The BBC have announced their Sound Of 2013 longlist

AlunaGeorge, Laura Mvula, Angel Haze, King Krule and, inexplicably, The Weeknd all feature.

The BBC have announced the longlist for their Sound of 2013 poll. The annual Sound of… list is determined by a panel of newspaper and magazine editors and critics, producers and presenters from music radio and television, website editors and bloggers, based on their top 3 choices as to who will define the musical landscape of the new year. Any artist can be included on the list provided they had not had a UK top 20 single or album before the polling deadline and are not “already famous” to the public.

This year’s list mostly comprises of rising names and buzzing bands such as the excellent AlunaGeorge, Angel Haze, King Krule and Laura Mvula,. The biggest anomaly on the list comes in the form of The Weeknd. Despite attaining levels of hype previously unheard of following the release of his three mixtapes in 2011, and despite making guest appearances on songs by Drake and Wiz Khalifa, he has still made the cut.

The annual Sound of… poll has been going since 2003, and some of the past names to have topped the poll have gone on to become international megastars (50 Cent, Adele), national superstars (Mika, Jessie J), stars (Ellie Goulding, Michael Kiwanuka) and burn-outs (The Bravery). The winning act from this year’s poll will be announced on January 4.

The full longlist is below: