AAM Awards 2023 Set Date, Nominations Open

The Association of Artist Managers’ second annual awards are locked-in for April 27 at Sydney’s Crowbar — with a livestream for those who can’t be there on the day.

The AAM Awards made their debut in 2022 as a celebration of the domestic and international achievements by Australian artist managers, “shining a light on the key figures behind the global success of Australian artists,” reads a statement from the trade body.

This year, like last, will be a lunchtime gathering before the APRA Music Awards.

Four categories for the 2023 event will be presented, all recognising the “excellence and success of the people behind the artist.”

2022 AAM manager of the year recipients Simone Ubaldi and Andrew Parisi

They are: Manager of the Year (presented by Oztix), which fetes outstanding achievements as an artist manager over the last 12 months (for managers with 3-plus years’ experience); Breakthrough Manager of the Year (presented by Select Music), for notable achievement of a developing manager who’s had a breakout year with successes for their artist(s); Community Engagement Award, recognising a manager’s contribution to their music community over the last 12 months; and the Legacy Award, a special honor that lauds an “incredible career in artist management.”

The Legacy Award is open to those managers with 10-plus years’ experience, and is curated by the AAM board.

In a tweak to the program, the APRA AMCOS Lighthouse Award, established in memory of pioneering artist manager Linda Gebar, and which provides a $5,000 grant each year to a woman-identifying or non-binary artist manager, will be announced as part of the AAM Awards.

2022 Community Engagement Award recipient Cath Haridy

The inaugural AAM Awards was held in Melbourne, and saw silverware go to the managers of such acts as Amyl & The Sniffers, Courtney Barnett, Eskimo Joe, and The Cat Empire.

For the debut ceremony, only AAM members could vote on the awards.

This time, anyone working in the Australian music industry is invited to submit their nomination for the AAM Awards, which are presented this year by Oztix.

The AAM is the trade association for the Australian music industry’s managers, the unsung heroes of the music industry, representing almost 300 active managers, who in turn represent over 1,000 artists in contemporary music.

Nominations for the awards open today (Feb. 21).

Visit the AAM website for information on eligibility and the voting process.