Vote for your GIT Award winner
Liverpool Football Club has helped select the 12 finalists who will fight it out for the prestigious music prize dubbed 'The Scouse Mercury'.
The GIT Award 2013 will take place in Liverpool city centre in April and, as in 2012, the Reds have assisted with the judging process.
Named after the music blog Getintothis, the honour champions new music within the city and the winner collects £1,000 in prize money at the invite-only industry showcase at Leaf on Bold Street on April 19.
A panel of judges including Paul Rogers, LFC's head of international digital development, whittled down 380 entires into a shortlist of 12.
The finalists they chose are: Baltic Fleet, Barberos, By The Sea, Nadine Carina, Clinic, Conan, Dan Croll, John Heckle, Jetta, Tyler Mensah, Stealing Sheep and Wave Machines.
You can listen to each artist by clicking here>>
GIT Award founder and chair of judges, Peter Guy, said: "This year's shortlist represents a city at the height of its musical powers few could hope to match.
"Finalising this year's 12 artists was a colossal task as new Liverpool music is at a creative zenith; however, the judges feel the nominees provide a definitive picture of the diversity, profound musicianship and rich talent emanating out of Merseyside."
The shortlist was then decided by a 12-strong judging panel comprising respected music industry figures including BBC 6 Music presenter and son of John Peel and Tom Ravenscroft, the editor of rock and pop music bible Q Magazine, Liverpool-born Andrew Harrison, Matt Wilkinson, NME's new music editor, leading UK music website, The Quietus' editor, John Doran plus the cornerstones of Liverpool's music and arts scene.
Harrison, editor of Q, said: "This genuinely impressive and varied shortlist proves that Merseyside continues to generate fantastic musical talent like nowhere else on earth.
"The standard of entries was high across board and in common, I suspect, with a lot of the judges, I found the decision-making process very hard.
"Best of all, the artists we heard managed to draw on Liverpool's musical heritage without living in the past - proving that even with its world-beating history, Liverpool music continues to forge ahead."
A special Inspiration Award, won last year by the team behind city venue The Kazimier, recognising services to Liverpool's music industry will also be presented.
You can listen to all the shortlisted artists by clicking here>>