It was announced earlier this week that the 5th Annual National Live Music Awards would be returning in 2020, delivering an event on October 20th at The Triffid in Brisbane – as part of the opening night festivities at BIGSOUND.
The event, which normally holds 8 events around the country, will only hold the one event this year, and reduce the amount of awards they’re handing out to reflect the constraints on the industry during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
But in their wake, two new, permanent awards are being added to the event, alongside a number of special achievement awards.
For the first time, the finest work by Live Music Journalists in Australia will be recognised by the NLMAs, accompanying the award for photographers introduced two years ago. Journalists who would like to be considered for the award are encouraged to submit three pieces of work for nomination at nlmas.com.au/apply.
The second, Best International Tour, will recognise an Australian promoter for their work on an Australian tour, fronted by an International guest, who the 100 national judges deemed the most impressive in terms of scope, production and talent. This will be the first time since the award’s inception that a category will be provided to acknowledge the work of local promoters.
Award founder and director Larry Heath went on to say of these new awards, “It was always our intention to bring more industry focused awards to the event over time. With so many of our usual awards being put aside for this year’s event, it made sense to bring these two new awards into the fold, which we are excited to name as permanent additions.”
In addition to the new trophies, a number of Special Achievement Awards will be handed out throughout the evening, each announced in advance of the ceremony. The awards will recognise the work of an individual, organisation or initiative that went above and beyond to buoy the industry through the pandemic, as well as the bushfire crisis that preceded it.
Nominations for all awards, including the special achievement awards, are open now at nlmas.com.au/apply until August 12th.
