Ivor Novello Award nominees reflect gender disparity between British and Irish songwriters, with twice as many men as women | Ivor Novello Awards

Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice’s Ellie Russell, Jacob Allon, Self Esteem and Kay Tempest lead this year’s Ivor Novello Awards for Excellence in British and Irish Songwriting, with two nominations each. Self Esteem co-writer Johann Hugo and Tempest’s Fraser T Smith are also credited among the pioneering works.

Tempest himself will compete in the Best Contemporary Song category, with two nominations: one for “I Stand on the Line,” which he wrote with Smith, and another for “Know Yourself,” which he wrote with Smith and Tom Rowlands of the Chemical Brothers. Both songs come from Tempest’s fifth studio album, Self Title.

The nominations reveal the gender disparity in British and Irish music: there are more than twice as many male nominees (40) as female (19), with non-binary artists making up the 61 recognised songwriters and composers.

Research by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California found that the number of female songwriters across the year’s 1,400 most popular songs dropped starkly from 18.9% in 2024 to 14.5% in 2025.

Elsewhere among these names, gritty artists like Lily Allen, Florence + the Machine and Gorillaz stand alongside those who have reached the twilight of their careers, including CMAT, Jerskin Fendrix and Lola Young, last year’s most nominated artist.

Because the awards recognize “exceptional skill, originality and cultural impact in songwriting and screen composition,” this year the Ivors have also positioned themselves as a “powerful affirmation of the human creativity and cultural value of songwriters” with many asking daunting questions about how AI will impact musicians’ livelihoods.

Little Simz received her fifth Ivors nomination for her song Free from last year’s album Lotus. Young’s nomination is her fourth overall, as is Florence Welch’s. Allen’s album is her third, a reflection of the era-defining songwriting of her fifth album — and first in seven years — West End Girl, a partly fictionalized account of the breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour.

Coldplay’s 2008 hit “Viva la Vida” received its third nomination in its own right this year, for Best Performer, following the band’s extensive world tour. This is the second time she has been nominated in this category. It previously won the best-selling British single in 2010.

Allen, Wolf Alice, Dean and CMAT make up the Best Album category alongside rapper Jim Legxacy for his 2025 album Black British Music. Wolf Alice, Sugababes (Best Song Musically and Lyrically) and Divorce (Rising Star) are the only groups nominated from a large group of solo artists.

In Best Original Motion Picture Score, Daniel Bloomberg, formerly of indie band Yuck, could up for the 2025 Oscar for his score for The Brutalist. The category is made up entirely of male composers, indicating the challenges facing female musicians in this field.

Adolescent could continue its reign in the Best Television Original Score category if Aaron May and David Ridley’s soundtrack work outshines the music of “Lazarus” (Sarah Warren), “Summerwater” (Gazelle Twin), “This City Is Ours” (Rael Jones), and “Trespasses” (David Holmes and Brian Irvin).

Last year, Charli xcx was named Songwriter of the Year in recognition of her breakthrough sixth studio album, Brat. This year’s winners will be announced on May 21 in London. Additional Outstanding Achievement Awards including Songwriter of the Year will be given at the ceremony.

Ivor Novello 2026 Nominations

Best album
Jim Legxasy – British Black Music (written by Legxasy and Joe Stanley)
CMAT – European Country (written and implemented by CMAT)
Olivia Deane – The Art of Loving (written by Deane, Bastian Langeback and Max Wolfgang)
Wolf Alice – The Clearing (Written by Geoff Oddie and Ellie Roussel)
Lily Allen – West End Girl (written by Allen, Chloe Angelides, Keto and Blue May)

Best contemporary song
Gorillaz – Damascus (with Omar Suleiman and Yassin Bey) (Written by Damon Albarn, Bey and Suleiman)
Little Sims – Fire (written by Sims, Alex Bonfanti and Miles Clinton James)
Self-Esteem – I Do and I Don’t Care (Authorized by Self-Esteem and Johann Hugo)
Kay Tempest – I Stand on the Line (written by Tempest and Fraser T. Smith)
Kay Tempest – Know Thyself (Written by Tempest, Fraser T. Smith and Tom Rowlands)

Best song musically and lyrically
Jacob Allon – Don’t Sleep (Written by Allon)
Florence + the Machine – Everybody Scream (written by Florence Welch, Mark Bowen and Mitski)
Self-Esteem – Focus is Power (Authorized by Self-Esteem, Johann Hugo and Jakob Vetter)
Wolf Alice – The Couch (written by Ellie Roussel)
Sugababes – Weeds (Written by Tovey Burman, Anya Jones, and Jon Schiff)

Poverty Reduction Strategy for Music is the most performed work
Olivia Deen – The Man I Need (Written by Deen, Tobias Jesso Jr. and Zach Nahome)
Lola Young – Anarchist (written by Young)
Miles Smith – Stargazing (written by Smith, Peter Finn, and Jesse Fink)
Crystal – The Days (Written by Crystal)
Coldplay – Viva la Vida (written by Guy Berryman, Johnny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin)

Rising star
Chloe Kesha
Divorce
Yaakov Alon
being
Skye Newman

Best original film score
Gerskin Vendrix – Bogonia
Rafferty – Dragonfly
Robin Carolan – Nosferatu
Tom Hodge – Testimonial
Daniel Bloomberg – The Brutalist

Best TV Soundtrack
Aaron May and David Ridley – Adolescence
Sarah Warren – Lazarus
Twin Gazelle – Summerwater
Ryle Jones – This is our city
David Holmes and Brian Irvine – Transgressions