In pop music, Mercury winners Elbow compete with Grammy nominee Estelle and singer-songwriter Laura Marling.

BBC: Gavin and Stacey eye repeat award

Adele is one of a trio of female nominees, including Laura Marling and Estelle.

BBC: Newsbeat - Music - Will a new band win the Mercury?

It will take Hamlet, All's Well That Ends Well and As You Like It, the score for which is being composed by folk singer Laura Marling.

BBC: RSC returns to Newcastle after cuts

In 2011 Laura Marling released "A Creature I Don't Know, " a very fine album in which we hear echoes of Mr. Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell.

WSJ: Meet the Generationally Biased

Having achieved success under the radar, these artists (and female counterparts like Laura Marling and Alela Diane) are providing a popular alternative to the tinnitus buzz of the top 10.

BBC: What is it about sensitive boys with guitars?

Of all the young British female singers to sell millions of records in recent years (Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen being the prime examples), Laura Marling stands out for her unwillingness to reach for image-based, mainstream success.

NPR: British Invasion: Laura Marling's Fearless Folk

Vincent, Merrill Garbus's Tune-Yards and Laura Marling, who added a cello and brass to her retro-folk sound, presented polished, high-concept chamber pop, as did Other Lives, who impressed with melodramatic baroque folk featuring strings, orchestral synths and vocal harmonies in support of the quietly charismatic singer Jesse Tabish.

WSJ: Coachella's Modern Mosaic | By Jim Fusilli