The winners of the 2020 APRA Music Awards have been announced, this year in the global online space as the Virtual APRA Music Awards. In a shortened version of the usual live, gala event, the awards went ahead to celebrate the talented songwriters that have achieved outstanding success in the previous year.
The awards are available to watch (or watch again!) until Wednesday 24 June.
The verdict is in for the biggest peer-voted music award in Australia. APRA members have chosen Dance Monkey by Tones And I (Kobalt Music Publishing obo Tones and I) as the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year. In what can only be described as a phenomenal songwriting success story Tones And I is also the 2020 Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, an honour that is determined by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors.
Hip-hop trailblazers Hilltop Hoods - Barry Francis (DJ Debris), Matthew Lambert (Suffa) and Daniel Smith (Pressure) - have been named Songwriter of the Year. Their album The Great Expanse (released 2019) is a songwriting tour de force, chock full of the band’s classic Aussie wit, punchy beats and lyrics that speak to the human experience.
Hilltop Hoods are dual winners for 2020 with Leave Me Lonely taking out the Most Performed Urban Work. They share their honour with co-writer Leigh Ryan aka Plutonic Lab. It’s the second year in a row that Hilltop Hoods have won the Most Performed Urban Work category. (Writers: Barry Francis (DJ Debris) / Matthew Lambert (Suffa) / Daniel Smith (Pressure)/ Leigh Ryan* / Richard Berry^. Publishers: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Native Tongue Music Publishing* / Campbell Connelly^).
“We’ve spent our entire lives writing and making music. To be awarded ‘Songwriter of the Year’ by the APRA Board is an absolute honour. We couldn’t be more thrilled or grateful,” said Hilltop Hoods.
In his first appearance at the APRA Music Awards, seventeen-year-old songwriter KIAN (Kobalt Music Publishing obo KB Recording), and co-writer Jerome Farah (Mushroom Music), have received awards for Most Performed Australian Work AND Most Performed Alternative Work for their beguiling collaboration Waiting. Hailing from Castlemaine, VIC, KIAN has gone from strength to strength since winning triple j’s Unearthed High competition in 2018, with Waiting reaching number 20 on triple j’s 2019 Hottest 100 and achieving double platinum status. Songwriter and producer Jerome was a dual APRA nominee in 2019 for his work with Baker Boy. Jerome and KIAN have joined creative forces again on KIAN’s new single Every Hour.
Taking out the Most Performed Country Work in back-to-back years is country pop crossover songwriter Morgan Evans, for his feel-good song Young Again (Writers: Morgan Evans / Chris DeStefano* / Joshua Kear^. Publishers: Warner Chappell Music / Sony/ATV Music Publishing* / Downtown Music Publishing^). John Butler (Downtown Music Publishing obo Family Music) receives his 6th career APRA Music Award for Just Call in the category of Most Performed Blues & Roots Work.
Winning their first ever APRA Award, for Most Performed Dance Work, are all-star co-writers Hayden James (Kobalt Music Publishing obo Future Classic), Matthew Kopp (who performs as Running Touch, and is the featured vocalist on the track) (BMG Rights Management), Jack Glass (Bag Raiders) (Universal Music Publishing), and Cassian Stewart-Kasimba (Cassian), who earned themselves the honour for Better Together.
Dean Lewis has taken out the Most Performed Pop Work for the emotional 7 Minutes, (Writers: Dean Lewis / Nicholas Atkinson* / Edward Holloway*. Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Specific Music / BMG Rights Management*) while Troy Cassar-Daley’s (Mushroom Music) powerful anthem Shutting Down Our Town, (performed by Jimmy Barnes featuring Troy Cassar-Daley) has scored a gong for Most Performed Rock Work. Troy was inspired to write the song after reading Jimmy Barnes’ memoir Working Class Boy, where Jimmy writes about growing up in Elizabeth, SA and the impact of the closure of the Holden car factory.
For the third consecutive year, Sia (along with co-writer Greg Kurstin) took out the Most Performed Australian Work Overseas for Cheap Thrills (Writers: Sia Furler / Greg Kurstin*. Publishers: Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Sony/ATV Music Publishing obo Kurstin Music*).
Meredith Music Festival was earlier named Licensee of the Year for their excellent music citizenship, and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s duet Shallow was previously announced as the Most Performed International Work (Writers: Stefani Germanotta*^ / Mark Ronson*+ / Anthony Rossomando*> / Andrew Wyatt*>. Publishers: Universal/MCA Music Publishing* / Sony/ATV Music Publishing^ / Native Tongue Music Publishing+ / Downtown Music Publishing>).
The 2020 Virtual APRA Music Awards were hosted by APRA AMCOS Ambassador and previous Songwriter of the Year honouree Briggs. Musical Director Kate Miller-Heidke worked her magic curating the music performances remotely. The virtual awards featured stellar performances of artists taking on each of the five Song of the Year compositions. John Butler and Mama Kin performed a joyful rendition of Guy Sebastian’s Choir, Kira Puru and Mo’Ju teamed up for their interpretation of Thelma Plum and Alexander Burnett’s Better in Blak. Folk troubadour William Crighton put his spin on 5 Seconds of Summer’s Teeth, while Los Angeles-based Nikka Costa and Justin Stanley performed The Teskey Brothers I Get Up. From New York City, The Dawn of MAY delivered her mesmerising interpretation of the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year Dance Monkey.
AMPAL congratulations to all the winning songwriters, composers and music publishers!
For the full list of winnes, see the APRA AMCOS website.
