The five nominees for the Choice Music Prize Irish Artist of the Year have been announced

For the second year in a row, the Choice Music Prize has included an 'Irish Artist of the Year Award' and today the five nominees for the award have been announced.

The Choice Music Prize ceremony takes place in March in Vicar St, and the hopefuls vying for the coveted artist of the year prize are:

• Jazzy
• Hozier
• CMAT
• Lankum 
• Cian Ducrot

The event is set to take place in Vicar St in Dublin on Thursday, March 7. It will also be broadcast live on RTÉ 2FM, with a TV special set to air on RTÉ2 later that month.

Two of the Irish Artist of the year nominees have also been short listed in the only other previously announced category; Irish Album of the Year.

The shortlist for the 2023 Irish Album of the Year category was announced yesterday. 

CMAT and Lankum are also short listers for their respective albums Crazymad, For Me and False Lankum. Last year saw CMAT take home the award for Irish Album of the Year, for her acclaimed debut If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, a feat the artist is hoping to re-enact.

Aside from the prestige and boost received from winning Irish Album of The Year, there is a €10,000 cash prize to boot. With previous winners including Denise Chaila, Two Door Cinema Club and The Divine Comedy.

There are five categories in the Choice Music Prize. They are: Irish Album of the Year, Irish Song of the Year, Irish Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Irish Artist and Classic Album.

The short list is compiled by a number of panels drawn from the Irish music media and industry, instead of using sales or airplay as criteria, the Choice Music Prize judges are supposed to focus, simply and solely, on the music.

"The RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an important annual event in the wider Irish music landscape, and we’re delighted to be able to continue to celebrate all that is great about Irish music and Irish artists," comments RTÉ 2FM’s Head of Music, Adam Fogarty.

Fogarty continues saying: "The inclusion of the ‘Irish Artist of the Year’, ‘Irish Breakthrough Artist of the Year’ and ‘Classic Irish Album’ categories for the 2nd year running, coupled with the longstanding ‘Irish Song of the Year’ and the preeminent ‘Irish Album of the Year’ prizes allow us to more broadly represent the incredible past, present and exciting future of Irish music..."