The often controversial Mercury Music Prize champions Britain's music industry's albums of the year, but 2008's nominees, announced this week, should take heed. The accolade is not always a one-way ticket to success.

We look at the post-prize careers of previous winners.



Primal Scream

The inaugural winners are still going strong 22 years on. Screamadelica won them the first prize in 1992 and the band remains a mainstay of UK's indie scene. They have just released their ninth album, Beautiful Future, to mainly positive reviews.


M People

Mainstream house/pop act M People's album Elegant Slumming won over Blur's Parklife in 1994, despite the latter being one of the defining albums of the nineties. Their last collaboration was the solo effort Proud from singer Heather Small, and its title track is the unofficial anthem for London's 2012 Olympics.

M People reformed in 2007 for a series of live shows.


Pulp

Brit poppers Pulp won in 1996 with disco-infused pop-rock album Different Class. The Sheffield band saw great success in the nineties – especially after Jarvis Cocker's infamous prank at the 1996 Brits, where he invaded the stage during Michael Jackson's performance.

Pulp is officially described as "dormant", but Cocker has forged a successful solo career and was nominated for a Brit award after his debut album, Jarvis, in 2006. He has written new material for a follow-up, due this year.


Antony And The Johnsons

The New York group's second full-length album, I Am A Bird Now, gained rave reviews and won the prize in 2005. Their third album, The Crying Light, is out next year.


Gomez

The bluesy Gomez failed to break into the big league despite victory with first album, Bring It On, in 1998.

Also known as "Mercury Poisoning", to "do a Gomez" now means to release a debut effort so successful and to such unanimous praise that high expectations make a follow-up impossible.


Arctic Monkeys

The Sheffield band attribute their stellar rise to fans sharing free demo CDs. But there was no shortage of sales after their 2006 win: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut in UK history. Their follow up, Favourite Worst Nightmare, earned them another nomination last year – making them the first act to be nominated in two consecutive years.


Ms Dynamite

Three Brit Awards followed her win in 2002 for A Little Deeper, and the London lass became the face of Pepsi in the UK. After the 2005 birth of her son, she returned with a new album, Judgement Days, but the first single only reached No 25 in the UK.

She has since put out A Little Darker – an album championing new artists' work.


Franz Ferdinand

The Scottish rock favourites won in 2004 with their eponymous debut, just before their second album hit No 1. Their third is due out next year, and is rumoured to be influenced by Africa.


Klaxons

Credited with spawning the 'nu rave' craze upon the nation, with neon clothes and glowsticks that came with it, this band were hot property in 2007 – winning with their album Myths Of The Near Future. They are working on their second album.



WHO ARE THIS YEAR'S ACTS?

In a rich year for British music, Radiohead's In Rainbows is up against 11 other albums for this year's Mercury Prize.

These include Raising Sand by Alison Krauss and former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant; The Age of the Understatement by the Last Shadow Puppets and Portico Quartet's Knee-Deep In The North Sea.

Other nominees are Elbow (The Seldom Seen Kid); Burial (Untrue); Estelle (Shine), Adele (19); Laura Marling (Alas I Cannot Swim); Rachel Unthank & The Winterset (The Bairns); British Sea Power (Do You Like Rock Music?) and Neon Neon (Stainless Style). The winners will be announced on September 9.