GoGo Penguin streams up 4127 per cent after Mercury Prize

Napster reveals the huge power of the shortlist

Andy Morris
15:18 27th October 2014

As the debate over the relevance of the Mercury Music Prize rumbles on for another year, a tangable demonstration of its power in exposing acts to a new audience has been revealed.

Napster has revealed that certain winners experience a huge uplift in the number of streams compared to pre-release.

As one might expect it largely benefits the smaller names on the list (particularly the two jazz and UK hip-hop acts) but it is interesting to see how even established names like Domino songstress Anna Calvi and the mighty Damon Albarn both receive a considerable bump.

GoGo Penguin - V2.0: 4127%
Young Fathers - Dead: 2267%
Polar Bear - In Each and Every One: 1929%
East India Youth - Total Strife Forever: 627%
Kate Tempest - Everybody Down: 563%
Anna Calvi - One Breath: 550%
Nick Mulvey - First Mind: 88%
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots: 35%
Royal Blood - Royal Blood: 19%
Jungle - Jungle: 18%
FKA Twigs - Lp1: 10%
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow: 7%

Kate Tempest is currently the favourite to win the Mercury Music Prize. The hip-hop loving performance poet recently had her odds cut to 5/2 by William Hill. “There has been a recent rush of money for Kate Tempest, however it is still FKA Twigs that will see the biggest payout,” said spokesman Joe Crilly.

The winner will be announced at London’s Roundhouse on October 29. Check out all the odds below.

Kate Tempest 5/2
F.K.A. Twigs 11/4
Royal Blood 9/2
East India Youth 9/1
Jungle 9/1
Nick Mulvey 10/1
Damon Albarn 12/1
Bombay Bicycle Club 14/1
Young Father 14/1
Anna Calvi 16/1
GoGo Penguin 20/1
Polar Bear 25/1

Below: 12 beyond parody Amazon reviews of the Mercury shortlist

Royal Blood - Royal Blood: "These pair of wankers think they are Led Zeppelin. Not fit to lick the shit off their shoes! A load of crap for 33 minutes! Avoid it like Ebola!"
Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long, See You Tomorrow: "The problem is there are no tunes, melodies are non existent, jeez, there are more pandas in Scotland than tunes that are remotely memorable on this record."
FKA Twigs - LP1: "Don't waste your money."
Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots: "Expectations are high for a huge dollop of pretentious crap and this CD doesn't disappoint. Ever since Damon attended the world famous 'Bono School Of Disappearing Up Your Own Arse' he's produced coaster after coaster of rampant narcissism and tuneless wonder."
Jungle - Jungle: "I really don't want to like this record especially with comparisons to Metronomy being made who are appalling."
GoGo Penguin: v2.0: "Nice music to drift off to sleep to but that is about all."
Young Fathers - Dead: "I fell for that raping music that made my senses rage and my passions desire diving into it and let it purely torture me to death, knowing that death will bring some painful resurrection like the pain one feels after a successful orgasm when it stops."
Kate Tempest - Everybody Down: "I warn you - don't buy this and expect music."
Nick Mulvey - First Mind: "At times his delivery veers close to Chris Martin territory. Whether you consider this is a criticism or praise will, I guess, determine how much you'll enjoy this album."
East India Youth - Total Strife Forever: "This is empty, a very boring and media overrated album."
Polar Bear - In Each And Every One: "In Each And Every One is a kaleidoscopic exploit sure to woo fans of all genres - as long as you don't like your music either beige or tepid - in which case it's very likely that your head might explode."
Anna Calvi - One Breath: "Unfortunately this album just went on and on not going anywhere."

More about: Anna CalviDamon AlbarnFKA TwigsRoyal BloodJungleKate Tempest

Photo: Press