ARIA Awards 2020 will take place with no audience

The 2020 ARIA Awards are all set to take place 25th November, with winners announced live at Sydney’s The Star Event Centre.

There’s one slight change to this year’s program. There won’t be an audience.

The 34th annual ceremony will beam out on the night via the Nine Network, with performances streamed around the globe through a partnership with YouTube.

Nominations for this year’s event will be announced online in October, during the 2020 ARIA Awards Season Launch.

The ARIA YouTube channel will host the nominations party, presented by Brooke Boney.

“On behalf of the ARIA Board, I am excited to announce the return of the ARIA Awards and to bring a moment of celebration and togetherness in this challenging year,” comments Denis Handlin, ARIA Chairman and Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia and New Zealand, in a statement.

“This year’s Awards will be different from those we have held in the past, but it provides us with a creative opportunity to showcase our fantastic Australian talent in a unique way to music fans here and around the world.

“I am thrilled to have the Nine Network as our television partner, as we welcome back Destination NSW and The Star, and we look forward to working with all our partners to create an unforgettable night.”

ARIA Awards

Speaking to TIO ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, ARIA CEO Dan Rosen confirms this year’s gala will again feature a Hall of Fame segment.

“There will be an induction,” Rosen explains. “It’s very important to bridge the generations. For the current music fans to realise who the generations were who came before them. We’re all part of one music community. It’s always such a special part of the night to recognise a legend.”

It’s unclear just how much of the evening’s festivities will be pre-recorded. “We’re still working through all the logistics at the moment,” Rosen notes.

The pandemic has cratered the year 2020, but there’s no shortage of artists worthy of the spotlight this year.

More than 50 homegrown releases have cracked the Top 10 on the ARIA Albums Chart over the past twelve months, and ten Australian albums have hit the top.

“It’s not just COVID but the bushfires impacted the music community,” Rosen adds. “It felt like we needed as an industry to have a moment and come together and reflect on what we’ve been through over the last 12 months.”

Dan Rosen

As previously reported, the Australian record industry’s big night is the climax to Great Southern Nights, a project that will bring 1,000 COVID-safe gigs to Sydney and regional NSW.

Australia’s music industry “is a passionate and determined community,” adds Rosen in a statement, “and we can’t wait to showcase that on this night of nights.”

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.