Celebrating 21 years, the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2025 shortlist announced

The RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2025 shortlist spans established names and rising acts across pop punk, country, and experimental rock. The winning act will receive a prize of €10,000, and all shortlisted artists will be presented with a specially commissioned award.

The list was selected by a panel of 11 Irish music media professionals and industry experts and reflects what Choice Prize Co-Founder Dave Reid called the “breadth and diversity of Irish music right now,” as recent winners have gone on to international success.

CMAT returns to the shortlist after previously winning the prize and scoring major chart success with Euro-Country. Other nominees, such as Amble and Just Mustard, represent different corners of Ireland’s music scene and show how the prize continues to spotlight both trad and boundary-pushing records.

The live announcement will take place at Vicar Street in Dublin on Thursday, March 5, and the event will be broadcast on RTÉ 2FM, with Beta Da Silva hosting and several shortlisted acts scheduled to perform. Tickets are available through mainstream ticketing outlets, and the night will also reveal additional category winners, including Irish Artist of the Year and Irish Breakthrough Artist.

The ten shortlisted albums for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2025 award are:

- Amble – "Reverie"

- Bricknasty – "Black’s Law"

- Joshua Burnside – "Teeth of Time"

- CMAT – "EURO-COUNTRY"

- Dove Ellis – "Blizzard"

- Junior Brother –"The End"

- Just Mustard – "WE WERE JUST HERE"

- pôt-pot – "Warsaw 480km"

- Maria Somerville – "Luster"

- SPRINTS – "All That Is Over"

Tracy Clifford of RTÉ 2FM praised the nominees, saying “I love this time of year when we get to celebrate the very best in Irish music” and pointed to the global standing of Irish artists as a reason to celebrate. The Choice Music Prize week of announcements will continue with shortlists and category reveals across the week leading up to the live event.

The Choice Music Prize was launched to promote and reward excellence in Irish recorded music, and this year marks the 21st edition of an award that has helped amplify many careers. For Irish Americans following the scene at home, these nominations offer a compact guide to albums worth exploring before the winner is revealed in March.