My Bloody Valentine leader Kevin Shields has denounced this year’s Mercury Prize as effectively making true independent music ‘illegal’ due to its qualifying criteria.
In an interview with The Guardian, Shields claims his band’s third album ‘m b v‘, their first in over two decades, was exempt from consideration by the Mercury judging panel because the group prevented it from being released through any of the regular, major distribution channels.
“Isn’t Mercury a phone company or something, anyway? What’s that got to do with music? “We’re banned by them, and do you know why? Because we’re not on Amazon or iTunes,” Shields declares. “That’s one of the qualifying criteria. You have to have major distribution or be on iTunes or Amazon.”
“We released our record, mbv, independently. It’s interesting to learn that to be as independent as we are is virtually illegal. It’s not a real record. Our album’s not a real album because it’s independent. The corporate-ness has got to such a point where we’ve essentially been told that we don’t exist. So, technically, that album doesn’t exist. OK? It’s not allowed to exist according to the Mercury prize.”
The stipulations placed on LP’s before they can be considered, as well as an entrance fee, have seemingly contributed to what Live4ever considers to be the most run-of-the-mill shortlist in Mercury’s history.