It’s your last chance to submit for the 17th annual instalment of the Music Victoria Awards! Despite 2020 being one of the toughest years the sector has ever seen, there is still plenty to celebrate.
To nominate you simply need to have an active paid membership of Music Victoria.
Each paid membership (starting at $77 or $33 concession) allows one nomination per team member, with higher-tiered memberships able to submit multiple nominations (as they have more team members associated with their membership fee).
Submissions for the 2021 Music Victoria Awards are now open until midnight Tuesday 20 July. Sign up as a paid member if you aren’t already and make your submission today.
Paid members can submit their entry or nomination here.
Not a member yet? Sign up here.
Music Victoria Industry Awards:
Music Victoria Awards:
The remaining categories (Best Band, Best Album, Best Song, Best Solo Artist, Best Musician, Best Breakthrough Act, Best Live Act) will be nominated by an expert industry panel and open to public voting in October. Last year’s inaugural Outstanding Woman in Music Award will once again be voted upon by the Music Victoria Board.
Music Victoria acknowledges the rich contributions made by people from a variety of backgrounds to the Victorian contemporary music scene. These Awards are our chance to capture, celebrate and reward the great music that has been made here in the past year.
We aim to have a diverse group of people acknowledged as part of these awards and as such, we strongly encourage applications by First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Deaf and Disabled people, and people from the LGBTIQA+ community.
Submissions are closing at midnight Tuesday 20 July. Shortlists will be published in September, with nominee announcements to follow soon after.
Paid members can submit their entry or nomination here.
Not a member yet? Sign up here.
Music Victoria thanks Major Partners Bendigo Bank, City Of Melbourne, Creative Victoria and Melbourne Recital Centre, and Event Partners Brick Lane, Channel 31 and Moshtix for their ongoing support of the Music Victoria Awards.
It’s that time of year again folks! The Music Victoria Awards are back, announcing their triumphant return in 2021 with submissions now open for the 17th annual instalment. Every year the Music Victoria Awards looks back on the incredible achievements of the Victorian music community over the previous 12 months, and despite 2020 being one of the toughest years the sector has ever seen, there is still plenty to celebrate.
A lot has happened since last year’s Awards, and Music Victoria would like to announce some new changes that come into effect this year. Firstly, the board would like to thank Awards founder and former CEO, Patrick Donovan for his outstanding work growing the Awards over the past 16 years, and welcome Music Victoria’s new CEO, Simone Schinkel to the role. A professional arts leader, Simone brings with her a celebrated reputation for strategic sector development, and a commitment to equity and justice, and she looks forward to celebrating with the local music community at her debut Music Victoria Awards this November.
“I’ve really tried to spend my early days in the role listening to the industry and I am delighted to introduce some changes in 2021, based on what I have been hearing. As part of our commitment to continual improvement we have refined our awards criteria, categories and judging processes which we believe will more accurately reflect and reward the diverse music community in Victoria. A Music Victoria Award nomination results in increased promotion, recognition and attention on your music, career, venue or festival – we encourage our members to get involved.”
~ Simone Schinkel, Music Victoria CEO
To nominate you simply need to have an active paid membership of Music Victoria.
Each paid membership (starting at $77 or $33 concession) allows one nomination per team member, with higher-tiered memberships able to submit multiple nominations (as they have more team members associated with their membership fee).
Submissions for the 2021 Music Victoria Awards are now open until midnight Tuesday 20 July. Sign up as a paid member if you aren’t already and make your submission today.
Paid members can submit their entry or nomination here.
Not a member yet? Sign up here.
Music Victoria Industry Awards:
Music Victoria Awards:
The remaining categories (Best Band, Best Album, Best Song, Best Solo Artist, Best Musician, Best Breakthrough Act, Best Live Act) will be nominated by an expert industry panel and open to public voting in October. Last year’s inaugural Outstanding Woman in Music Award will once again be voted upon by the Music Victoria Board.
Music Victoria acknowledges the rich contributions made by people from a variety of backgrounds to the Victorian contemporary music scene. These Awards are our chance to capture, celebrate and reward the great music that has been made here in the past year.
We aim to have a diverse group of people acknowledged as part of these awards and as such, we strongly encourage applications by First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Deaf and Disabled people, and people from the LGBTIQA+ community.
Submissions are now open until midnight Tuesday 20 July. Shortlists will be published in September, with nominee announcements to follow soon after.
Paid members can submit their entry or nomination here.
Not a member yet? Sign up here.
Music Victoria thanks Major Partners Bendigo Bank, City Of Melbourne, Creative Victoria and Melbourne Recital Centre, and Event Partners Brick Lane, Channel 31 and Moshtix for their ongoing support of the Music Victoria Awards.
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday over the past 9 weeks, Music Victoria has introduced you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Elizabeth – Live at Corner Hotel, Richmond
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Stepping into her sound like a silk robe, Elizabeth is the patron saint of sad girls on her debut record, The Wonderful World of Nature (nominated for Best Album at the 2020 Music Victoria Awards). Elizabeth is a glamorous tragic, a queer pop anti-heroine holding a curtain of glittering melodies over ugly truths. Casting herself as the antagonist wielding pop songs as weapons, she wipes away her running mascara and escapes a destruction of her own making. This debutante divorcée has traded in her white veil for a cocktail and concocted a collection of shimmering heartbreak bangers that celebrate the femme and her indulgent indiscretions. In facing the futility of holding onto something that’s already slipped out of her grasp, Elizabeth has created a new kind of heartbreak album.
Catch a teaser of Elizabeth's set below and catch up on the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Elizabeth – Live at Corner Hotel, Richmond is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 2 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Black Jesus Experience – Live at The Night Cat, Fitzroy
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Winners of the 2020 Music Victoria Awards’ Best Intercultural Act, BLACK JESUS EXPERIENCE (BJX) is a twelve piece band playing an irresistibly danceable alloy of traditional Ethiopian song and 21st Century groove. Black Jesus Experience’s music reflects the multicultural vibrancy of the band’s hometown, Melbourne, Australia. Singer Enushu began entertaining her local community as a child in Addis Ababa, migrating to Australia bringing hauntingly beautiful compositions inspired by her remarkable life story and the unique vocal traditions of Ethiopia. Enushu is joined on vocals by poetic giant and lyrical miracle Mr Monk, Zimbabwe born and Outback bred. When not touring BJX run a weekly session at cultural hub The Horn creating new songs live on stage featuring guest, a practice that lies in the improvising traditions of that feed BJX including Hip Hop, Jazz, Azmari and Funk. BJX’s fourth album ‘Migration’ won ‘The Age-Music Victoria Best Global Album 2014’ award. Their most recent album, ‘To Know Without Knowing’ was The Guardian Jazz Album of the Month, with 4 Star reviews from The Times, Blues + Soul, NPR Radio and more. Performance highlights for BJX include touring “the Motherland” Ethiopia four times, performing with Ethiojazz legend Mulatu Astatke in Africa (most notably at the United Nations in Addis Ababa commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and The African Union), in Europe and Australia (The Age Best National Tour 2013), and at Glastonbury and other great international festivals. The rhymes and chimes of Black Jesus Experience deliver the power and beauty of Africa through the vocal prism of Hip-Hop and freedom of Funk.
Catch a teaser of Black Jesus Experience's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Black Jesus Experience – Live at The Night Cat, Fitzroy is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 3 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Cable Ties – Live at The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Winners of the 2020 Music Victoria Awards’ Best Rock/Punk Album for their 2020 release “Far Enough”, Cable Ties are a fierce, tense rock’n’roll trio. They take the three-minute punk burner and stretch it past breaking point to deliver smouldering feminist anthems. Post-punk and garage rock hammered together by a relentless rhythmic pulse. Jenny McKechnie channels her struggles into songs that resonate deeply, giving voice to feelings often buried in modern life. Shauna Boyle and Nick Brown are a rhythm section anchored in Stooges primitivism—relentlessly hammering out a bedrock for McKechnie’s guitar pyrotechnics and vocal wallop. Three friends summoning a rhythmic tide to deliver anthems that turn latent anxieties into a rallying cry.
Catch a teaser of Cable Ties' set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Cable Ties – Live at The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 4 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Birdz – Live at Hotel Esplanade, St Kilda
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Winner of the 2020 Music Victoria Awards’ Best Hip Hop Act, BIRDZ has solidified his spot as one of the most exciting acts in the Australian hip-hop scene. The N.T raised rapper has secured strong backing from a growing legion of fans, lending to the Butchulla emcee’s increasing popularity and support for his debut album release ‘Train of Thought’, released in August 2017 through Bad Apples Music.
In May 2019, Birdz released his most impactful project to date in the ‘Place of Dreams’ Ep, featuring world class collaborations with the likes of Mo’ju, Ecca Vandal, Serina Pech and A.B. Original’s Trials on production. The project has since ticked over 900,000 streams on Spotify alone, received high rotation on triple j and community radio nationally, and is continuing to grow throughout the country.
Birdz is currently in the studio working on his second full-length album and is scheduled for release in 2021.
Catch a teaser of Birdz' set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Birdz - Live at Hotel Esplanade, St Kilda is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 5 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Freya Josephine Hollick – Live at Hotel Esplanade, St Kilda
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Nominated for Best Regional Act at the 2020 Music Victoria Awards, Ballarat’s Freya Josephine Hollick has been labeled by Double J as one of 5 acts leading the new country music renaissance.
Thanks to a significant grant from Creative Victoria, Freya traveled to California to record her 3rd album in 2019 with Lucinda Williams’ renowned band Buick 6 and guitarist Greg Leisz (known for his work with Beck, Eric Clapton, Aaron Neville, Sheryl Crow among many others). Arriving in Joshua Tree, Hollick, Thomas Brooks and Shane Reilly (Feral Fusion) met with Buick 6 in the desert at famed studio Rancho De La Luna, run by Eagles of Death Metal guitarist, Dave Catching. Here they recorded Hollick’s upcoming full-length album, a record saturated in the sounds of desert rock and cosmic country, inspired by the likes of Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint and Gene Clark. The third single from her forthcoming record is due for release in the coming months.
Catch a teaser of Freya Josephine Hollick's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Freya Josephine Hollick – Live at Hotel Esplanade, St Kilda is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 6 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Kee’ahn – Live at The Thornbury Theatre
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Winner of the 2020 Music Victoria Awards’ Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent, Kee’ahn is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal, Zenadth Kes song woman who has recently ventured from her home town in North Queensland, to pursue her dream in the Kulin Nation (Melbourne, Australia). With a name coming from the Wik people, meaning to dance, to sing, to play, Kee’ahn aims to honour her name and Ancestors through her soulful music that weaves lush melodies and words reminiscent of heartbreak and healing.
At 22 years of age, Kee’ahn already has an impressive number of performance credits to her name including: featuring at St Kilda Festival and at the Laneway Festival 2019 alongside Courtney Barnett, Cry Club, Jungle Cuffs, Kalyani amd Thelma Plum; as a feature artist with the Homelands Collecitve at National, Woodford and Cygnet Folk Festivals and Yirramboi First Nations Festival; and with DRMNGNOW at Golden Plains, St Kilda Festival, BIGSOUND, Splendour In The Grass Forum and Dark Mofo.
2021 sees Kee’ahn in the studio working on her first album ‘In Full Bloom’. Debut single ‘Better Things’ is out now.
Catch a teaser of Kee'ahn's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Kee'ahn: Music Victoria Awards 2020 showcase from Victoria Together on Vimeo.
Kee’ahn – Live at The Thornbury Theatre is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 7 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Leah Senior – Live at The Thornbury Theatre
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Leah Senior silences audiences with her ethereal vocals and unique lyricism. Her latest album The Passing Scene lilts between spring time baroque-pop and 70s folk, with lead single “Evergreen” nominated for Best Song at the Music Victoria Awards 2020. The Passing Scene effortlessly weaves together themes of impermanence, the natural world, loss and ultimately hope. When performing, Senior is joined by her sister Andi and guitarist/pianist Jesse Williams creating a tapestry of ethereal harmonies and jangly 60s guitar. The Passing Scene also features Tam Matlakowski on bass and Luke Brennan on drums. Leah Senior has performed extensively throughout Australia and Europe, playing at major festivals including Golden Plains, Boogie, Queenscliff Music Festival and OOAM (Switzerland). Early 2019 saw Leah Senior embark on her first headline international tour in support of her single Graves. Leah Senior will be returning to Europe and then joining King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard for their upcoming tour of America and Canada in 2021.
Catch a teaser of Leah Senior's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Leah Senior: Music Victoria Awards 2020 showcase from Victoria Together on Vimeo.
Leah Senior – Live at The Thornbury Theatre is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 8 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Shepparton Airplane – Live at The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Shepparton Airplane is a post-punk band from Melbourne, Australia. The band is driven by the twin guitars of Matt Duffy and Ezra Dowling and powered by the rhythm section of Steven Carter on drums and Stewart Rayner on bass guitar. Latest LP 'Sharks' is replete with unpredictable twists and genre-spanning soundscapes, signaling a sonic expansion for the band, all the while retaining the frenetic blend of jagged melody and pithy punk rock discourse found on 2018's 'Almurta' and 2016's self-titled debut. “Sharks” was nominated for Best Rock/Punk Album at the Music Victoria Awards 2020.
Catch a teaser of Shepparton Airplane's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Shepparton Airplane – Live at The Gasometer Hotel Collingwood is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
Sui Zhen: Music Victoria Awards 2020 showcase from Victoria Together on Vimeo.