The Ivor Novello awards: Venue, date, categories and nominees

Ivors Novello award
Ivors Novello award

The 71st Ivor awards are set to take place on May 21 at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House on Park Lane in London, celebrating the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. 

The award ceremony brings worldwide recognition for British and Irish songwriters, as well as composing talents. 

It remains the only award in the musical industry not influenced by record companies or publishers, but the writing community itself plays a large role in judging and presenting.

There are 61 songwriters and composers up for nomination, including their international collaborators. Of these, 34 are first-time nominees. 

The artists with two nominations are Jacob Alon, Self Esteem, Olivia Dean, Johan Hugo, Fraser T Smith, Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell and Kae Tempest. Amongst these Jacob, Olivia Dean and Johan are up for nomination for the first time at the Ivors Academy. 

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Categories

Best Album

West End Girl – Written by Lilly Allen, Chloe Angelides, Kito and Blue May: Performed by Lilly Allen.

Black British Music (2025) – Written by Jim Legaxcy and Joe Stanley: Performed by Jim Legxacy.

The Art of Loving – Written by Olivia Dean, Bastian Langebaek and Max Wolfgang: Performed by Olivia Dean. 

The Clearing – Written by Joff Oddie and Ellie Rowsell: Performed by Wolf Alice.

Euro Country – Written and performed by CMAT.

Best Contemporary Song

Free – Written by Alex Bonfanti, Miles Clinton James and Little Simz: Performed by Little Simz.

Damascus – Written by Damon Albarn, Yasiin Bey and Omar Souleyman: Performed by Gorillaz (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey). 

I Do and I don’t Care – Written by Johan Hugo and Self Esteem: Performed by Self Esteem. 

Know Yourself – Written by Tom Rowlands, Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest: Performed by Kae Tempest. 

I Stand on the Line – Written by Fraser T Smith and Kae Tempest: Performed by Kae Tempest.

PRS for Music Most Performed Work

Viva La Vida – Written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin; Performed by Coldplay. 

Man I Need – Written by Olivia Dean, Tobias Jesso Jr and Zach Nahome: Performed by Olivia Dean.

The Days – Written and performed by Chrystal.

Messy – Written and performed by Lola Young.

Stargazing – Written by Peter Fenn, Jesse Fink and Myles Smith: Performed by Myles Smith. 

Best Song Musically and Lyrically

Weeds – Written by Tove Burman, Anya Jones and Jon Shave: Performed by Sugababes.

Focus Is Power – Written by Johan Hugo, Self Esteem and Jacob Vetter: Performed by Self Esteem.

Don’t Fall Asleep – Written and performed by Wolf Alice. 

Everybody Scream – Written by Mark Bowen, Mitski and Florence Welch: Performed by Florence + The Machine.

The Sofa – Written by Ellie Rowsell: Performed by Wolf Alice.

Best Original Film Score

Nosferatu – Composed by Robin Carolan.

Bugonia – Composed by Jerskin Fendrix.

The Brutalist – Composed by Daniel Blumberg.

Dragonfly – Composed by Raffertie.

Testimony – Composed by Tom Hodg.

Rising Star Award with Amazon Music

Skye Newman 

Jacob Alon

Chloe Qisha

Divorce (Tiger Cohen-Towell, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, Adam Peter-Smith and Kasper Sandstorm).

KWN.

Best Television Soundtrack

Trespasses – Composed by David Holmes and Brian Irvine.

Lazarus – Composed by Sarah Warne.

The City Is Ours – Composed by Rael Jones. 

Adolescence – Composed by Aaron May and David Ridley. 

Summer Water – Composed by Gazelle Twin. 

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Bianca Wright

By Bianca Wright

Bianca Wright is a third year student studying journalism at the University of Lancashire.

She is a fellow mentee of the John Scofield Trust – and has had the opportunity to be supported by highly-qualified journalists who have helped to expand her knowledge within the industry.

Bianca has a passion for storytelling and documentaries - and speaks Spanish having previously lived there for 14 years.

She loves learning about cultures, travelling and exploring the outdoors in her free time.

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