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.
Changes to the awards
A brand new category for Best Pop Act
All genre categories will now be assessed on the act rather than album, with the requirement that nominees have released at least multiple recordings (ie. songs, works, pieces) between 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021
You must be a paid Music Victoria member to be on the longlist or to nominate your favourite music act, venue, festival, producer or woman in music
Artists can only be nominated in 1 genre category (if they self-nominated - the category they have chosen takes precedence over a judge's nomination of them in another genre)
How to nominate
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.
The categories for submission are:
Music Victoria Industry Awards:
Best Producer *$1000 voucher to spend on Yamaha gear sponsored by Yamaha
Outstanding Woman In Music
Best Festival
Best Venue (under 500 capacity)
Best Venue (over 500 capacity)
Best Regional and Outer Suburban Venue (under 50 gigs per year) *$3000 cash prize sponsored by Bendigo Bank
Best Regional and Outer Suburban Venue (over 50 gigs per year) *$3000 cash prize sponsored by Bendigo Bank
Music Victoria Awards:
Best Blues Act
Best Country Act
Best Electronic Act
Best Experimental or Avant-Garde Act
Best Folk Act
Best Heavy Act
Best Hip Hop Act
Best Intercultural (previously Global) Act
Best Jazz Act
Best Pop Act
Best Reggae and Dancehall Act
Best Rock/Punk Act
Best Soul, Funk, R'n'B or Gospel Act
Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent (for First Nations acts) *$3000 cash prize sponsored by the Archie Roach Foundation
Best Regional/Outer Suburban Act *$3000 cash prize sponsored by Bendigo Bank
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.
Eligibility Criteria
For music categories - at least 50% of the act has been living in Victoria for the last two years or uses Melbourne as a home base. If you are performing under a solo artist name, you must reside in Victoria to be eligible (residency of backing band is not considered).
For the producer category - Must have created or produced multiple recordings released between 1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021
For the festival and venue categories - Ran a music festival or music venue in Victoria between 1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021
For the venue, festival and live act categories - in light of the COVID-19 crisis, these categories will accept live streaming activity from Victorian venues, festivals and artists in the eligible time period.
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.
Submit now!
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.
