Brit Awards to honour new talent

London-based singer Mika won the BBC's Sound of 2007 poll

Next year's Brit Awards will feature a new prize for up-and-coming British acts, organisers have revealed.

The Critics' Choice Award will be chosen by a team of experts from radio and TV stations, newspapers, magazines and websites.

Signed acts who are due to release debut albums in 2008 will be eligible for next year's prize.

The winner, who will collect their prize at the ceremony in February, will be announced on 10 December.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI music industry organisation, said: "The Brits is a great platform to profile the pick of the past year's established and new artists to a wider domestic and international audience.

"This new category allows us to use the UK's premier music event to profile even more emerging UK talent."

The winner will be announced on the same day the new Brit Awards website is launched, when the panel of critics will list their three acts most likely to succeed in 2008.

Nominations for this year's Brit Awards will be announced on 14 January, ahead of the ceremony at Earls Court on 20 February.