Maggie Collins takes out the 2020 Lighthouse Award

Maggie Collins is this year’s recipient of The Lighthouse Award, an honour that recognises excellence in artist management.

Announced today by APRA AMCOS, Collins collects a cash prize of $10,000, double the sum from previous years.

Collins is the ultimate all-rounder with a skillset that spans broadcasting, management and event-organising.

Based in Brisbane, Collins is a programmer of BIGSOUND and she guides the careers of ARIA-winners DZ Deathrays and retro-electronic artist Donny Benet through Morning Belle, her all-service music company.

Also, Collins was a presenter and producer at the triple j network for a decade, and she recently co-founded Sound of Silence, the music industry’s unified response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Donny Benét

Collins becomes the first recipient from outside of Victoria to win the award, after organizers opened up the application process in March to a nationwide pool.

“Heading into this year, I was apprehensive about what was to come next for my career,” Collins says on her win. “I had so many ideas that I couldn’t sleep at night, but the fear of being bold and taking action – like for many women – was holding me back. Then COVID-19 hit.”

She continues, “I’ve had so much time to think about the future of our industry and I’ve been yearning for the prospect that our industry doesn’t go back to how it was; that it in fact becomes so much better. My dream is to lead that change. To receive The Lighthouse Award at such a time, is so beyond exciting and humbling for me, as it will give me the resources to audit, expand and solidify my leadership skills, and then give it all back to my beloved music community.”

The Lighthouse Award is annually bestowed to a woman in artist management who “exhibits passion, creativity and integrity,” and in previous years has gone to the likes Charlotte Abroms, Jen Cloher, Bonnie Dalton, Bernadette Ryan, Sabrina Robertson and Lorrae McKenna, the 2019 recipient. 

The award was established in memory of late artist manager Linda Gebar, who worked with The Killjoys, Frente and The Blackeyed Susans and who died in October 2008 soon after the birth of her second child.

APRA AMCOS says the accolade represents the society’s commitment to addressing the gender imbalance within the music industry and encouraging women to pursue a career in music.

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