Put simply, the APRA Music Awards are about honouring composers and songwriters. It was with this simple ideology in mind that the APRA Music Awards were established in 1982. Staged as an annual event, the awards honour those composers and songwriters who have achieved the highest performances of their work and excellence in their craft over the previous year.
Music Award recipients over the years have been as rich and varied as the songs they represent. Previous winners have included some of the finest names in the Australian contemporary music landscape with an honour roll that has included Neil and Tim Finn, Powderfinger, Neil Murray, Yothu Yindi, Paul Kelly, Nick Cave, Daniel Johns, Savage Garden, Alex Lloyd, Tina Arena, David Hirschfelder, Slim Dusty, Missy Higgins, John Butler and many, many more.
The APRA Music Awards have evolved over their 25+ year history in response to ever changing landscape of Australian music. In 2002 APRA introduced two new award categories: the Most Performed Dance Work, acknowledging the huge impact of dance music; and the Breakthrough Award, for emerging composers or songwriters of any genre. The inaugural recipients of these awards were Paul Mac and Peta Morris (for “Just The Thing”) and Jennifer Waite and Grant Wallis respectively. Then in 2006 APRA introduced two new categories of Most Performed Urban Work and Most Performed Blues & Roots Work.
Previous Years