Mercury prize winners Alt-J would have done well anyway

Indie band's album An Awesome Wave was worth rewarding but had already developed a momentum of its ownThere is a sense in which the winner of the Mercury prize was announced some time before the envelope was opened and Alt-J were awarded the gong.The Official Chart Company published the sales figures of the nominated albums both before and after the shortlist was announced. It transpired that it had had virtually no effect whatsoever on the most commercially successful nominees.Sales for singer-...

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