A mix of Australian songwriters and industry last night gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the APRA Music Awards, the event recognising the talented songwriters and music publishers that have achieved success across 15 categories in the past year.
APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston said, “It was an absolute joy to celebrate the success and artistry of the Australian songwriters who have persevered and kept us entertained and connected over the last couple of challenging years.
The Kid Laroi has scored an APRA Music Awards trifecta. The 18-year-old has taken out the peer-voted APRA Song of the Year for “Stay”, the global hit co-written with Justin Bieber. Laroi also won Most Performed Hip Hop/Rap Work for “Without You”. Then to cap off an incredible year, the 2021 Breakthrough Songwriter has now been named Songwriter of the Year.
The Kid Laroi said, “Thank you for awarding me with Songwriter of the Year. I really appreciate the support and I want to give a quick shout out to fans back home. I’m stoked to be on my way back and I can’t wait to perform the End of the World Tour with you guys. I miss you all and I’ll see you soon.”
Genesis Owusu was the Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year. With his songwriting and debut album “Smiling with No Teeth” receiving a lot of high praise, Genesis most recently took out first place in the 2021 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition.
Tones And I was a dual winner for the second year in a row, scoring two gongs for two different songs. “Fly Away” was the Most Performed Pop Work and her worldwide hit “Dance Monkey” was the Most Performed Australian Work Overseas.
Making his APRA Music Awards debut was John Courtidis, who is now also a two-time winner. He was awarded for the Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work for “Head & Heart”, the anthemic dancefloor smash hit performed by Joel Corry featuring MNEK.
The magical music collaboration between Vance Joy and Joel Little earned them the Most Performed Alternative Work for “Missing Piece”, a song inspired by the separation of loved ones due to the pandemic.
The strong songwriting partnership between Matt Corby and Budjerah led to the award for Most Performed R&B/Soul Work for “Higher”. This was the first APRA Music Award for both Budjerah and Corby.
Another first-time APRA Music Awards winner was Ziggy Alberts, whose song “Letting Go” was the Most Performed Blues & Roots Work.
Proving that she’s a little bit country was Amy Shark, whose song “Love Songs Ain’t for Us”, (co-written with Ed Sheeran) was the Most Performed Country Work.
Still proving they’re a dominant songwriting force, Angus Young and the late Malcolm Young won Most Performed Rock Work for “Shot in the Dark” from their 17th studio album “Power Up”.
Legendary children’s entertainment group The Wiggles, accepted the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music, an honour that the APRA Board of Directors confers to acknowledge a group or individual who has contributed immensely to Australian music. The Ted Albert Award was presented to The Wiggles by Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock’s Ross Wilson.
As previously announced, the Licensee of the Year award was awarded to Great Big Events and TAFE Queensland for their music citizenship, while “Lasting Lover, written by James Arthur, Bruce Fielder, Lewis Capaldi, Luke Fitton, Benjamin Goldwasser, Jarl Hasselquist, Corey Sanders and Andrew Vanwyngarden was the Most Performed International Work.
APRA Awards live performances
Musical Director François Tétaz curated the live performances for the night which included the five tributes for the Peer-Voted Song of the Year nominees. Chris Cheney, MC Dallas Woods and Melbourne R&B newcomer Kye opened proceedings by taking on a mashup of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and “Hoodlum” by Woods and Jerome Farah. Telenova with Mindy Meng Wang performed Hiatus Kaiyote’s “Red Room”. Singer, songwriter and producer grentperez performed The Kid LAROI’s “Stay”, the Peer-Voted Song of the Year, while hard-hitting Hammond organ trio Cookin’ On 3 Burners along with Kylie Auldist, Didirri, Jungaji Brady, Dean Brady and Tasman Keith put their spin on “First Nation”, the track Keith composed with Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst. Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders took on “The Other Black Dog”, written by Genesis Owusu, Michael Di Francesco, Andrew Klippel and Julian Sudek and double 2022 APRA Music Awards winner Tones And I and ensemble delivered an unforgettable rendition of “Guided By Angels” by Amyl & The Sniffers. And finally, the mighty Hard-Ons with singer Tim Rogers delivered a blistering tribute to the late, great Chris Bailey with their version of the Bailey and Ed Kuepper masterpiece “Know Your Product”.
The 2022 APRA Music Awards were hosted by Julia Zemiro, Eddie Perfect and Jerome Farah.
Top photo: Genesis Owusu with dual winner Tones And I (Image by Tony Mott)
APRA Awards winners list
Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year
Title: Stay
Artist: The Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber
Writers: The Kid Laroi/Justin Bieber*/Isaac De Boni#/Omer Fedi*/Magnus Hoiberg^/Michael Mule#/Charlie Puth+/Subhaan Rahman/Blake Slatkin*
Songwriter of the Year
The Kid Laroi
Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
Writer: Genesis Owusu
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing obo Ourness Songs
Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
The Wiggles
Most Performed Australian Work
Title: Head & Heart
Artist: Joel Corry feat. MNEK
Writers: Jonathan Courtidis#/Joel Corry/Uzoechi Emenike*/Neve Applebaum#/Daniel Dare#/Robert Harvey^/Kashif Siddiqui#/Lewis Thompson+
Most Performed Alternative Work
Title: Missing Piece
Artist: Vance Joy
Writers: Vance Joy/Joel Little*
Most Performed Blues & Roots Work
Title: Letting Go
Artist: Ziggy Alberts
Writer: Ziggy Alberts
Most Performed Country Work
Title: Love Songs Ain’t For Us
Artist: Amy Shark featuring Keith Urban
Writers: Amy Shark/Ed Sheeran*
Most Performed Dance / Electronic Work
Title: Head & Heart
Artist: Joel Corry feat. MNEK
Most Performed Hip Hop / Rap Work
Title: Without You
Artist: The Kid Laroi
Writers: The Kid Laroi/Omer Fedi*/Blake Slatkin*/Billy Walsh*
Most Performed Pop Work
Title: Fly Away
Artist: Tones And I
Writer: Toni Watson
Most Performed R&B / Soul Work
Title: Higher
Artist: Budjerah
Writers: Matt Corby/Budjerah*
Most Performed Rock Work
Title: Shot in the Dark
Artist: AC/DC
Writers: Angus Young/Malcolm Young
Most Performed Australian Work Overseas
Title: Dance Monkey
Artist: Tones And I
Writer: Toni Watson
Most Performed International Work
Title: Lasting Lover
Artist: Sigala & James Arthur
Writers: James Arthur^/Bruce Fielder*/Lewis Capaldi+/Luke Fitton^/Benjamin Goldwasser*/Jarl Hasselquist/Corey Sanders#/Andrew Vanwyngarden*
Licensee of the Year
TAFE Queensland
Great Big Events
APRA Awards: New Mediaweek Podcast
Making music & money: APRA Awards celebrate creators’ biggest hits
To celebrate the 40th-anniversary edition of the APRA Music Awards, join APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston and director of member relations Milly Petriella in a discussion with Mediaweek’s James Manning about how much money music creators share and how the APRA Awards celebrate Australia’s biggest hits.
Listen to the podcast online here, on the LiSTNR app or on your favourite podcast platform.