ARIA has announced the 2020 ARIA Awards will be held in partnership with YouTube Music and will return on November 25th, for a one-of-a-kind year. The ARIA Awards ceremony will be held at The Star Event Centre in Sydney and broadcast around Australia on the Nine Network, with performances showcased around the world on YouTube. While there will be no physical audience, the ARIA Awards will be announced live from The Star Event Centre stage.
The 2020 ARIA Awards season launch will be presented online via an ARIA YouTube channel, and presented by Nine’s Brooke Boney. The Fine Arts and Artisan ARIA Awards will now be awarded on the same day as the ARIA Awards in partnership with YouTube Music, showcasing the country’s best talent in all categories on November 25th.
In order to amplify the celebration of Australian music in November, ARIA has partnered with the NSW Government to create a new music event, Great Southern Nights, which will bring 1,000 COVID-safe gigs to Sydney and regional NSW. Great Southern Nights is a NSW Government initiative, delivered by its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW in partnership with ARIA, giving Australian artists a welcome boost and turbocharging live music venues across the state. For more information about Great Southern Nights, visit www.greatsouthernnights.com.au.
Dan Rosen, ARIA chief executive, said, “It has been a hugely challenging year for everyone around Australia and indeed the world. There is no doubt that our music industry has been impacted, first by the bushfires and then by the COVID-19 crisis, and ARIA has been working hard to ensure we are supporting Australia’s artists in their time of need. With this year’s ARIA Awards, we want to celebrate the resilience, strength, and camaraderie that our artists and the music industry have shown throughout 2020, and celebrate the successes of the Australian music industry, both locally and on the global stage. Australia’s music industry is a passionate and determined community, and we can’t wait to showcase that on this night of nights.”
Denis Handlin, ARIA chairman and chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia and New Zealand, said: “On behalf of the ARIA Board, I am excited to announce the return of the ARIA Awards and to bring a moment of celebration and togetherness in this challenging year. This year’s Awards will be different from those we have held in the past, but it provides us with a creative opportunity to showcase our fantastic Australian talent in a unique way to music fans here and around the world. I am thrilled to have the Nine Network as our television partner, as we welcome back Destination NSW and The Star, and we look forward to working with all our partners to create an unforgettable night.”
Hamish Turner, Nine Network program director, said: “2020 has been a year like no other. Through adversity the industry has come together to deliver two marquee events, in Music from the Homefront and the Bushfire Relief Concert. Nine are proud to once again support our artists and music community with this year’s broadcast of the ARIA Awards. We are excited to come together and celebrate the local industry and artists.”
Australian artists have figured prominently on the charts over the last 12 months, with over 50 Australian releases having landed in the Top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and 10 Australian albums reaching #1. These achievements will be celebrated during the 2020 ARIA Awards on Wednesday, 25th November 2020.