Welsh Music Prize celebrates 15 years with new judging panel and BBC special announced

The date for the 15th Welsh Music Prize ceremony has been announced, alongside the judging panel for the prestigious award, which celebrates the best of music made in Wales or by Welsh people around the world.

The winner of the 2025 Welsh Music Prize will be announced at a ceremony held at the Wales Millennium Centre on October 6th. The event will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru, alongside a new TV highlights special for BBC One Wales, showcasing the best of the ceremony and exploring its 15 year history.

The panel of judges for this year’s £10,000 prize has also been announced and includes a diverse range of high-profile music experts from across the UK:

Sofia Ilyas, Chief Community Officer at Beatport – a platform for electronic music for DJs, producers and fans. Sofia, from Cardiff, is also a music curator for the National Gallery, London. Roisin O’Connor, music editor for The Independent and host of the Good Vibrations podcast. DJ and BBC Radio Wales presenter, Molly Palmer, BBC 6 Music presenter, DJ and writer, Zakia Sewell, Natalia Quiros Edmunds, music journalist and artist manager at Arctic Monkeys and Fontaines DC management company, Wildlife Entertainment and The Guardian music critic and author, Jude Rogers. Also joining the 2025 judging panel are Davie Morgan, writer and marketing manager at Welsh culture and music magazine, Radar, and Tim Jonze, associate editor, culture at the Guardian.

The shortlist of albums will be revealed in August.

Milestone

Founded in 2011, the Welsh Music Prize celebrates its 15th anniversary this year and to mark the milestone, BBC Cymru Wales has commissioned a special highlights programme of the 2025 event which will also explore the prize’s impact on the Welsh music scene over the past 15 years. The programme will air after this year’s ceremony on BBC One Wales and BBC iPlayer.

The prize is given for an album release within the preceding year by a Welsh artist, with the inaugural Welsh Music prize being awarded to Gruff Rhys for his third solo album, Hotel Shampoo.

Since then, the prize has continued to recognise an exciting and eclectic range of Welsh artists and albums. Alt rockers Future of the Left won the following year for their album The Plot Against Common Sense in 2012, folk musician Georgia Ruth scooped the prize for her debut album Week of Pines in 2013 and five piece noise-pop band Joanna Gruesome won with their album, Weird Sister in 2014.

In 2015, Gwenno won the prize with her seminal debut solo album Y Dydd Olaf, a psychedelic pop record in the Welsh language, with one Cornish-language track.

Meilyr Jones, previously of Aberystwyth band, Race Horses, won in 2016, with his cinematic pop solo, 2013, and Cardiff’s The Gentle Good, melodic guitar soloist, Gareth Bonello, took the prize for his album, Ruins/Adfeilion in 2017.

Boy Azooga’s multifarious musical ‘mixtape’ 1, 2, Kung Fu! won the prize in 2018.

Carmarthen indie rock trio Adwaith were the first artists to win the prize twice, first with their debut album, Melyn in 2019 and again in 2022, with their follow up, Bato Mato. Their latest album, Solas, is on the 2025 longlist.

Welsh rapper Deyah won the tenth prize at a unique digital ceremony announced by Michael Sheen in 2020, with her powerful self-produced album, Care City, praised by judges for its laid back fused beats.

Flintshire musician and producer Kelly Lee Owens won in 2021 with Inner Song, an electronic-led album, blending techno with softer songcraft.

In 2023, Carmarthenshire husband and wife duo Rouge Jones won with Dos Bebés, a curious and playful multi-instrumental album, exploring everything from a mutual love of school Spanish lessons, to the experience of having two young children during the pandemic and Welsh independence.

Last year’s Welsh Music Prize winner was L E M F R E C K with his ambitious, deeply atmospheric three-part 2023 album Blood, Sweat & Fears. During his acceptance speech, the Newport-raised alt R&B and rap artist paid tribute to his fellow 2025 nominee, Benji Webbe of Skindred, the reggae-metal band also formed in Newport with a near 30 year-long career, whose most recent album reached No 2 in the UK charts, saying: “This one goes out to my community in Newport. If I didn’t see Benji doing it first I’m telling you now I would not be able to do this, so I’d like to thank him.”

L E M F R E C K also spoke about recognition from the Welsh Music Prize saying: “I’d like to talk about how important representation is. It’s not a box tick when artists like myself win awards like this – it’s a confirmation of art.”

Music calendar highlight

As well as the headline prize of £10,000 for an album made in Wales or by a Welsh artist that year, the prize also recognises emerging Welsh artists with The Triskel Prize.

Supported by the charity Help Musicians, the award provides recipients with vital resources and guidance to help them develop and advance their music careers. Last year, the Triskel Prize winners were Welsh-Ghanaian alt R&B artist ADJUA, electronic new wave duo VOYA and bilingual synth-pop band, WRKHOUSE, who all performed at the Welsh Music Prize ceremony, alongside other shortlisted artists including Gruff Rhys and Aleighcia Scott.

The Welsh Music Prize also includes the Welsh Music Inspiration Award, part of the Welsh Music Prize, is presented to individuals or groups who have significantly impacted the Welsh music scene and inspired others. In 2024, the award was presented to Welsh hip-hop pioneers Eric Martin, who co-wrote the huge Technotronic hit, Pump up the Jam and Cardiff DJ Jaffa, Jason Farrell. They were both credited for their pioneering work in establishing and shaping the hip-hop scene in Wales. Previous winners of the Welsh Music Inspiration Award also include Mike Peters of The Alarm, Dafydd Iwan and Datblygu.

Huw Stephens, founder of the Welsh Music Prize says: “We are thrilled to reach the 15th Welsh Music Prize. Creativity in Wales knows no bounds and it is always a great chance for us to recognise the albums that have been released over the past 12 months. We are excited to bring the Prize and the music to more people with the BBC  One Wales broadcast, and to give a wider platform for the artists.”

The Welsh Music Prize has also received funding support by the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.

Jack Sargeant, Culture Minister, said: “Over the last 15 years, the Welsh Music Prize has recognised artists from across several genres who’ve gone on to achieve major success, which demonstrates the breadth of music talent we have here in Wales. It’s one of the major highlights of the music calendar, and an important scheme that I’m pleased we’re able to support. It’s fantastic that this year’s milestone event will be broadcast by the BBC – reaching new people and building its profile”

Cardiff Council Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: “The Welsh Music Prize is such an important showcase for Wales’s music scene – it’s a great way for fans to discover the best new music coming out of Wales, and for Wales’s talented artists and musicians to broaden their audience – and has been for the last 15 years. That’s why we continue to support it, and why we’re so pleased that it will once again be part of the Cardiff Music City festival this autumn.”