Daniel Johns shock finalist for 2023 APRA Song of the Year

The former Silverchair frontman is a surprise finalist in a coveted Aussie music award. See the artists nominated alongside him.

Kathy McCabeNational Music Writer

@McCabeRadar

3 min read

March 30, 2023 - 12:28PM

News Corp Australia Network

Music

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Daniel Johns is a shock finalist for Song of the Year at the 2023 APRA Music Awards, joining rising rock stars King Stingray, pop singer songwriter Julia Jacklin, Flume and the late Archie Roach for the coveted songwriter’s prize.

While Johns’ campaign spruiking for votes for his song I Feel Electric to make the Hottest 100 this year failed, almost 3000 of the country’s songwriters believe his solo single was worthy of a nomination.

Johns has always been highly regarded by his songwriting peers, having won the APRA Song of the Year award in 2008 for the Silverchair smash Straight Lines and was short-listed in 2016 with his debut solo single Aerial Love but didn’t make the final five nominations.

Daniel Johns is up for the 2023 APRA Music Awards Song of the Year. Picture: Luke Eblen/Supplied

The other four nominated songs are Roach’s legacy anthem One Love, Jacklin’s Lydia Wears A Cross, King Stingray’s Lupa and the Hottest 100 winner this year, Flume and May-A’s global hit Say Nothing.

This year’s list of APRA nominations is dominated by male artists and songwriters with 40 of the entries for songs recorded by men compared to 16 for female artists or acts featuring a woman, including Peppa Lane of Spacey Jane whose band are also up for Most Performed Rock Work.

In some categories there are no female artists or songwriters represented in the nominations including the Most Performed Australian Work, which reflects the songs which dominated streaming and airplay over the past 12 months.

Spacey Jane has been nominated for Most Performed Rock Work. Photo: Sam Hendel

Australian surf rock band King Stingray has also been nominated. Picture: Supplied

“Everyone knows the extraordinary talent across the entire Australian music ecosystem, but the disparity in these figures proves yet again there is a systemic problem with the visibility of female and diverse songwriters,” APRA CEO Dean Ormston said.

“The industry, platforms and broadcasters must work proactively and tirelessly to tackle this exclusion head-on - through access to music education, traineeships and real opportunities to create, be seen and be heard.

“We have to keep asking, why isn’t there a balance in this room, on this stage, on this radio station or streaming service, and we have to listen, learn and act deliberately to shine a light on the full breadth of brilliant musical talent across Australia.”

Jane Barnes is a surprise feature in the songwriter nominations for the 2023 APRAs.

Another surprise in the list of songwriters nominated for the 2023 APRAs is Jane Barnes who is credited as a co-writer with husband Jimmy and their brother-in-law Mark Lizotte (Diesel) for Barnes’ song Around In Circle up for Most Performed Rock Work.

King Stingray, who exploded into the national consciousness last year with their self-titled debut album which has already won them a clutch of awards, are also up for Breakthrough Song of the Year.

They are joined by Spacey Jane who have been one of a handful of Australian artists who have managed to breach the ARIA top 50 in the past year, hip hop artist Sampa The Great, and artist and producer 18YOMAN (Vincent Goodyer) who was nominated for Grammy for his work on the Lil Nas X record Montero.

Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber are among the nominees. Picture: Instagram

The APRA nominations for the Most Performed Works categories include last year’s Song of the Year winner, Stay by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber which has nine songwriters.

As those are decided by APRA’s statistical analysis of performance activity as reflected by royalty earnings, the song was eligible again this year as it continues to dominate streaming and airplay and has remained in the charts for 88 weeks.

The 2023 APRA Music Awards will be announced in Sydney on April 27.