Simon and Ma will receive 1 million kronor ($166,000) each and an invitation to the prize ceremony in Stockholm Aug. 28.
The award was founded by the late Stig Anderson, the manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, and has been handed out since 1992. It is typically shared by a pop artist and a classical musician.
Calling Ma the “leading cellist of our time,” the prize jury said Tuesday he is “living proof that music is communication, passion and the ability to share experience.”
The citation praised Simon as a “world-class songwriter” who captured the currents of his time with “consummate skill, innovative arrangements and provocative lyrics.”