The playlist for the 2012 Awards Ceremony, hosted at the Free Word Centre on 26 February 2013, was selected by the finalists.
Here are the songs they chose.
| Track | Artist | Selected by |
|---|---|---|
| You Don't Love Me | Dawn Penn | China Miéville |
| Burial | Truant | China Miéville |
| Is That All There Is? | Peggy Lee | Dave Shelton |
| Sixteen Shells From A Thirty Ought Six | Tom Waits | Dave Shelton |
| Cohkka | Apocalyptica | Frances Hardinge |
| Mephisto Waltz | Liszt | Frances Hardinge |
| M'aidez | Sneaker Pimps | Frances Hardinge |
| Everything You Know is Wrong | Weird Al | Frances Hardinge |
| Everyone's Got to Learn Sometime | Beck | Jenni Fagan |
| Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory | Guided by Voices | Jenni Fagan |
| Come as You Are | Nirvana | Jenni Fagan |
| Dragnet for Jesus | Sister Wynona Carr | Jenni Fagan |
| New Kind of Kick | The Cramps | Jenni Fagan |
| Where is my Mind | The Pixies | Jenni Fagan |
| Heroin | The Velvet Underground | Jenni Fagan |
| Song to the Siren | Tim Buckley | Jenni Fagan |
| Oh Bondage, Up Yours! | X-Ray Spex | Jenni Fagan |
| Sprawl II | Arcade Fire | Jesse Bullington |
| Killin' It | Foxy Shazam | Jesse Bullington |
| The Truth | Handsome Boy Modeling School | Jesse Bullington |
| A Fool in Love | Ike and Tina | Jesse Bullington |
| Immigrant Song | Karen O + Trent Reznor | Jesse Bullington |
| Dracula's Wedding | Outkast | Jesse Bullington |
| Port Authority Band | Slim Cessna's Auto Club | Jesse Bullington |
| Paperskin | Snake Rattle Rattle Snake | Jesse Bullington |
| Once in a Lifetime | Talking Heads | Jesse Bullington |
| Something in the Water | Th' Legendary Shack Shakers | Jesse Bullington |
| Jockey Full of Bourbon | Tom Waits | Jesse Bullington |
| Date with the Night | Yeah Yeah Yeah | Jesse Bullington |
| Do it with a Rockstar | Amanda Palmer | Kameron Hurley |
| Santa Monica | Everclear | Kameron Hurley |
| Radioactive | Imagine Dragons | Kameron Hurley |
| Bad Girls | MIA | Kameron Hurley |
| Sing it Back | Moloko | Kameron Hurley |
| Nowhere Again | The Secret Machines | Kameron Hurley |
| Burn my Shadow | UNKLE | Kameron Hurley |
| Spain (I can recall) | Al Jarreau | Karen Lord |
| Lately | Anita Baker | Karen Lord |
| Why | Annie Lennox | Karen Lord |
| The Girl from Ipanema | Astrud Gilberto, Joao Gilberto & Stan Getz | Karen Lord |
| Too Experienced | Barrington Levy | Karen Lord |
| I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got | Bettye LaVette | Karen Lord |
| Veinte Años | Buena Vista Social Club | Karen Lord |
| So Far Away | Carole King | Karen Lord |
| Take Five | Dave Brubeck | Karen Lord |
| Turn the World Around | Harry Belafonte | Karen Lord |
| Lush Life | John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman | Karen Lord |
| Show Me the Place | Leonard Cohen | Karen Lord |
| Don't Wake Me Up | Lianna La Havas | Karen Lord |
| Pata Pata | Miriam Makeba | Karen Lord |
| Sinnerman | Nina Simone | Karen Lord |
| Hey Ya! | Outkast | Karen Lord |
| Kiss | Prince & the Revolution | Karen Lord |
| The Call (Live in London) | Regina Spektor | Karen Lord |
| Santo Santo | So Pra Contrariar and Gloria Estefan | Karen Lord |
| Leather and Lace | Stevie Nicks & Don Henley | Karen Lord |
| 37MPH | Bees | Lauren Beukes |
| Good Life | Brown Dash | Lauren Beukes |
| Mascruz | General | Lauren Beukes |
| Boom Boom | Ishmael | Lauren Beukes |
| King of the Swingers | Krushed & Sorted | Lauren Beukes |
| Not I But A Friend | Markus Wormstorm | Lauren Beukes |
| Control | Spoek Mathambo | Lauren Beukes |
| Mshini Wam | Spoek Mathambo | Lauren Beukes |
| Abafazi | Thembi Seete | Lauren Beukes |
| Fred is Dead | Tone Deaf Junkies | Lauren Beukes |
| Lark | Tricksy | Lauren Beukes |
| I have your heart | Kim Boekbinder | Lauren Panepinto |
| Ramble On | Led Zeppelin | Lauren Panepinto |
| Didn't I blow your mind this time | Delftronics | Lavie Tidhar |
| Runs in the Family | Amanda Palmer | Madeline Ashby |
| Station Approach | Elbow | Madeline Ashby |
| We're in this Together | Nine Inch Nails | Madeline Ashby |
| Assembly Lines | Wintersleep | Madeline Ashby |
| Three Little Birds | Bob Marley | Maurice Broaddus |
| I Can Transform Ya | Chris Brown | Maurice Broaddus |
| Welcome to the Terrordome | Public Enemy | Maurice Broaddus |
| The Spaniard Who Blighted My Life | Al Jolson & Bing Crosby | Nick Harkaway |
| City of New Orleans | Arlo Guthrie | Nick Harkaway |
| Furr | Blitzen Trapper | Nick Harkaway |
| You Turn Me On | Crazy Horse Paris | Nick Harkaway |
| Underneath the Arches | Flanagan and Allen | Nick Harkaway |
| 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) | Gorillaz | Nick Harkaway |
| Alphabet Street | Prince & The Revolution | Nick Harkaway |
| When a Hippo Can Dance | Sandra Boynton | Nick Harkaway |
| Life on Mars | Seu Jorge | Nick Harkaway |
| Washington Square | The Correspondents | Nick Harkaway |
| Miss Dy-na-mi-tee | Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain | Nick Harkaway |
| I Crush Everything | Jonathan Coulton | Scott Andrews |
| RE: Your Brains | Jonathan Coulton | Scott Andrews |
| Skullcrusher Mountain | Jonathan Coulton | Scott Andrews |
| The Future Soon | Jonathan Coulton | Scott Andrews |
| The Look You Give That Guy | Eels | Tom Gauld |
| Party in the Woods Tonight | Jonathan Richman | Tom Gauld |
| How's it Gonna End | Tom Waits | Tom Gauld |
| Beginning to See the Light | Velvet Underground | Tom Gauld |
| Killing | Apples | Tom Pollock |
| Antiphon | Hidden Orchestra | Tom Pollock |
| B Line | Lamb | Tom Pollock |
| Just | Mark Ronson | Tom Pollock |
| Paradise Circus | Massive Attack | Tom Pollock |
| California Love | Tupac | Tom Pollock |
