APRA Awards (Australia)
The APRA Music Awards in Australia are annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters, and publishers who have achieved outstanding success in sales and airplay performance.
For APRA Awards in New Zealand, see APRA Awards (New Zealand).APRA Music Awards
Several award ceremonies are run in Australia by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). In addition to the APRA Music Awards, APRA AMCOS, in association with the Australian Music Centre, presents awards for classical music, jazz and improvised music, experimental music and sound art, known as the Art Music Awards. It also runs, in association with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), the Screen Music Awards, to acknowledge excellence in the field of screen composition.
The annual Screen Music Awards were first presented in 2002 by APRA and AMCOS in conjunction with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC). The ceremony, held in November, acknowledges excellence and innovation in the field of screen composition, and as of 2019 covers 13 categories.[8]
Other awards[edit]
Emily Burrows Award[edit]
The Emily Burrows Award was instituted in 2001 in memory of Emily Burrows, a former APRA AMCOS membership representative and compliance officer. It is awarded to a South Australian artist or band annually with a $5,000 prize, to further their development and career. Electric Fields won it in 2016, with previous winners including Hilltop Hoods and The Beards,[10] Dead Roo, and Ollie English[11]
In 2019 the prize was awarded at the South Australian Music Awards (SAM Awards) for the first time, with Dead Roo winning the Award.[12] Seabass were presented with the award at the SAM Awards in 2020,[13] and Tilly Tjala Thomas won it in 2021.[14] Thomas sings in both Nukunu language and English, with her single "Ngana Nyunyi" sung in both. She won triple j Unearthed's NIMAs competition, giving her the opportunity to play at the National Indigenous Music Awards in 2021.[11]
In 2023, Indigenous hip hop band from the APY lands, DEM MOB, won the award.[15]
Top 30 Australian Songs (2001 only)[edit]
As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations in 2001, APRA created a list of the top 30 Australian songs.[16] A panel of 100 music personalities were asked to list the ten best Australian songs, the data was compiled and the Top Ten in numerical order, was announced at the 2001 APRA Music Awards ceremony.[16] At the ceremony You Am I performed the #1 listed song "Friday on My Mind" with Ross Wilson performing the #2 listed song "Eagle Rock".[16] The next 20 songs in the Top 30 had been announced four weeks earlier.[17]
