The official home of Australian Independent Music, a place for music industry professionals alike, featuring the cream of the crop of Australia’s diverse and thriving independent music sector.

Sorry we haven't blogged for a while. It's because we've been attending a million different versions of the ARIA Awards.

Apparently the ARIA's at Sydney Opera House wasn't the best television. But that's alright, they took huge risks this year, changed location, changed format, changed television network. It's a high risk/high reward game.  ARIA are trying to get their show right for a national audience and at AIR we think it's important that they do. The ARIAs mean something....

That said, we've got a bit of gripe about the format. "Niche" awards for CRAZY genres like 'Dance', 'Blues and Roots', 'Hip Hop' and 'Metal' were awarded in the week leading up to the main event, a small ceremonies in the Botanical gardens. Yep, ummm niche...

Dance (Won by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP, how many millions of sales worldwide?)

Blues and Roots (Won by Dan Sultan, one of Australian music's brightest stars)

Metal (Won by Parkway Drive, arguably one of the biggest bands in the country, certainly in terms of concert attendances, album and merch sales they are).

Hip Hop (Won by M-Phazes, one of Australia's best producers, our greatest exporting hip hop artist, currently working on tracks for everyone in world Hip Hop)

And what about Classical or Jazz? Are these genre's not worthy of a national audience, were their achievements any less impressive?

We need to celebrate the exciting parts of the Australian music industry, not hide it away. The talent, taste-makers and boundary pushers in Australian music reside in the fringes... it really worries us that ARIA are presenting an industry devoid of the tasty bits. Australia's Metal, Dance, Hip Hop and Dance need to be celebrated.

Finally, Independent Music is the lifeblood of our industry. Please never ever ever get an independent politician as a gimic to present that award again. It's an insult, Bob Katter doesn't care about contemporary music.

Finally,  Independent Labels won 17 ARIA's combined. How many did Sony or Warner win?

Yep, zero

Congratulations to the following Independent ARIA Award winning Artists!!!!

Best Male Artist
Dan Sultan - Get Out While You Can (MGM)

Best Group
The Temper Trap - Love Lost (Liberation Music)

Best Independent Release
Sia - We Are Born (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)

Most Popular Australian Single
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (Liberation Music)

Best Pop Release
Sia - We Are Born (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)

Best Rock Album
Birds of Tokyo - Birds of Tokyo (Independent/EMI)

Best Comedy Release
Andrew Hansen, Chris Taylor & Craig Schuftan - The Blow Parade (ABC Music)

Best Classical Album
Paul Dyer and Australian Brandenburg Orchestra - Tapas - Tastes Of The Baroque (ABC Classics)

Best Jazz Album
James Morrison & The Idea Of North - Feels Like Spring (ABC Jazz)

Best Dance Release
Yolanda Be Cool and Dcup - We No Speak Americano (Sweat it
Out/Central Station Records)

Best Urban Album
M-Phazes - Good Gracious (Obese Records)

Best Blues & Roots Album
Dan Sultan - Get Out While You Can (MGM)

Best Children's Album
The Wiggles - Let's Eat! (ABC Music)

Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show
Various - Before Too Long: Triple J's Tribute to Paul Kelly (ABC Music)

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
Parkway Drive - Deep Blue (Resist Records/Shock)

Best Music DVD
Various - Sound Relief (Liberation Music)

Best World Music Album
Mamadou Diabate, Bobby Singh & Jeff Lang - Djan Djan (ABC Music)

Australian singer-songwriter Deborah Conway - alongside collaborator Willy Zygier [pictured together, right] - is nominated for Best Country Album at the 2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards (for Half Man, Half Woman; 'making of' video embedded above). Ahead of this year's event - more details on that at the bottom of this post - we caught up Deborah Conway.

What's your favourite musical moment of 2010 so far, Deborah?

On a very personal note (and after all what is music other than personal) it would be hard to beat getting our album back from being mastered in Nashville and listening to it for the first time on our stereo, oooh that brown sound.

What's your favourite song of 2010 so far by an Australian artist?

'We No Speak Americano' by Yolanda Be Cool & D-Cup [embedded below]. They found a great piece of music to sample, and they figured out a great way to use it.

What does being independent mean to you?

At this stage of our career, we have zero interest in being dictated to by a 3rd party that we have no intimate musical relationship with. The idea of going hat in hand to an A&R executive to ask their opinion on what we should and should not include on our album is simply a laughable concept. Being independent is really the only sensible alternative. It's about being fully responsible for all the choices one makes musically, artistically and in business. It means that you rise or fall on your own decisions, it's the coalface and we love it.

What's the biggest challenge you face as an independent musician?

Marketing is a costly business and without a large record company with deep pockets behind you it is far and away the most challenging aspect of being independent.

Conversely, what's the best thing about being independent?

On the flip side one is forced to be imaginative and inventive in finding different ways to get music into the public arena. We have enjoyed that process of thinking outside the square.

As a musician, what would you ultimately like to be known and remembered for?

Well, as songwriters we want to be remembered for writing songs that have really spoken to people, for making albums that people have treasured at particular times in their lives and for having been ever restless in our musical pursuits. As musicians/performers we'd like to be remembered for playing some shit hot gigs.

Favourite music video of all time by an Australian artist, and why?

Not fond of the art form, always preferred to listen to music over watching it.

What's the best thing about being associated with AIR and the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards?

It's great that there is a body that recognises all the hard work without being part of the mainstream industry where a record company nominates you & it's all just another part of the selling process.

Which Australian independent act deserves to be the 'next big thing'?

Elana Stone is massively talented - next? who can say but one day, most definitely.

Finally, who do you think is going to win your category this year? Who deserves runner-up?

Might skip this question on the grounds that it might incriminate us!

Thanks for your time, Deborah! For more info on Deborah Conway and Willy Zyger, visit Deborah's website.

The 5th Annual Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are held at The Forum Theatre, Melbourne on Friday October 1st, 2010, featuring live performances from British India, Cloud Control, The Amity Affliction, M-Phazes, Sally Seltmann and Joe Chindamo. Doors open at 8:00pm; tickets are $29+BF and available now via Ticketmaster.

For more info on AIR and Australian independent music, visit http://www.ausindies.com/

We're not sure if you've read this story [pictured right] in The Music Network about Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's absence from our list of nominees for the 2010 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. We've spoken extensively to their label, Central Station, about the issue and we respect their right to voice an opinion on the matter. They are an independent label who have achieved something extraordinary with this release.

Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP's song 'We Speak No Americano' has achieved incredible success as an independent single. It's a worldwide smash-hit. One of the biggest releases in Australia of the year full stop.

Anyway, we at AIR were a little miffed at the fact that The Music Network didn't contact us before publishing their article. So, here's our response. We've sent a copy to them and they can publish it if they like.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Did it deserve to be nominated? Should the awards just be based on sales or airplay? Should they be based on artistic merit and achievement? What is truly independent and where should we draw the line for these awards?

Dear TMN

Thanks for showing continued interest in the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards. Jamie Raeburn and Central Station's frustrations are understandable and warrant an airing but in the interests of balanced journalism we're surprised that we weren't asked by The Music Network for comment regarding Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's omission from the list of nominees before you published the article.

'We Speak No Americano's omission was due to AIR's own confusion about Central Station's relationship with Universal. For the sake of these awards only masters that are 100% Australian owned are in contention. Without delving into the contractual details of every record label's relationship with their distributor we do our utmost to discern where the ownership of the masters lie.

'We Speak No Americano's success has been a phenomenon which has been reflected in our own Jagermeister Independent Charts. However, like the ARIAs, these nominees are based on votes from our judging pool and their inclusion in a shortlist would have been no guarantee of nomination. You'll also notice that neither The John Butler Trio or Sally Seltmann were nominated. Not because they weren't deserving or hadn't achieved incredible commercial or artistic success but because our 250 judges chose otherwise. The nominees this year are exceptional across the board and we stand by them.

In response to the article it's worth letting you know exactly what the voting process for the awards is.

1. AIR gathers a shortlist of artists who have made an impact on the Jagermeister Independent Music Charts from the previous year. We also consult with our membership in case their has been an omission or release that deserves consideration despite a lack of commercial success. 
2. This shortlist, including tracks from the album is presented to 250 judges in a secure voting form. The judging panel is made up of music press (online, street press, mainstream newspapers and specialist music publications), radio (community radio, ABC and commercial) and music industry representatives from the independent sector. As a whole they are unbiased and we do not interfere with their judging.
3. Votes are collated, the top 6 announced as nominees and the winner announced at the awards ceremony.

Both Dance/Electronica and Jazz are genres that rarely make a charts impact so we rely on a smaller number of specialist judges (about 60) who know the Australian scene well. In the case of Dance/Electronica we had specialist judges from music media, festivals and promoters. Dance judges pointed out that the criteria of "albums" is not representative of a scene whose currency is singles and remixes. We've already begun looking at ways to better gauge the success of independent dance artists in future years.

Cheers

AIR