uDiscover – a music website run by Universal Music Group (UMG) – is asking the public to vote for its favourite living classical musician. The uDiscover Classical 100 aims to “shine a light on today’s leading musicians” both young and old.
Anyone who responds to the public poll will have the chance to win GBP250 (€280) in vouchers, with a further five prizes of GBP50.
“Charts that focus on repertoire or composers are well established in the classical music world, but this is the first time a global poll has been created to confirm the world’s favourite classical artist,” said UMG executive vice president of global classics and jazz, Sam Jackson. “The uDiscover Classical 100 offers a chance to set this right, as we invite thousands of music fans across the globe to vote for the performers whose recordings and artistry they admire the most.”
You can only vote for artists listed on the uDiscover site which, as the name suggests, is a shortlist of “100 artists…compiled using sales data from around the world”. Yuja Wang, Max Richter and Sheku Kanneh-Mason are all featured. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the artists listed usually have strong ties to UMG.
You can vote for up to five artists, with the poll open until 18 January. Prize winners will be announced in February 2021.