APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) is proud to reveal the winners of the 2011 APRA Music Awards, announced this evening at a red carpet gala event at Carriageworks in Sydney. Hosted by Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen, the awards celebrate composers and songwriters across 12 categories that have achieved excellence in their craft over the last year. With the winners a mixture of new and established songwriters, two songwriting groups that feature siblings have dominated the 2011 APRA Music Awards.

In their first ever APRA Awards appearance brother and sister songwriters ANGUS AND JULIA STONE (pictured) have taken out the big ones. In Australia’s biggest peer voted music award the Stones have won the APRA SONG OF THE YEAR with their lilting Big Jet Plane taken from the hugely successful album Down The Way. ANGUS AND JULIA STONE have also taken out the prestigious SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR Award as determined by the APRA Board of Directors. This caps off a huge year for the sibling duo who have scored the trifecta of ARIA Single of The Year (2010), the # 1 position on triple j (2010) and APRA Song of the Year for Big Jet Plane in addition to this songwriting honour.

Australian rock n’ roll outfit JET (brothers Nic and Chris Cester, Cameron Muncey and Mark Wilson) were the other big winners on the night. They have also won two APRA Awards taking home the prize in the categories of MOST PERFORMED AUSTRALIAN WORK and ROCK WORK OF THE YEAR for their anthemic song Seventeen, the third single from their Shaka Rock album.

The APRA Board of Directors have named MEGAN WASHINGTON the BREAKTHROUGH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR for her songwriting achievements on her debut album I Believe You Liar. With her album crammed with heavenly pop hits, and wordy, twisty, clever pop lyrics that have garnered her high praise from songwriters of the calibre of Paul Kelly and Tim Finn, this original troubadour is destined to have a long and illustrious career.

In what is her 10th APRA Award win since her songwriting career began, country music sweetheart KASEY CHAMBERS has won the APRA Award in the category of COUNTRY WORK OF THE YEAR for Little Bird. In this track Kasey reflects on a young woman’s insecurities and has said of the song, “This is like the strong, secure version of Pretty Enough”. Kasey Chambers has now officially tied with Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones (Savage Garden) for the most overall APRA Awards received by any Australian songwriter. Congratulations Kasey!

Three first time APRA nominees are going home with the award for DANCE WORK OF THE YEAR. AMY PEARSON along with KAM DENNY and PAUL ZALA (known as Denzal Park) have written the snappy dance floor hit Free Fallin (performed by Zoe Badwi). Dominating airwaves, dance floors and charts, the song was also certified platinum.

In the category of URBAN WORK OF THE YEAR, singer / songwriter GUY SEBASTIAN and songwriting partner EVE JEFFERS have received the APRA Award for Who’s That Girl, a catchy song which is Sebastian's fifth number one single, and was the second highest selling Australian artist single in 2010. Who’s that Girl has achieved 4 x Platinum sales status in Australia, and the track comes from Guy Sebastian's retrospective album Twenty Ten.

Previous APRA Song of the Year recipient JOHN BUTLER has won the award in the category of BLUES AND ROOTS WORK OF THE YEAR for Close To You the second single from April Uprising which debuted at Number 1 on the Australian ARIA albums chart upon release. “Songwriting is a bit of a... she’s a mysterious woman in my life,” Butler said in a video interview with APRA. “Song has a universal quality to it. Even though you have not lived the life of the story in the song, you somehow can relate to it, you somehow feel it’s you.”

Proving that old is often gold, AC/DC have won the APRA Award for MOST PLAYED AUSTRALIAN WORK OVERSEAS for the rock n’ roll classic Highway to Hell written by BON SCOTT and the 2010 APRA Songwriters of the Year ANGUS AND MALCOLM YOUNG (siblings again!). The song was released way back in 1979, but like a fine wine, keeps on keeping on.

PATRICK MONAHAN and songwriting duo AMUND BJORKLUND and ESPEN LIND have taken out INTERNATIONAL WORK OF THE YEAR for their worldwide hit single Hey, Soul Sister as performed by TRAIN. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, Save Me San Francisco and is the band's most commercially successful single to date, reaching number one in sixteen countries.

Finally, broadcasting legend ANDREW DENTON presented the TED ALBERT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICES TO AUSTRALIAN MUSIC to PAUL KELLY. Selected by the APRA Board of Directors, Paul Kelly has been honoured for a brilliant songwriting career that continues to cross musical boundaries. With an incredible songbook now lodged deep in the Australian psyche his influence on generations of songwriters is unparalleled.

Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen hosted the 2011 APRA Music Awards.The event featured very special performances by artists putting their twist on the Song of the Year nominees - Darren Hayes (performed Plans by Birds of Tokyo), Kimbra (performed Across The Night as a special tribute to the career of Silverchair), Clare Bowditch (performed Kasey Chambers Little Bird), Papa vs Pretty (performed Angus & Julia Stone’s Big Jet Plane), Curse ov Dialect (performed John Butler’s Revolution), Guineafowl (performed SIA and Sam Dixon’s Clap Your Hands) and Paul Kelly closed the night with a song aptly titled One More Tune. Andrew Denton, Sarah Blasko and John O’Donnell were special guest presenters.
APRA would like to offer sincere congratulations to all the nominees and winners for 2011. APRA would also like to thank the generous sponsors of the 2011 APRA Music Awards: Max and XYZ Networks, Gibson, Howling Wolves Wine Group and Fosters Group.

Want to know how the APRA nominees and eventual winners are determined?

The following categories are awarded based on APRA's statistical analysis of radio and TV broadcasting as well as digital activity:
• Most Played Australian Work
• International Work of the Year
• Most Played Australian Work Overseas.

The list of eligible works for all genre categories are sourced from relevant industry charts, from which the nominations are determined based on the level of broadcast and digital activity. These categories include:
• Blues and Roots Work of the Year
• Country Work of the Year
• Dance Work of the Year
• Rock Work of the Year
• Urban Work of the Year.

Song of the Year
Is decided by the votes of APRA members. All songs written by an APRA member and released in the preceding calendar year are eligible for consideration.

Songwriter of the Year
Is decided by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors rewarding the songwriter who has recorded the most impressive body of work in the previous year.

Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
Is decided by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors.

Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
Is decided by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors for an emerging songwriter or group of writers.

For the complete list of nominee selection criteria please go to:
http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/apraawards/musicawards/rules.aspx

2011 APRA MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS

Song of the Year
Title: Big Jet Plane
Artist: Angus and Julia Stone
Writers: Angus Stone/Julia Stone
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia Pty Ltd

Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
Writer: Megan Washington
Publisher: J Albert & Son Pty Ltd

Most Played Australian Work
Title: Seventeen
Artist: Jet
Writers: Chris Cester/Nic Cester/Cameron Muncey
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd

International Work of the Year
Title: Hey, Soul Sister
Artist: Train
Writers: Patrick Monahan/Amund Bjorklund/Espen Lind
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Ltd

Country Work of the Year
Title: Little Bird
Artist: Kasey Chambers
Writer: Kasey Chambers
Publisher: Mushroom Music Pty Ltd

Blues & Roots Work of the Year
Title: Close To You
Artist: John Butler Trio
Writer: John Butler
Publisher: Family Music Pty Ltd

Urban Work of the Year
Title: Who's That Girl
Artist: Guy Sebastian Featuring Eve
Writers: Guy Sebastian*/Eve Jeffers#
Publishers: Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd*/ Universal/MCA Music Publishing Pty Ltd#

Dance Work of the Year
Title: Free Fallin
Artist: Zoe Badwi
Writers: Amy Pearson*/Cameron Denny#/Paul Zala#
Publishers: EMI Music Publishing Australia Pty Ltd*/PeppermintBlue Publishing administered by Warner Chappell Music Australia Pty Ltd#

Rock Work of the Year
Title: Seventeen
Artist: Jet
Writers: Chris Cester/Nic Cester/Cameron Muncey
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd

Most Played Australia Work Overseas
Title: Highway to Hell
Artist: AC/DC
Writers: Angus Young/Malcolm Young/Ronald Scott
Publisher: J Albert & Son Pty Ltd

Songwriter of the Year
Angus and Julia Stone

Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
Paul Kelly