Khn signalled the crowd to clap along by clapping on the side of his helmet, which again timed to the triangle light inside.
Much has been made of the unusualness of their music — the odd time signatures, polyrhythms and microtones (the notes between the notes) — but seeing them live, you can tell why this music is so crowd-pleasing. Their instrumental grooves have a weight to them you can see in their viral online performances but you can feel live in the room. The heavy riffs and build-ups create a visceral tension and release that adds drama that doesn’t need vocals. After the recent wide release of their vinyl albums, Angine de Poitrine charted on multiple Billboard charts, including the Top Dance Albums chart. That felt like a weird fit at the time, but you could see people moving to the off-kilter grooves and clapping along to the non-4/4 time signatures.
It was hot and sweaty in the Mod Club, and it wasn’t long before Klek’s arm makeup wore off — by now its own in-joke. Angine de Poitrine played eight songs in just over an hour, and it felt like an athletic feat, especially right after playing at RBC Amphitheatre with Jack White during a Toronto heat wave. Still, it felt like a taste of things to come as the band continue their extraterrestrial ascent.
Head here for the full recap. — Richard Trapunski
Kneecap to Sue Indigenous Leader for Defamation After Being Denied Entry Into Canada
Kneecap are reportedly filing another defamation lawsuit after being denied entry into Canada. The Irish trio’s counsel Tom Hogan has been granted permission by the high court of Dublin to serve papers for a defamation lawsuit to Harvey Yesno, an Indigenous leader of the Eabametoong First Nation in Canada.
Last year, the group was blocked from entering Canada after Yesno and several other Indigenous leaders signed a statement published by Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, in partnership with Allied Voices for Israel and the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, which denounced the group for their “history of promoting violence, intimidation and discrimination.
Related
Kneecap Drop ‘No Comment’ Single, Drum & Bass Anthem About Rapper Mo Chara’s Tossed Terrorism Case
“Kneecap has outwardly supported antisemitism, genocide, and the indiscriminate murder of civilians. Allowing them to play in Canada would be a stain on our country’s reputation,” read the statement, which urged that Live Nation cancel the group’s shows in Oct. 2025 at Toronto’s History (Oct. 14-15) and Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre (Oct. 22-23).
Kneecap are suing for damages, claiming the statement harmed their reputations as professional artists and public figures after being picked up, spread and republished by various media outlets, as reported by the Irish Times.
Later, Liberal MP Vince Gasparro, who the group is already suing for defamation, announced on behalf of the federal government that the group was deemed ineligible to enter the country, explaining in a video posted to X that the band “have amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.” The group responded, calling his remarks “wholly untrue and deeply malicious” and adding that they had received no formal notice about any official ban.
The new lawsuit against Yesno was approved in Ireland as the group had an arguable case that they had been defamed in their home country, with their personal and professional relationships “bound up” in the jurisdiction.
Read more here. — Stefano Rebuli