Amy Shark has finally won song of the year in the Apra music awards after three years in the running.
The Gold Coast-born singer-songwriter was presented with the coveted peer-voted industry award in Melbourne on Monday night for her song, I Said Hi, which also won pop work of the year.
The clear standout of the evening, however, was Grammy-nominated songwriter Sarah Aarons, 24, who scooped up a total of four awards including songwriter of the year, dance work of the year and most-played Australian work for the song The Middle, performed by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey. She also took home the accolade for rock work of the year, shared with the Rubens for the song Never Ever.
Aarons’ songwriting career has developed rapidly over the past 12 months, with the Melbourne-born artist working with acts like Peking Duk, Dua Lipa and Demi Lovato.
Dean Lewis followed in Aarons’ footsteps, taking out the award she won in 2018: breakthrough songwriter of the year.
Lewis’ song Be Alright also shared the outstanding international achievement award with 5 Seconds of Summer’s song Youngblood. Meanwhile singer-songwriter Sia’s upbeat song Cheap Thrills took out most-played Australian work overseas for the second year in a row.
Angus and Julia Stone’s song Chateau was awarded blues and roots work of the year, and Hilltop Hoods won urban work of the year for Clark Griswold, a song that helped launch the career of guest vocalist Adrian Eagle.
Other awards presented included country work of the year, which was won by Newcastle artist Morgan Evans, and the award for overseas recognition, which was presented to songwriter and producer Lindsay Rimes.
The Apra music awards are presented annually by Apra Amcos, the collection and licensing body for music in Australia.
