About The Amp

The Australian Music Prize Ltd is an organisation established to encourage, reward and promote Australian music of excellence.


Each year an Australian music artist (or group of artists) will be awarded, courtesy of PPCA a cash prize of $25,000.00 in recognition of their outstanding creativity. In the essence of the UK’s prestigious “Mercury Music Prize”, the winner of ‘The Amp’ each year will gain increased and widespread exposure which will serve to enhance their global career aspirations. The Australian Music Prize Ltd will continue to honour contemporary Australian artists over consecutive years and plans to be able to expand the operation so as to encourage more Australian music artists to produce exceptional work.

“I believe that The Australian Music Prize is a fantastic and important initiative, created to recognise artistic excellence in the music field,” says EMI Managing Director and PPCA Chairman, John O'Donnell. “The Amp welcomes artists of all genres and types to submit entries. Its judging criteria are not related to sales or fashion, but to quality songs and performance. The Amp will fill a void and encourage artists of all types."

The Australian Music Prize Ltd has been established to create an Australian music industry prize which promotes the health and growth of the local industry both here and abroad. Artists will be encouraged to enter The Amp through the incentive of a large cash prize (provided by its partner, PPCA), with which they can further build upon their musical careers. The winner will benefit from increased exposure by highlighting the artist and their work to a broader base of listeners: the public, the media, the industry and even international ears!

Scott Murphy, Prize Director of The Amp 2007:
“I’m overwhelmed by the across the board support from the Australian music industry for this venture and in particular with the funding offered by our partner, PPCA. Without PPCA The Amp 2005, 2006 and now 2007 may not have been possible. It’s an ideal partnership as PPCA targets the same group of people that we do, that being the artists of Australia who are producing and releasing new, original and creative music.”

The Amp 2005 and 2006 were incredible success stories. Each year, approx. 200 artists entered their albums and our panel of expert judges listened to those entries in order to produce the Short Lists:

The Amp 2005 – Short List 8:

Ben Lee “Awake Is The New Sleep”
The Drones “Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By”
The Mess Hall “Notes From A Ceiling”
Tex, Don & Charlie “All Is Forgiven”
The Go-Betweens “Oceans Apart”
Wolfmother “Wolfmother”
TZU “Smiling At Strangers”
The Devastations “Coal”

 

The Amp 2006 – Short List 9:

Augie March "Moo You Bloody Choir"
Bob Evans "Suburban Songbook"
Gotye "Like Drawing Blood"
Howling Bells "Howling Bells"
Jackie Marshall "Fight n'Flight"
Lisa Gerrard "The Silver Tree"
Sarah Blasko "What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have"
The Drones "Gala Mill"
The Grates "Gravity Won't Get You High"

 

Not long following the announcement of the above Short Lists in early 2006 and 2007, industry events were held in order to announce to the world the Winners, being:

The Winner of The Amp 2006: Augie March “Moo, You Bloody Choir”

 

The Amp 2007 Judging Panel will again consist of hand-picked (by the members of the Patron Steering Committee) people - chosen because of their known ability to expertly review music - and appreciate excellence in music. The judges will be pooled from all over Australia from 3 specific areas of the industry: music retail; music journalist/critic; established artists. For The Amp 2007, no one can be a judge if they have any personal or business interest in a particular entry/entrant.

The Amp comes to fruition in partnership with PPCA (the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia), which is again providing the cash prize of $25,000.00. PPCA is a national, non-profit organisation that represents the interests of Australian recording artists and record labels. PPCA licenses over 42,000 businesses across Australia, including radio and TV stations, which play sound recordings (CDs, tapes, digital downloads), music videos and telephone music on hold, and distributes the net licence income each year to registered Australian recording artists and record labels. This ongoing partnership between PPCA and The Amp illustrates PPCA’s ongoing support of the Australian music industry and local talent. PPCA encourages all recording artists to register to be eligible for a share in the licence fee revenue collected each year. For more information about PPCA, go to www.ppca.com.au or phone (02) 8569 1133.

The Australian Music Prize was founded and established by Scott Murphy (Prize Director) – a twenty-year veteran of the Australian music industry.  Murphy establishes an annual Patron Steering Committee to advise on all aspects of the running of the Prize. The venture is a not-for-profit business established to administer the award on an ongoing basis.

 

The Amp 2007 Patron Steering Committee, comprises the following music industry personnel:
KEY DATES for The Amp 2007:

October 1st 2007 – open for entries
November 30th 2007 – last day for entry
TBA Early 2008 – announcement of the Short List 8
TBA March 2008 – the Winners Event (Announcement)

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