APRA Awards 2024: New Categories, Hosts & Musical Director

APRA AMCOS has shared a stack of news about this year’s hotly anticipated APRA Music Awards, revealing two new categories and presenters, a new musical director and the official host for the ceremony.

For starters, the 2024 APRA Music Awards will feature a category celebrating the previous year’s Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal release, shining a spotlight on a genre often snubbed by awards shows. Like other awards in this bracket, it’s noted in a press release, “the nominees and winners are determined by royalties earned from Australian performances of works across broadcast, digital downloads, streaming services, and live performances”.

Technically new to the game, too, is the Emerging Songwriter Of The Year award, which will now replace the title for Breakthrough Songwriter Of The Year. APRA AMCOS says the award will continue to champion “songwriters in the early stages of their professional careers, who are building significant recognition, with a demonstrated original body of work”. Nominees will be determined by an independent Advisory Group, and the winner will be voted on by the APRA Board of Directors.

In a formal statement, Jenny Morris – Chair of the APRA Board, and an acclaimed songwriter and performer in her own right – said of the new additions: “The introduction of the Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal category comes in response to popular demand from members and the music industry and has been created to acknowledge the significant commercial and cultural impact of the hard rock/heavy metal genres. 

The other change, which comes from re-thinking and refining the former Breakthrough Songwriter to Emerging Songwriter Of The Year [category], emphasises that the recipients are in the process of establishing a foothold in the music industry, which is such a vital career stage to acknowledge.”

Meanwhile, acclaimed comedian Tom Gleeson – also known as the Gold Logie-winning host of Hard Quiz and Taskmaster – will host this year’s APRA Music Awards ceremony, which is slated to go down at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Sydney (Eora) on Wednesday May 1. He’ll be joined onstage by guest presenters Jen Cloher and Bumpy, with an original soundtrack being composed by The Presets legend Julian Hamilton (who comes onboard as this year’s musical director).

Lastly, today’s (March 19) news blast ended with the confirmation that nominees for the 2024 APRA Music Awards will be revealed in just a little over two weeks, on Thursday April 4.