Polaris Music Prize pot raised to $30K

The top prize for the Polaris Music Prize, the annual juried award for best Canadian album, has grown to $30,000.

A donation from Sirius Satellite Radio Canada boosted the cash award by $10,000, prize organizers announced Tuesday.

For the first time in 2011, all the short-listed albums will also win a prize, with $2,000 awarded to each of the nine acts who are finalists. That new prize money comes from Slaight Music.

The Polaris Music Prize, established in 2006, is judged by a group of bloggers and music critics who attempt to choose the best Canadian album, regardless of sales. The nominees usually include a range of Canadian alternative, pop and rock music.

Past winners include Karkwa, Final Fantasy, Caribou and Toronto band F***ed Up.

A long list of 40 albums in contention for the 2011 prize will be released on June 16. The short list will be issued on July 6 and a winner will be declared on Sept. 19.