ARIA Awards 2020 nominations winners and the shock snubs by industry voters
Australia’s sweetheart Delta Goodrem is among a clutch of artists who have missed out on a 2020 ARIA Awards nomination in a year which sees the indies versus the majors.
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Lime Cordiale, Tame Impala, Sampa The Great, Miiesha and DMA’S are the big winners among music industry voters for the 2020 ARIA Awards nominations.
But a clutch of artists who have worked their butts off during the pandemic shutdown to entertain fans and also release new music have been snubbed by voters including Delta Goodrem, Vika and Linda Bull and Dune Rats, who both had No. 1 albums and AFL grand final entertainment artists Cub Sport.
Amy Shark, who received three nominations for her comeback single Everybody Rise, said the nominations signified their music hadn’t fallen on deaf ears during the pandemic shutdown of live music.
Most Australian artists rely on gigs, rather than commercial radio play or playlist streaming, to introduce their new singles and albums to fans.
“There’s no sugar-coating it – it sucked to not be able to play new songs live,” she said.
“Everyone has done the best they could do to get a volume for attention.
“It has been such a strange year … I gauge the success of a song by looking at people’s faces at a gig as it starts and hearing them singing it.”
Sunny experimental pop, powerful soulful hip hop and all of the shades of rock – that’s the sound of Australia according to the nominations Awards announced today.
After more than a decade of slogging it out on the road both here and overseas, Sydney brothers Oli and Louis Lembach lead the class of 2020 with eight nominations.
As Lime Cordiale, the brothers have been Triple J and festival favourites and wowed critics and fans with their second record 14 Steps To A Better You, which is up for Album of the Year, Best Group and Best Pop release.
Oli Lembach said constant touring in recent years, combined with being discovered on Spotify playlists featuring peers such as Tash Sultana and Ocean Alley, helped them break through in the past year to hit No. 1 with 14 Steps To A Better You.
“We toured our arses off in 2019 and released an album in the middle of COVID when everyone was stuck at home and needed something new,” he said.
Second on the 2020 ARIA leaderboard is global chart and stage slayers Tame Impala for their fourth album The Slow Rush.
Their seven nominations also include Album of the Year and Best Group while the band’s creative controller Kevin Parker is individually nominated for Producer and Engineer of the Year.
It should be no surprise that Sampa The Great will return to the 2020 ARIAs as a major nominee.
The Zambian artist, based in Melbourne, has scored six nominations for her debut record The Return, after being the first woman of colour to win the rebooted Best Hip Hop Release last year.
Sampa Tembo’s powerful speech encouraging diversity and inclusivity at last year’s awards continues to resonate in the Australian music industry.
Breakthrough Queensland artist Miiesha has made a big impression with her debut record Nyaaringu, a fearless musical document about her life as an indigenous woman, receiving five nominations including Best Female Artist.
Also vying for five ARIAs are Sydney rockers DMA’S with their second record The Glow up for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album.
Further evidence of the widening goalposts of the Australian contemporary sound in the past decade is the two artists with four nominations – rising teen pop star Ruel and rock heavyweights Violent Soho.
When you get to the artists with three nominations on the 2020 ARIA leaderboard, there is a stark contrast between those who are household names – Amy Shark, Tones and I, Jessica Mauboy and Cold Chisel – and those who are more likely to feature on the alternative airwaves of Triple and Double J, such as Baker Boy, The Kid Laroi and Troye Sivan.
But the biggest shake-up of the 2020 ARIA Awards nominations is the indies versus the majors.
The rise of the independent labels – who tend to invest more and longer in developing young artists – in the past year has been phenomenal.
Artists on independent labels collected 96 nominations whilst those on major labels such as Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner – or their offshoots – have 49 nominations.
While the pandemic has brought the industry to its knees because of the shutdown of live entertainment, the industry was determined for the 2020 ARIA Awards to go ahead.
“It’s been a year we will never forget. Our industry has taken a hit, but the creativity of our local artists has not. Our artists have shown great resilience and their music has helped many Australians get through these tough times,” ARIA’s outgoing CEO Dan Rosen said.
Like most major award ceremonies throughout the world this year, the 2020 ARIAs will be a television-only event.
Artists who can travel to Sydney will perform on the Star awards stage but there will be no audience in the venue.
It will be telecast on Nine on November 25 with YouTube broadcasting the performances globally.
2020 ARIA AWARDS NOMINATIONS
Album Of The Year
DMA’s – THE GLOW
Jessica Mauboy – Hilda
Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You
Sampa The Great – The Return
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Best Male Artist
Archie Roach – Tell Me Why
Guy Sebastian – Standing With You
Ruel – Free Time
The Kid LAROI – F*ck Love
Troye Sivan – In A Dream
Best Female Artist
Amy Shark – Everybody Rise
Miiesha – Nyaaringu
Sampa The Great – The Return
Sia – Together
Tones And I – Bad Child / Can’t Be Happy All the Time
Best Dance Release
Alice Ivy – Don’t Sleep
Dom Dolla – San Frandisco
Flume – Rushing Back feat. Vera Blue
Northeast Party House – Shelf Life
Stace Cadet & KLP – Energy
Best Group
5 Seconds Of Summer – CALM
DMA’S – THE GLOW
Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
The Teskey Brothers – Live At The Forum
Breakthrough Artist
Alex the Astronaut – The Theory of Absolutely Nothing
Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You
Mallrat – Driving Music
Miiesha – Nyaaringu
The Kid LAROI – F*ck Love
Best Pop Release
Amy Shark – Everybody Rise
Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You
Sia – Together
Tame Impala – Lost In Yesterday
Troye Sivan – In A Dream
Best Hip Hop Release
Baker Boy – Meditjin feat. JessB
Briggs – Always Was EP
Illy – Last Laugh
Sampa The Great – The Return
The Kid LAROI – F*ck Love
Best Soul/R & B Release
Genesis Owusu – Don’t Need You
KIAN – Every Hour
Miiesha – Nyaaringu
Tash Sultana – Pretty Lady
Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2
Best Independent Release
Archie Roach – Tell Me Why
DMA’S – THE GLOW
Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
Sampa The Great – The Return
Best Rock Album
Cold Chisel – Blood Moon
DMA’S – THE GLOW
Ocean Alley – Lonely Diamond
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Violent Soho – Everything Is A-OK
Best Adult Contemporary Album
Archie Roach – Tell Me Why
Donny Benét – Mr Experience
Gordi – Our Two Skins
Josh Pyke – Rome
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
Best Country Album
Casey Barnes – Town of A Million Dreams
Fanny Lumsden – Fallow
Jasmine Rae – Lion Side
The McClymonts – Mayhem To Madness
Travis Collins – Wreck Me
Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Chunky Shrapnel
Parkway Drive – Viva The Underdogs
Polaris – The Death Of Me
The Amity Affliction – Everyone Loves You … Once You Leave Them
The Chats – High Risk Behaviour
Best Blues & Roots Album
Busby Marou – The Great Divide
Frank Yamma – Tjukurpa: The Story
Lucky Oceans – Purple Sky (Songs Originally By Hank Williams
The Teskey Brothers – Live At The Forum
Tracy McNeil & The GoodLife – You Be The Lightning
Best Children’s Album
Diver City – Welcome to Diver City
Teeny Tiny Stevies – Thoughtful Songs for Little People
The Vegetable Plot – Season Two
The Wiggles – Choo Choo Trains, Propeller Planes & Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car!
Tiptoe Giants – Colour the World
Best Comedy Release
Anne Edmonds – What’s Wrong With You?
Bev Killick – Crummy Mummy
Celia Pacquola – All Talk
Megan Washington – Just Jesus (feat. Chris Ryan)
Tom Gleeson – Joy
PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS
Best Video
Baker Boy – Meditjin feat. JessB
Guy Sebastian – Standing With You
Lime Cordiale – Robbery
PNAU feat. Vlossom – Lucky
Sampa The Great – Time’s Up (feat. Krown) Tame Impala – Is It True (
The Chats – The Clap
Tones And I – Ur So F**kInG cOoL
Troye Sivan – Easy
Violent Soho – Pick It Up Again
Best Australian Live Act
Amy Shark – Amy Shark Regional Tour
Baker Boy – Falls Festival
Cold Chisel – Blood Moon Tour
DMA’S – Unplugged & Intimate | Laneway Festival
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – St Jerome’s Laneway Festival
Paul Kelly – Paul Kelly – Making Gravy 2019
PNAU – All Of Us Australian Tour
RÜFÜS DU SOL – 2019 Summer Festival Tour
Sampa The Great – The Return Australian Tour 2019
The Teskey Brothers – Run Home Slow
Song of the Year
5 Seconds Of Summer – Teeth
Flume Feat. Vera Blue – Rushing Back
Hilltop Hoods Feat. Illy & Ecca Vandal – Exit Sign
Lime Cordiale – Robbery
Mallrat – Charlie
Ruel – Painkiller
Sam Fischer – This City
The Jungle Giants – Heavy Hearted
The Rubens – Live In Life
Tones and I – Never Seen the Rain
Best International Artist
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Eminem – Music To Be Murdered By
Halsey – Manic
Harry Styles – Fine Line
Juice WRLD – Legends Never Die
Justin Bieber – Changes
Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
Lizzo – Cuz I Love You
Taylor Swift – Folklore
The Weekend – After Hours
Telstra ARIA Music Teacher Award
CJ Shaw – Palmerston District Primary School, Canberra ACT
Kathryn McLennan – Virginia State School, Virginia QLD
Sarah Donnelley – Wilcannia Central School, Wilcannia NSW
Thomas Fienberg – Evans High School, Blacktown, NSW
ARTISAN AWARDS
Best Cover Art
Donny Benét – Mr Experience
Jessica Mauboy – Hilda
Lime Cordiale – 14 Steps To A Better You
Violent Soho – Everything Is A-OK
WASHINGTON – Batflowers
Engineer Of The Year
Alice Ivy – Don’t Sleep
IAMMXO (aka Mohamed Komba) for Miiesha – Nyaaringu
Eric J Dubowsky for Ruel – Free Time
Kevin Parker for Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Greg Wales for Violent Soho – Everything Is A-OK
Producer Of The Year
Kevin Shirley for Cold Chisel – Blood Moon
DNA & Louis Schoorl for Jessica Mauboy – Hilda
IAMMXO (aka Mohamed Komba) for Miiesha – Nyaaringu
M-Phazes for Ruel – Free Time
Kevin Parker for Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
FINE ARTS AWARDS
Best Classical Album
Alicia Crossley – Muse
David Greco & Erin Helyard – Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin
Jayson Gillham, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Carter – Beethoven Piano Concertos
Richard Tognetti & Erin Helyard – Beethoven & Mozart Violin Sonatas
Slava & Sharon Grigoryan – Our Place: Duets For Cello And Guitar
Best Jazz Album
Katie Noonan – The Sweetest Taboo
Luke Howard – All That Is Not Solid (Live At Tempo Rubato, Australia / 2020)
Mike Nock; Hamish Stuart; Julien Wilson; Jonathan Zwartz – This World
Nat Bartsch – Forever More
Paul Kelly & Paul Grabowsky – Please Leave Your Light On
Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album
Chelsea Cullen – I Am Woman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Dan Golding – Untitled Goose Game (Original Soundtrack)
Grigoryan Brothers – A Boy Called Sailboat
Matteo Zingales & Antony Partos – Mystery Road (Original Score: Seasons 1-2)
Sally Seltmann & Darren Seltmann – The Letdown (Music from Seasons 1+2)
Best World Music Album
Grace Barbe – FANM: WOMAN
Joseph Tawadros – Live at the Sydney Opera House
Melbourne Ska Orchestra – Live At The Triffid
The Crooked Fiddle Band – Another Subtle Atom Bomb
Xylouris White – The Sisypheans