Adelaide is set to be at the centre of Australia’s independent music scene this July, with the nominees announced for the 20th AIR Awards.
The Australian Independent Record Labels Association will return to Adelaide, Australia’s UNESCO-designated City of Music, for the 2026 AIR Awards, which will be held at Adelaide Town Hall on Thursday 30 July as an invite-only industry event. The awards recognise and celebrate Australia’s independent music sector, with this year’s program bringing artists, labels, industry leaders and delegates to South Australia.
This year’s nominees span 23 categories, covering everything from hip hop, country, pop, jazz, classical, blues and roots, children’s music, heavy, dance and electronic music. New additions to the Dance/Electronic categories include Best Independent Dance/Club Single and Best Independent Electronic Single.
Among the major nominees, Folk Bitch Trio, Ninajirachi, RONA. and The Belair Lip Bombs are among the acts recognised across high-profile categories, including Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year, Independent Song of the Year and Independent Album of the Year.
Independent Song of the Year nominees include Jem Cassar-Daley for ‘Kiss Me Like You’re Leaving’, Keli Holiday for ‘Dancing2’, Ninajirachi for ‘iPod Touch’, Playlunch for ‘Keith’ and Way Dynamic for ‘Miffed It’. The Independent Album of the Year category includes Folk Bitch Trio’s Now Would Be A Good Time, Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer, The 046’s Legacy In Motion, The Belair Lip Bombs’ Again and Way Dynamic’s Massive Shoe.
Over the past two decades, the AIR Awards have recognised some of the country’s most influential independent artists, including Gotye, Paul Kelly, Hilltop Hoods, The Temper Trap, Courtney Barnett, Flume, Vance Joy, G Flip, King Stingray, Dom Dolla, Amyl and the Sniffers and many more.
The awards will be held alongside AIR’s Indie-Con Australia Conference and A2IM’s Indie Week Australian Edition, which will take place from Wednesday 29 July to Friday 31 July at Mercury Cinema and Nexus Arts. Early bird tickets are now on sale for the conference program.
Minister for Arts Kyam Maher MLC said, “The South Australian Government is proud to support Indie-Con Australia and the AIR Awards, and to welcome nominees, industry leaders and delegates from across Australia and around the world to South Australia.”
“Hosting this celebration in Adelaide – Australia’s only UNESCO City of Music – alongside A2IM’s Indie Week Australian Edition reinforces South Australia’s role as a national and international leader in the independent music sector.”
“Together, these events recognise the outstanding contribution of independent artists and music businesses, while delivering opportunities for creative collaboration, industry development and global engagement that strengthen South Australia’s creative economy.”
The 2026 AIR Awards will be held at Adelaide Town Hall on Thursday 30 July. AIR’s Indie-Con Australia Conference and A2IM’s Indie Week Australian Edition will run from Wednesday 29 July to Friday 31 July.
The 2026 AIR Awards Nominees Are…
Best Independent Blues and Roots Album or EP
John Butler – Prism
Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be a Good Time
Liz Stringer – The Second High
Melbourne Ska Orchestra – The Ballad of Monte Loco
Sons of the East – Sons
Best Independent Hip Hop Album or EP
Bliss n Eso – The Moon (The Light Side)
Devaura – Vol 1. Learning in Public
Elsy Wameyo – Wameyo
Jamaica Moana – Bud & Deni
Teether & Kuya Neil – Yearn IV
Best Independent Country Album or EP
Emily Lubitz – Two Black Horses
Hayley Jensen – Country Soul
Imogen Clark – Choking on Fuel
Ruby Gill – Some Kind of Control
Wade Forster – Gooseneck Party
Best Independent Jazz Album or EP
Natalie Gauci – Pictures of Mars
Phia – When I’m Holding You, I’m Holding Me
Temporary Blessings – Sumbisori
The Cat Empire – Bird in Paradise
Touch Sensitive – In Paradise
Best Independent Classical Album or EP
Andrea Lam – Piano Diary
Australian String Quartet – Vanessa Perica, String Quartet No. 1 No Feeling Is Final
Joseph Tawadros – The Forgotten Path to Humanity
Rose Riebl – Dust
William Barton, Omega Ensemble – Gift – Our Breath of Life
Best Independent Children’s Album or EP
Diver City – Weekend Baby
Emma Memma – Dance Island Party
Justine Clarke – Mimi’s Symphony
Teeny Tiny Stevies – Brain Fart
The Wiggles, The Tree of Wisdom – The Tree of Wisdom
Best Independent Dance/Club Single
Confidence Man, JADE – Gossip
DJ PGZ and Yikes – Ouss Ouss
FISHER – Stay
Shouse – Sunrise
VV Pete – Wassa feat. Utility, Formation Boyz
Best Independent Electronic Single
Cosmo’s Midnight – 45
Keanu Nelson – Place Where I Go / Kapi Ngalyananni
Ninajirachi – iPod Touch
Robert Baxter & Sweatbaby – Icy (Take It Off)
The Superjesus & The Journey – Something Good
Best Independent Punk Album or EP
Press Club – To All the Ones I Love
Private Function – ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Radio Free Alice – Empty Words EP
These New South Whales – Godspeed
Wet Kiss – Thus Spoke the Broken Chanteuse
Best Independent Heavy Album or EP
Battlesnake – Dawn of the Exultants and the Hunt for the Shepherd
Hands Like Houses – Atmospherics
NPCEDE – NPCEDE
The Maggie Pills – Hearts Induring Lingering Loss
Thornhill – Bodies
Best Independent Electronic Album or EP
Essendon Airport – MOR
Mel Blue – No More Jackets Please
Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
RONA. – It’s All Here (EP)
Shouse – Collective Ecstasy
Best Independent Rock Album or EP
Playlunch – Sex Ed
Spacey Jane – If That Makes Sense
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers – Glory
The Belair Lip Bombs – Again
The Southern River Band – Easier Said Than Done
Best Independent Soul/RnB Album or EP
Bumpy – Kanana
Cookin’ on 3 Burners – Cookin’ the Books
Don West – Give Me All Your Love
Felivand – My Body’s My True North
WILSN – Bloom
Best Independent Pop Album or EP
Georgia Knight – Beanpole
Montaigne – It’s Hard to Be a Fish
Stella Donnelly – Love and Fortune
The Tullamarines – Safety Blanket
Way Dynamic – Massive Shoe
Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year – Presented by PPCA
Folk Bitch Trio
Georgia Knight
Rageflower
RONA.
Yes Boone
Independent Song of the Year
Jem Cassar-Daley – Kiss Me Like You’re Leaving
Keli Holiday – Dancing2
Ninajirachi – iPod Touch
Playlunch – Keith
Way Dynamic – Miffed It
Independent Album of the Year
Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be a Good Time
Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
The 046 – Legacy in Motion
The Belair Lip Bombs – Again
Way Dynamic – Massive Shoe
Best Independent Label
ABC Music
Astral People Recordings
College of Knowledge
Mushroom Music
NLV Records
Independent Marketing Team of the Year
Mushroom Music – Bliss n Eso, The Moon (The Light Side)
NLV Records, The Orchard – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer
Playlunch, ABC Music – Playlunch, Keith
Secretly Group – Folk Bitch Trio, Now Would Be a Good Time
The Annex – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Independent Publicity Team of the Year
Cult Logic – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Mushroom Music – Bliss n Eso, The Moon (The Light Side)
Mushroom Music – WILSN, Bloom
Twnty Three – Folk Bitch Trio, Now Would Be a Good Time
Twnty Three – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer
Independent Music Video of the Year
Angus Wolfe PKA Ball Bass John – Ninajirachi, Fuck My Computer
Bridgette Winten, Folk Bitch Trio – Folk Bitch Trio, Cathode Ray
Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore – Miss Kaninna, Backstreets
Tas Wilson, James Adams – Jem Cassar-Daley, Kiss Me Like You’re Leaving
Jasper van Daatselaar – Way Dynamic, People Settle Down
Independent Producer of the Year
Angus Stone – Dope Lemon, Golden Wolf
Benjamin Stewart – Slowly Slowly, Forgiving Spree
Dylan Young – Way Dynamic, Massive Shoe
Nick DiDia – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Nina Wilson – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer
Independent Mix, Studio or Mastering Engineer of the Year
Becki Whitton, Timothy Harvey, Hannah Cameron – Ruby Gill, Some Kind of Control
Leon Zervos – Ocean Alley, Love Balloon
Michael Carpenter – Imogen Clark, Choking on Fuel
Stephen Mowat – WILSN, Bloom
Thomas Purcell PKA Wave Racer – Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer
