Staged last night in Adelaide (1 August), Australia's UNESCO designated City of Music, the current stars of the nation's vibrant and diverse independent music scene were celebrated at the 2024 AIR Awards.
Hosted by AIR Awards Master of Ceremonies Dylan Lewis once again alongside Jessica Braithwaite as co-host, the ceremony at Queens Theatre featured live performances from nominees Maple Glider, Jack River, Bumpy, Slava Grigoryan and RVG.It was Melbourne's acclaimed post-punk indie rockers RVG who claimed Independent Album Of The Year with 'Brain Worms'. A continuing emerging star, Jem Cassar-Daley followed her 2024 Queensland Music Awards Song Of The Year win scoring the gong for Independent Song Of The Year (also for 'King Of Disappointment').
Quickly rising guitar-pop duo Royel Otis took out Breakthrough Artist Of The Year that crowns a 12-month period which has seen the Sydney-based pair nominated for Emerging Songwriter Of The Year (APRA Awards), Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist (ARIA Awards) and Australian Video of the Year (J Awards).
"Wow thankyou @ausindies!!! Did not see this coming 🤯❤️❤️❤️," posted RVG. While Cassar-Daley was equally astounded by her win. "I am speechless!! Thank you @ausindies for this huge honour and congratulations to all Aussie independent artists, always killing it ❤️ Very special mention to @the_magpie_swoop 💛 and @garrettkato ✨."
Other winners included WILSN (Soul/RnB album), Fanny Lumsden (Country album), Dan Sultan (Blues-Roots album), Jack River (Pop album), Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers (Rock album), Genesis Owusu (Hip Hop album), Cub Sport (Dance-Electronica album), Elixir (Jazz album), Private Function (Punk album), Polaris (Heavy album) and Josh Pyke (Children's album).
The AIR Awards have the continued support from the South Australian Government's Music Development Office, which it was announced during the evening's ceremony would fund an additional two years for AIR to hold its Awards and Indie-Con Australia conference in Adelaide.
Alongside that announcement was the news AIR will exclusively host A2IM's Australian Edition of Indie-Week conference in conjunction with its events from 2025.
Founded by independents, for independents, A2IM Indie Week is an annual three-day conference held in New York City that is the largest gathering of the independent music community in the US drawing labels, distributors, DSPs, agencies and more for insightful discussions and fruitful networking.
"Congratulations to all the nominees and award recipients," AIR CEO, Maria Amato commented. "It was a great night of celebration and recognition for the talented Australian independent artist and label community.
"We thank all our sponsors and are especially grateful to the South Australian Government through its Music Development Office for their continued support. "This will enable us to host the world's largest independent music conference, A2IM's Indie Week as part of AIR's events and expand our ability to facilitate global connections."
Added Lisa Hresko, A2IM, General Manager: "We are honoured and excited to bring A2IM Indie Week's first-ever international event to Adelaide, Australia's UNESCO designated City of Music.
"A2IM extends our heartfelt thanks to AIR and The South Australian Government through its Music Development office for this incredible opportunity. This event promises to be a global hub for independent music, fostering a dynamic community of industry leaders and sharing future-shaping ideas that will propel music forward."
Ourness, The Annex and AWAL took the award for Independent Marketing Team Of The Year for their work on Genesis Owusu's 'Struggler'. The award for Independent Publicity Team Of The Year went to Jessica Searle for her work on Jen Cloher's 'I Am The River, The River Is Me'.
While Best Independent Label was awarded to Ourness and will see them take home a digital marketing campaign valued at $3,000 from Moshtix. The 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award (sponsored by Merlin, including $5000 for continued development), went to Don Spencer OAM, nominated by AIR members in recognition of his life's work in children's entertainment and the incredible work Don's organisation, the Australian Children's Music Foundation continue to do with young people.
