Mercury Prize increase of their album "The Seldom Seen Kid" after winning the Prize in 2008. In their winner's speech, Elbow's frontman Guy Garvey said that winning the Mercury Prize was 'Quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us'. Similarly, sales of The xx's winning album rose by 450% the day after they won the 2010 Mercury Prize and 2013 winner James Blake saw a 2,500% sales increase on Amazon after he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Mercury Prize. 2011 winner PJ Harvey's album "Let England Shake" jumped from number 181 to 24 in the UK
Mercury Prize has a reputation for being awarded to outside chances rather than the favourites. The 1994 award winner was "Elegant Slumming" by the pop act M People, which some felt was a controversial decision considering the shortlist included popular albums from Britpop figureheads Paul Weller, Blur and Pulp, and electronica band The Prodigy. Other music journalists critical of the awards stated that the 2005 award should not have been given to Antony and the Johnsons for their album "I Am a Bird Now" as, although they are British-born and therefore eligible for the Prize, the band were based in the United