Music Moves Europe Awards 2026: artist from Ukraine hits list of finalists 

On 16 October, 15 European artists, including Carpetman (Ukraine), were nominated for the Music Moves Europe Awards 2026 at the SoAlive Music Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Out of the 15 nominees, an international jury will select five artists to win the Music Moves Europe (MME) Awards and one special artist to win the Grand Jury Prize.

The names of the winners will be revealed at the Music Moves Europe Awards ceremony on 16 January, 2026 at the Eurosonic Noorderslag Festival in Groningen (ESNS), the Netherlands.

Each winner will receive €10,000. The winner of the Grand Jury Award will receive an additional green touring voucher worth €5,000. The winner of the Public Choice Award will receive €5,000.

“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.”

All 15 nominees are invited to play at ESNS and to join the MME education programme, which includes best practices in the music industry.

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Press release