Gold Coast’s premier music industry event, the Gold Coast Music Awards, is back for its eighth year, today opening nominations for 2022.
Despite challenging times for the industry, 2021 was an outstanding year for Gold Coast music and the Awards will see the City’s rising stars celebrated across ten categories during a glittering daytime ceremony and live concert.
The Awards will be held in conjunction with SPRINGTIME Festival and take place at HOTA, Home of the Arts on Saturday 3 September 2022.
“Gold Coast music has shone, despite the incredible pressure the industry has been under the past couple of years”, said Judging Panel Chair and Co-founder of the Gold Coast Music Awards, Samantha Morris.
“From Casey Barnes’ charting success, Amy Shark’s ARIA nominations and Busby Marou’s multiple festival headline slots, to the significant growth of acts like Beckah Amani, Jesswar, Saint Lane and Greatest Hits, the quality of music talent coming out of the Gold Coast has reached a point where it is absolutely being recognised at a national and even international level.”
Awarded Song and Video of the year at the 2021 Gold Coast Music Awards for her powerfully emotive song ‘Standards’, Beckah Amani’s career has flourished over the past twelve months.
“Knowing that your hometown has your back and that they are listening and supporting your music means a great deal to an upcoming artist”, said Beckah.
For me the recognition gave me confidence to continue releasing and working hard, it exposed me to a network of people within the music community that I hadn't connected with yet and the prizes contributed greatly to music gear and the creation of new music. I strongly encourage artists to consider nominating and going for it - you literally have nothing to lose!
This year, two new categories are being added to the mix, extending recognition further beyond performing artists. These include:
Studio Producer of the year – producers and sound engineers working on the Gold Coast are encouraged to nominate for what can be a career-changing opportunity.
Visual Creative of the year – photographers, designers, artists and other visual creatives working within the music industry can nominate their relevant work for recognition alongside industry peers.
City of Gold Coast support for the local music sector remains strong, with last year’s announcement of a three-year investment through the Arts Organisation Triennial fund for the team behind the annual Gold Coast Music Awards, to help establish the Gold Coast Music Network.
The Gold Coast Music Network will focus on the development of the City’s live, original music scene, with plans to establish an annual program of training and networking opportunities and music activation events, in addition to the annual Awards.
“Our city’s star continues to shine as the music industry expands across the coast. I’m pleased to see these new award categories added in 2022 as they highlight the value we place in the creative side of the industry,’’ said Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.
“Council is working to deliver certainty for our live music scene with Southport CBD the go-to-spot for live music into the future.
“I wish all nominees success in 2022 and thank organisers for backing live music on the Gold Coast. We have so much talent to showcase so bring it on.’’
The 2022 Gold Coast Music Awards categories are:
- Artist of the year
- Breakout artist of the year
- Live Act of the year
- Musician (instrumentalist / vocalist) of the year
- Release (album / EP) of the year
- Song of the year
- Studio Producer of the year
- Venue of the year
- Video of the year
- Visual Creative of the year
Nominations for the eight annual Gold Coast Music Awards are now open at gcmusicawards.com.au and close 31 May. Finalists announced 21 July.
To be eligible you will have needed to have released, performed or been active in your category of choice between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. Keep an eye on the Gold Coast Music Awards socials and website for further nomination announcements.
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The Gold Coast Music Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday 3 September from 11:30am-3:00pm at HOTA, Home of the Arts.
The Awards are held alongside SPRINGTIME Festival, taking place throughout the Surfers Paradise precinct from 2-4 September. Awards celebrations will also include a Gold Coast Music Awards after-party concert presented by SPRINGTIME Festival, on the HOTA outdoor stage, immediately after the Awards ceremony.
All finalists can opt in to participate in the People’s Choice Award, which will open for voting after finalists are announced and all nominees under the age of 25 are considered for the Gold Coast Music Prize.
The Gold Coast Music Awards is proudly supported by City of Gold Coast and SPRINGTIME Festival.