The Northern Ireland Music Prize has announced that its nominations for the 2021 awards will be open from July 5th until July 26th. Despite it being a difficult year for local music, there has been much praise for the breadth and quality of the Norther Irish music that has dropped throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Outstanding music has been released; music that kept us going, inspired us, entertained us, brought us escapism, and most of all hope. That is why despite all of the challenges that our music community has faced in the last year, we are delighted to announce that we will be proceeding with plans for 2021," NI Music Awards posted online.

The NI Music Prize was established in 2013 as a means to recognise the notable musicianship that exists in the North of Ireland. The event is hosted by The Oh Yeah Centre, and supported by the NI Arts Council.

Speaking to Hot Press today, Chief Executive for the Oh Yeah Centre Charlotte Dryden said, "Being able to run the awards again coming out of the pandemic is a way to give people positivity.

"Having the nominations open for three weeks means that we see all this great stuff coming in. We always end up with the largest database of NI music and seeing all in one place is amazing," she added.

Last year, the NI Music Prize took place via live-stream. This year, there is hope for a return to an in-person event. However, despite this optimism, there will still be some amendments to the norm this year. "We usually have a Best Live Act award but that won't be happening this year. It would be crazy to have a prize for live music when we haven't seen it for over a year," Dryden says.

To be eligible for nomination, singles and albums must have been released by a Northern Irish artist between 15th July 2020 - 14th July 2021. Anyone can nominate an artist, album or single. Full terms for nominations are available on the NI Music Award website.

The award event is scheduled to take place on November 17th 2021.