36 judges announced for Queensland Music Awards

QMusic announced the 36 names to be part of the judging panel for the 2014 Queensland Music Awards, to be held in Brisbane in March. They represent media, managers, A&R representatives, label directors, publicists, venue operators and publishers.

25 are from Queensland; they include Sarah Howells (triple j),John Mullen (Dew Process), Graham Ashton (Frogstomp Music), Lars Brandle (Billboard/The Music Network), Chris O'Neill (APRA AMCOS), Rick Chazan (Ground Control Music), Dan Condon (Double J),Leanne de Souza (Buzz Management), Craig Spann (Virgin Australia), producer James Lees, journalist Andrew Stafford, John Meyer (New Globe Theatre), Dominic Miller (Bluebeard Music), Quentin Ellison (4zzz fm), Ben Preece (Mucho Bravado, Tim Price (Pricewar Music) and Stephen Green (SGC Media).

Two judges are based in the United States. Aussie expat Isabel Pappani was VP of Creative at Festival Mushroom before relocating to Los Angeles to set up sync agency Undercover Tracks, which effectively places Aussie jndie music in US film and television. Adam Lewis co-founded The Planetary Group, an artist development and promotions firm based in Boston and Los Angeles focused on placing new acts on radio and blogs in North America.

The intestate names include Mark Wilson (Warner Music), Rhoda Roberts (Vibe Australia, Boomerang), Maggie Collins (Golden District), Mark Smith (Music NT) Owen Fields (Elefant Traks), Brad Wesson (Soundworks Touring), John Zucco (The Right Profile) and Bernadette Ryan (Saskwatch). See qmusic.com.au for full list.

The public gets to vote in the People’s Choice category. Past winners included Emma Louise, Kate Miller-Heidke, Jeremy Neale, The Jungle Giants, The Grates and Pete Murray.

The opening of the Queensland Music Awards will also see the announcement of the recipient of the Billy Thorpe Scholarship. The $10,000 initiative, funded by Arts Queensland, consists of $4,000 cash and $6,000 towards a recording with an established producer and/or other nominated activities, in addition to a meeting with a Chugg Entertainment representative. The scholarship goes to a rising Queensland talent who can demonstrate they are committed to a music career and will best benefit from the scholarship.

Entries for both the Queensland Music Awards and the Billy Thorpe Scholarship close Friday December 5.