The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder Peter Robinson in 2003 as a reaction to what he perceived as the pompous and elitist nature of the existing Mercury Prize, which recognises the best album of the previous year, and in particular its exclusion of pop music acts in favour of those from more esoteric genres. The shortlist for the Popjustice prize is announced in September of each year and the winner named the following month, to coincide with the presentation of the Mercury Prize. Popjustice gives a token prize of £20 to the winner of its award, in contrast to the £20,000 given to the winner of the Mercury Prize.
The winning entry is chosen by a panel of Popjustice readers, who apply for the position via the website. The judges meet in a pub to debate the merits of the songs shortlisted by Robinson and eliminate them, often based on bizarre or arbitrary criteria, until a winner is chosen. In 2009 Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud attended the pub in person to collect the prize of a £20 note in a plastic container.
The first prize was awarded to Girls Aloud in 2003 for their single "No Good Advice", and the act went on to win the award four more times over the next six years; no other act had won more than once until Little Mix's second win in 2015 with "Black Magic", the eighth time the award had been won by a British girl group. Girls Aloud and Little Mix have received the most nominations, with eight apiece. The next highest number of nominations for an act is six for Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Jade.
Recipients
+Winners of the Popjustice £20 Music PrizeYearSongPerforming artist(s)NomineesRef 2003"No Good Advice"Girls Aloud 2004"Some Girls" 2005 "Wake Me Up"Girls Aloud 2006"Biology"Girls Aloud 2007"Rehab" 2008"Call the Shots"Girls Aloud 2009"The Promise"Girls Aloud 2010"Kickstarts"Example 2011"Higher" 2012"Jealousy" 2013"The Mother We Share"Chvrches 2014"Move" 2015"Black Magic" 2016"Pillowtalk" Zayn 2017"Touch" Little Mix 2018"Anywhere" Rita Ora 2019"About Work the Dancefloor" Georgia 2020"Physical" Dua Lipa 2021"Got Me"Laura Mvula 2022"As It Was" Harry Styles 2023 "Escapism" Raye featuring 070 Shake 2024"Girl, So Confusing (remix)"Charli XCX and Lorde2025"Plastic Box"Jade
Most nominated artists The following have received three or more nominations:
+Artists nominated three or more times for the Popjustice £20 Music PrizeArtistNominationsYearsGirls Aloud 82003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013Little Mix 82012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021Charli XCX 62014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024 62016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024Jade 62024, 2025 (5 nominations) 52007, 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018 52008, 2011, 2015, 2019 (2 nominations) 42004 (2 nominations; won 1), 2005, 2006Marina and the Diamonds 42010, 2012, 2015, 2019 42012, 2013, 2015, 2016 42009, 2011, 2012, 2013Clean Bandit 42016, 2017, 2018, 2019 4 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023Goldfrapp 32005, 2006, 2008 32004, 2006, 2012KDA 32015, 2017, 2019 32005, 2007, 2013Sugababes 32004, 2006, 2008 32016, 2019, 2020 32014, 2018, 2019 32018, 2020, 2021Mini Viva 32010 (3 nominations)One Direction 32012, 2013, 2014Ellie Goulding 3 2015, 2016, 2023Raye 3 2020, 2021, 2023
See also Mercury Music Prize
References
External links Popjustice.com main page