Get ready for a celebration of the best in music
With 2025 formally wrapped up, it’s a good time to take stock of the year in music. It’s almost time for the Grapevine to select the best of the best. Which artist destroyed in 2025? Who should you be looking out for in 2026? Those questions — and many more — will be answered at the 2026 Reykjavík Grapevine Music Awards in February.
The year in highlights
As the vice grips of the housing market clasped independent music venues tighter, 2025 saw the loss of yet more concert spaces. The much raved-about nightclub RADAR closed early in the year, and, in November, the no-frills bar BIRD shut down after just 18 months of operation.
For the first time, it seems as though public authorities have acknowledged the harsh economic conditions of music venues, establishing a task force meant to identify appropriate solutions.
But economic realities have seldom affected Icelandic musicians, whose international reputation boasts homegrown prolificness, focusing rather on the joy of creating than the need to profit off their work. In 2025, we welcomed a return of staple Reykjavík indie acts, such as múm and Ólöf Arnalds, putting out their first albums in more than a decade.
Despite some artists closing down their Spotify accounts in response to CEO Daniel Ek’s decision to pour millions into an AI military defence company, the streaming platform still reigned supreme. About 95 percent of Icelandic musicians’ total streaming revenue came from Spotify, according to Iceland Music. Rap and hip-hop continued to dominate the charts, with 15 of the 20 biggest songs of the year being Icelandic and including rap. At the same time, no Icelandic song in the top 20 bracket was written or performed by a female artist.
On February 5, The Reykjavík Grapevine invites you to Lemmy to celebrate the best of the best of Icelandic music in 2025. The winners in each category will be announced at the ceremony and our new issue — with the Reykjavík Grapevine Music Awards gracing the cover — will drop.
And the nominees are…
After poring over releases, listening and re-listening to albums, an A-team of people-in-the-know convened to draft this year’s list of nominees. The panel of judges includes DJ and music writer Alexander Le Sage De Fontenay, the Grapevine’s Ish Sveinsson Houle and Jóhannes Bjarkason, RÚV’s Lestin radio show host Kristján Guðjónsson, and musician and event manager Maria-Carmela Raso.
Without further ado, the following is a list of nominees for the 2026 Reykjavík Grapevine Music Awards.
Artist of the year
Alaska1867
Knackered
múm
Páll Óskar & Benni Hemm Hemm
Album of the year
Birnir — Dyrnar
múm — History of Silence
RAKEL — a place to be
Spacestation — Reykjavík Syndrome
Song of the year
Alaska1867 — “SMS”
Páll Óskar & Benni Hemm Hemm — “Eitt af blómunum”
digital ísland — “eh plan?”
Kusk + Óviti — “HJÁ MÉR”
Best Visual Representation
Birnir — Dyrnar album artwork, produced by Þórsteinn Svanhildarson, Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir, and Völundur Hafstað
Flesh Machine — “Taking My Time”, directed by Snæfríður Sól Gunnarsdóttir
Ólafur Arnalds & Loreen — SAGES, directed by Thora Hilmarsdottir
Kári Egils — “Midnight Sky”, animated by Didda Flygenring
Best Music Event
Norðanpaunk
Sátan
Kárahátíð by Spider Network
quean : kven : queen by Sóley Stefánsdóttir and Samantha Shay
Best Live Act
Flesh Machine
Knackered
symfaux
Unfiled
Best Kept Secret
Emma — Halidome
Godchilla — psionic dreams
Oh Mama — Dagskrá
Woolly Kind — Í hringi
Ones To Watch
BKPM
digital ísland
Fríd
Julian Civilian
Shout Out
marvaða
Ólátagarður
Óli Dóri
Reykjavík Record Shop
The Reykjavík Grapevine Music Awards happens at Lemmy on February 5 at 20:00. Expect laughs, tears, warm embraces and general jubilations.
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