Songlines magazine announced the final nominees of the Songlines Music Awards 2010 and will be releasing a compilation album on 22nd March featuring all sixteen nominated artists. Read the full article for details of all the nominees plus a GondwanaSound competition.
 
 Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural awards, Songlines magazine announced the final nominees in the 2010 Songlines Music Awards. The Songlines Music Awards recognize outstanding talent in world music and are voted by Songlines readers and the general public. There are four categories Best Artist, Best Group, Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Newcomer.

The final nominees are the top four in each category who received the most public votes. The jury will now go into a huddle and the winners of each category will be announced in the June issue (#88) of Songlines, on sale from April 30,2010. The sixteen final nominees are:
 
 Best Artist
 
 * Goran Bregovic (for the album Alkohol— Slijivovica & Champagne on Blue Wrasse)
 * Bassekou Kouyate (for the album I Speak Fula with Ngoni ba on Out Here)
 * Oumou Sangare (for the album Seya on World Circuit)
 * Lura (for the album Eclipse on Lusafrica)*
 
 Best Group
 
 * Gypsy Groovz Orchestra Goes TuttiMundi (for the album Night Train for Lovers and Thieves on Network Medien)
 * Staff Benda Bilili (for the albumTres Tres Fort on, Crammed)
 * Tinariwen (for the album Imidiwan: Companions on lndependiente)
 * Shooglenifty (for the album Murmichan on Shoogle Records)*
 
 Cross-Cultural Collaboration
 
 * Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara, (for the album Tell No Lies on Real World)
 * Transglobal Underground (for the album Run Devils & Demons: Best of on Nascente)
 * Stockholm Lisboa Project (for the album Diagonal on Westpark)
 * Faiz Ali Faiz and Titi Robin (for the album Jaadu: Magic on Accord Croises)
 
 Newcomer
 
 * Invisible System (for the album Punt: Made in Ethiopia on Harper Diabate)
 * Deolinda (for the album Canção ao Lado on World Connection)
 * Speed Caravan (for the album Kalashnik Love on Real World)
 * Mamer (for the album Eagle on Real World)
 
 "The audience for world music is greater now than it’s ever been," says Simon Broughton, editor-in-chief of Songlines, "and it’s reaching out in ever more diverse directions. The fact that we have Balkan maestro Goran Bregovic and Western China’s Mamer as nominees is indicative of that. But it’s still essential to have awards in which the leading names can be feted and the new and innovative names highlighted."
 
 GondwanaSound will be running a prize draw competition to win a Songlines Award nominees cd for those who can correctly predict the jury's decision and name all four winners. Tune in live every Wednesday 11 am to midday on Sheffield Live! 93.2FM