Glasgow, 14 October 2021 – Today UK music licensing company PPL celebrates the tenth edition of the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award with a special chart revealing the most played SAY Award Shortlisted artists of the 21st Century. Paolo Nutini, the multi-platinum singer songwriter from Paisley takes the top spot, with Kilmarnock alternative rock group Biffy Clyro in second place and indie-rock band Franz Ferdinand ranked third.
This PPL chart is compiled from exclusive music usage and airplay data from UK radio stations and television channels, showcasing the music that soundtracks our lives.
Nutini’s third and most recent album Caustic Love was Shortlisted for a SAY Award in 2015 after becoming his second UK chart-topper. Across his three albums he has a total of 13 BPI Platinum certifications, having sold nearly four million albums in the UK to establish himself as one of the most popular Scottish artists of this century.
Biffy Clyro, in second place, have grown to be one of Scotland’s most successful bands over the last two decades, rising from the Unsigned Stage at T in the Park in 2000 to Reading and Leeds Festival headliners in 2013. Their last three albums all topped the UK albums chart, including the SAY Award Shortlisted Opposites from 2013 and 2020’s A Celebration of Endings, which is Shortlisted this year.
Franz Ferdinand round off the top three and highlight the popularity of Scottish guitar music over the last 20 years, with the likes of Mogwai, Twin Atlantic and Django Django also in the Top 10. Franz Ferdinand recorded one of the most iconic tracks of the Noughties with “Take Me Out” and subsequent hits “The Dark Of The Matinee” and “Do You Want To” cemented their place as one of the most popular bands of the period. They have continued to receive critical acclaim throughout their career, with latest album Always Ascending being Shortlisted for The SAY Award in 2018.
The chart also reflects the importance of Scottish artists to electronic music. Fourth-placed CHVRCHES, who were Shortlisted for the SAY Award in 2014 and 2016, have become a staple of the UK synth and electro-pop landscape, while Boards of Canada, who are ranked ninth and were Shortlisted for the SAY Award in 2014 for Tomorrow’s Harvest, are “one of the best-known and best-loved electronic acts of the last two decades”, according to FACT magazine1. Indeed, Slam, No. 20 on the list, are the founders of Soma Records, which famously released French electronic powerhouse Daft Punk’s first singles.