Carpetman from Ukraine among winners of Music Moves Europe Awards 2026

The winners of the MME Awards 2026, the EU prize for popular and contemporary music supported by EU Creative Europe, were revealed at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in the Netherlands on 15 January.

The jury selected five winners for the Music Moves Europe (MME) Awards and the winner of the Grand Jury MME Award. Each year, the jury decides which artists stand out the most among the 15 nominees. At the same time, fans across the world voted online for their favourite artist in the public choice winner category.

The Grand Jury Music Moves Europe Award 2026  and MME Public Choice Award went to Lia Kali (Spain).

The other winners of the 2026 MME Awards were:

• Camille Yembe (Belgium)
• Carpetman (Ukraine)
• Della (Cyprus)
• Sarah Julia (Netherlands)
• Sofie Royer (Austria)

“Carpetman is a mysterious young singer, hidden behind the mask of a carpet, who was born in Ukraine,” says the artist’s page at  description at the Music Moves Europe Awards 2026 webpage. “Inspired by artists such as Kaleo, Hippie Sabotage, Kygo, Elderbrook and Jeremy Soul, the Carpetman project was initiated in the middle of 2023. Since then, he has managed to write, sing and produce a string of singles, shoot clips for them, release the EP Struggling By Myself, perform dozens of concerts, and take part in the National Selection for Eurovision 2024.”

The five Music Moves Europe Award winners receive € 10,000 each. The winner of the Grand Jury MME Award receives € 10,000 and a green touring voucher worth € 5,000, and the winner of the Public Choice Award also receives € 5,000.

Furthermore, all 15 nominees are invited for an education programme to get an insight into the music business and to learn from established professionals. Nominees are all invited to perform at ESNS Festival, and in September 2026 their fans will be able to see them live also at Reeperbahn Festival, the co-organiser of the Prize.

Find out more

Press release