Australia's top indie artists of the year have been revealed at the massive awards show in Adelaide.
The 2024 AIR Awards took place last night, August 1, at the Queens Theatre in Adelaide, celebrating the achievements of Australia’s independent music sector.
The event, supported by the South Australian Government’s Music Development Office, featured memorable performances from nominees Maple Glider, Jack River, Bumpy, Slava Grigoryan and RVG.
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The big announcement of the evening was AIR has secured two more years of funding to hold the awards event at Indie-Con Australia conference in Adelaide and will next year be bringing A2IM Indie Week, the world’s biggest independent music conference held each year in New York City, to Adelaide for its first-ever international event.
Dylan Lewis, the long-time AIR Awards Master of Ceremonies, was joined once again by Jessica Braithwaite as co-host.
Genesis Owusu won Best Independent Hip Hop Album or EP for his work, Struggler. Ourness, The Annex and AWAL received the award for Independent Marketing Team of the Year for their promotion of Owusu’s album.
Ourness also continued its success with Royel Otis being named Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Jem Cassar-Daley won Independent Song of the Year for King of Disappointment, and RVG was awarded Independent Album of the Year for Brain Worms.
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Dan Sultan was recognized with Best Independent Blues and Roots Album or EP, while Fanny Lumsden took home the award for Best Independent Country Album or EP.
Elixir won Best Independent Jazz Album or EP, and Polaris was awarded Best Independent Heavy Album or EP. WILSN received Best Independent Soul/RnB Album or EP, and Jack River was honoured with Best Independent Pop Album or EP.
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers won Best Independent Rock or EP and Private Function was recognized with Best Independent Punk Album or EP.
Cub Sport took home Best Independent Dance/Electronica Album or EP, and FISHER and Kita Alexander won Best Independent Dance/Electronica or Club Single. Josh Pyke was awarded Best Independent Children’s Album or EP, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Richard Tognetti received Best Independent Classical Album or EP.
Ourness also earned the title of Best Independent Label, including a digital marketing campaign valued at $3,000 from Moshtix.
The inaugural Independent Music Video of the Year was awarded to Adam Munnings for his work on Cub Sport’s Keep Me Safe and Bonnie Knight won Independent Producer of the Year for her work on ENOLA’s All Is Forgiven EP.
“Congratulations to all the nominees and award recipients! It was a great night of celebration and recognition for the talented Australian independent artist and label community,” said AIR CEO Maria Amato.
For more information on AIR, head here.
