Shortlist Prize will be televised

It won’t be long before the American Music Awards and then the Grammys salute pop music’s big-selling artists, but this year their cult counterpart also will get some air time. The third annual Shortlist Music Prize, which honors albums that have sold fewer than 500,000 copies, will be televised for the first time -- via taped broadcasts of the Oct. 5 event -- on MTV2.

Albums by 10 finalists announced Tuesday will compete for the award: Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Cat Power, Cody Chesnutt, Floetry, Interpol, Damien Rice, Sigur Ros, the Streets and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The nominees are selected by a group of “list makers” that this year included Tom Waits, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Mos Def and director Cameron Crowe. Tickets go on sale Saturday for the Oct. 5 show at the Wiltern, which will include performances by several of the finalists.