2026 AIR Awards Nominees Revealed

The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) returns to Australia’s sole UNESCO-designated City of Music – Adelaide – to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the AIR Awards. Today, the organisation has announced the nominees for this year’s awards.

Artists and their songs and albums, independent labels, independent marketing teams, publicity teams, engineers, producers, and others have received nominations for this year’s awards. The award categories are as diverse as the country’s music scene, spanning hip-hop, country, pop, heavy metal, and EDM.

Some of the most-nominated acts include Folk Bitch Trio, Ninajirachi, RONA., and The Belair Lip Bombs, who received nominations in prestigious categories such as Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. You can find the full list of nominees below.

This year’s AIR Awards will be held at the Adelaide Town Hall on Thursday, 30 July, and will be an invite-only industry event.

In addition to the Awards ceremony, Adelaide will once again welcome AIR’s Indie-Con Australia Conference and A2IM’s Indie Week Australian Edition, which will be held at the Mercury Cinema and Nexus Arts, respectively, from Wednesday, 29 to Friday, 31 July. Early-bird tickets for those events are available here.

South Australia’s Minister for Arts, Kyam Maher MLC, said of today’s announcement, “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.”

Maher continued, “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 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 LIPBOMBS – 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 LIPBOMBS – 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