Australian songwriters' collective APRA is marking 100 years of championing music creators with a massive year-long celebration.
Six music publishers gathered in Sydney a century ago to form the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), establishing the principle that songwriters and composers deserve payment when their work is performed. That simple idea from 1926 has grown into Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest music rights management organisation, now representing over 128,000 music creators.
Music rights management organisation APRA AMCOS celebrates 100 years of APRA with landmark events and initiatives throughout the year, including expanded awards ceremonies, collaborative songwriting programs, a major anthology book and a brand-new hall of fame-style event.
APRA centenary celebrations
- APRA Music Awards, Sydney, April
- SongHubs collaborative songwriting program, Australia, April
- SongHubs collaborative songwriting program, New Zealand, September
- Silver Scroll Awards/Kaitito Kaiaka, New Zealand, October
- Hall of fame-style event, November
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Celebrations kicked off with a digital history timeline called APRA: A Century of Song, capturing 100 years of defining moments across Australian and New Zealand songwriting. Notable milestones featured include the Aeroplane Jelly jingle in 1930, Johnny O’Keefe’s Wild One bringing rock ‘n’ roll to Australia in 1958, and Lorde’s worldwide breakthrough in the 2020s.
The timeline also highlights AC/DC, Cold Chisel, INXS and Midnight Oil taking pub rock global in the 1970s, Kylie Minogue launching her music career with Locomotion in 1987, Countdown’s ABC debut in 1974, and OMC’s How Bizarre bringing Urban Pasifika sound worldwide in 1995. Christine Anu’s version of the Warumpi Band’s My Island Home at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games also features prominently.
This cultural journey interweaves with APRA’s own history, from the formation of its first Board in January 1926 through to its trans-Tasman and global expansion. Early milestones include the very first licence provided to a town hall on King Island, Tasmania on New Year’s Eve 1926, which still stands today. Young solicitor Albert E Rolfe was dispatched to New Zealand in 1927, and the first reciprocal agreement with American counterpart ASCAP was signed in 1948, enabling local creators to earn internationally.
In 1979, AMCOS was established to administer reproduction royalties from records, tapes and emerging formats, merging with APRA in 1997 to become the modern organisation it is today. Throughout its history, the organisation has advocated for creators’ rights, from establishing legal definitions of communicating music to the public through to pushing for live music tax offsets and local content requirements.
As the organisation confronts new challenges around AI and copyright, that founding principle of fair payment for creators remains as vital as ever. The timeline marks just the beginning of celebrations for Australian and New Zealand songwriting history throughout 2026.
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This article was made in partnership with APRA AMCOS.
