Polaris Prize Gets $10,000 Sweeter

Canada's hippest music prize gets a pretty decent top-up ahead of the announcement of this year's nominees.

The Polaris Music Prize, which goes to an artist or group whose album is chosen as the best in Canada, is now worth $10,000 more, bringing the much-ballyhooed award's purse to $30,000. The top-up was provided by Sirius Satellite Radio, and comes a week before the long list of 2011's nominees is released. Among the award's previous winners are Fucked Up, Patrick Watson, Caribou, and Karkwa, the latter of which, last year, became the first francophone band to win the Polaris since its introduction in 2006. The winner is selected by a panel of music journalists and bloggers from across the country, and the prize has led to increased sales and recognition for nominees and winners.