UK record labels association the BPI, which organises the Mercury Prize, today reports a marked increase in demand for English Teacher’s album This Could Be Texas, after the Leeds band were selected as the overall winner of the 2024 Prize on 5th September. Many of the other 12 Albums of the Year have benefitted also.
The Awards Show on 5th September saw the shortlisted artists come together at the iconic Abbey Road Studios to enjoy each other’s recent recorded performances and to celebrate each other’s work, before English Teacher were announced as the overall winner. The show was broadcast live on BBC Four and presented by Annie Macmanus and 6 Music presenter Huw Stephens. Guest presenter, judge and 6 Music DJ Jamz Supernova, announced the overall winner on behalf of the judging team.
According to BPI analysis of Official Charts Company data, English Teacher’s This Could Be Texas album saw a chart sales increase of 1,073% in the week after the Award Show, resulting in its best performance since its week of release. It re-entered at number 40 on the Official Albums Chart from being unplaced the week before.
A number of the other shortlisted albums have also reaped the benefits of a place on the 2024 list, including those by BERWYN, Corinne Bailey Rae and corto.alto, whose albums all saw week-on-week chart sales increases of over 100%.
The 2024 Mercury Prize 12 ‘Albums of the Year’ are:
Barry Can't Swim ‘When Will We Land?’
BERWYN ‘Who Am I’
Beth Gibbons ‘Lives Outgrown’
Cat Burns ‘early twenties’
Charli xcx ‘BRAT’
CMAT ‘Crazymad, for Me’
Corinne Bailey Rae ‘Black Rainbows’
corto.alto ‘Bad with Names’
English Teacher ‘This Could Be Texas’
Ghetts ‘On Purpose, With Purpose’
Nia Archives ‘Silence Is Loud’
The Last Dinner Party ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’
