Entries open for Qld Music Awards & Billy Thorpe Scholarship

Entries opened this morning for the Queensland Music Awards and the Billy Thorpe scholarship.

Songwriters have until November 12 to enter their songs in a wide range of self-nominating categories.

The 2019 event is held for the 7th time at the Royal International Convention Centre at Brisbane Showgrounds on Tuesday, March 19.

Earlier this year, Amy Shark, The Jungle Giants, The Kite String Tangle, Greta Stanley and WAAX had wins, showing off the diversity of the state’s music scene.

The awards also cover categories for regional festivals and venues – an important component of the awards, according to organiser QMusic CEO, Joel Edmondson.

“The very strong showing from regional entrants at the 2018 QMAs shows that there is diverse talent bubbling up from every corner of our great state, and we can’t wait to see who rises to the surface after the 2019 nomination process,” he said

Minister for the arts, Leeanne Enoch, said the Queensland Music Awards were a wonderful celebration of Queensland’s thriving music industry.

“The Palaszczuk government, through Arts Queensland, proudly supports our state’s contemporary music scene,” she pointed out.

“We’ve invested in QMusic to present the QMAs and BIGSOUND, in addition to a raft of awards that enable artists to take advantage of professional development opportunities and access new audiences.”

AWARD CATEGORIES

SELF NOMINATING

Pop

Rock

Electronic / Dance

Blues / Roots

Heavy

Jazz

Schools

Hip – Hop / Rap

Country

World / Folk

Soul / Funk / R’n’B

Video

Singer-Songwriter

Regional Award (auto-populated from entries)

Indigenous Award (auto-populated from entries)

MAJOR AWARDS

Song Of The Year

Album Of The Year

Export Achievement Award

Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award

People’s Choice Awards

Metro Venue Of The Year

Regional Venue Of The Year

Festival Of The Year

Acknowledgements

Highest Selling Single

Highest Selling Album

BILLY THORPE SCHOLARSHIP

The Billy Thorpe Scholarship, which also opens today, will announce the recipient at the awards night.

Now in its 11th year, it is funded by the Queensland government and administered by QMusic.

It provides $10,000 for an emerging artist to record with an established producer, and receive career- planning advice from Sydney-based Chugg Entertainment.

Emerging musicians and duos can check eligibility guidelines and apply for the scholarship via the QMusic website.

Applications close November 12.

Last year’s recipient, Cairns singer-songwriter Greta Stanley, said it fast-tracked her to create and release new music. She would have otherwise “been struggling to afford” to push her career forward.