Troye Sivan scooped song of the year at the 2024 APRA Music Awards, held Wednesday, May 1 at ICC Sydney.
The Australian pop artist nabbed the peer-voted category, the top honor at the APRAs, for “Rush,” co-written with Styalz Fuego, and lifted from Sivan’s third studio album Something to Give Each Other, which bowed at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart in October 2023.
Fuego was on hand to receive the ring-shaped award, the final presented on the night.
“As a creative when I work with an artist that I’m already a fan of, I think like ‘don’t f— this us.’ It’s always like, I imagine this song could ruin their career,” he remarked. “I’m so happy that with Troye we did something that people ended up loving.”
Sivan has been in sparkling form at awards ceremonies, dominating the 2023 ARIAs with four wins, and landing a Grammy nomination with “Rush” (best pop dance recording). Sivan (2017) and Fuego (2013) are both former recipients of the APRA breakthrough songwriter of the year category.
Meanwhile, blues act The Teskey Brothers snagged songwriter of the year, following the release of their ARIA No. 1 album The Winding Way, adding to a collection that includes ARIA Awards and a Rolling Stone Australia Award, won earlier this year for best record. The coveted prize is decided by the APRA board of writer and publisher directors.
Singer and songwriter Dean Lewis doubled up with APRAs for “How Do I Say Goodbye,” a tear-jerker that captures his shock after learning of his dad’s cancer diagnosis. “Goodbye” won for most performed Australian work and most performed pop work, lifting his all-time APRAs tally to six. During his taped acceptance speeches, Lewis gave a shoutout to the “great Mike Taylor,” the former chief of Island Records Australia who died in January following a battle with cancer, aged 54. “Goodbye” was the last song they worked on together, Lewis explained.
Other winners at the APRAs included grentperez, the inaugural recipient of the emerging songwriter of the year award; Parkway Drive for the inaugural most performed hard rock/heavy metal work category; ONEFOUR for most performed hip hop / rap work; Sia, landing most performed Australian work overseas for the fifth time; and Taylor Swift for international work of the year.
One of the highlights of the night was the presentation of the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music to Bart Willoughby, singer, songwriter and drummer with pioneering Indigenous rock band No Fixed Address. Long-time friends Stephen Pigram and Don Walker of Cold Chisel did the honors.
The 2024 edition of the APRAs “was a memorable night where we honored several first-time winners as well as established national treasures, including the extraordinary Bart Willoughby,” comments APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston.
“In recognizing the incredible talent in Australia’s music landscape, it’s important to acknowledge that as an organisation that champions gender diversity through advocacy, funding and creative opportunities, there’s more to do to address the disparity in the industry of male to women, non-binary and gender diverse award winners.” He continues, “We must continually question the absence of diversity in every facet of the industry—whether in rooms, executive offices, on stages, or across airwaves and streaming platforms—and commit to amplifying the entirety of Australia’s musical brilliance.”
Established in 1982, the Australasian Performing Right Association’s annual songwriters’ ceremony is one of the Australian music industry’s most treasured events, a worthy counterpart to Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards.
Full list of 2024 APRA Music Awards winners:
Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year
Title: Rush
Artist: Troye Sivan
Writers: Troye Sivan / Styalz Fuego* / Alex Chapman^ / Kevin Hickey^ /
Brett McLaughlin~ / Adam Novodor~
Publishers: Universal/MCA Music Publishing / Universal Music Publishing* /
Kobalt Music Publishing^ / Sony Music Publishing~
Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
Bart Willoughby
Songwriter of the Year
The Teskey Brothers
Writers: Josh Teskey / Sam Teskey
Publishers: Mushroom Music obo Ivy League Music
Emerging Songwriter of the Year
Writer: grentperez
Publisher: Mushroom Music
Most Performed Australian Work
Title: How Do I Say Goodbye
Artist: Dean Lewis
Writers: Dean Lewis / Jon Hume*
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / Concord ANZ*
Most Performed Alternative Work
Title: Daylight
Artist: Birds of Tokyo
Writers: Ian Berney / Ian Kenny / Glenn Sarangapany / Adam Spark / Adam Weston
Publisher: Mushroom Music
Most Performed Blues & Roots Work
Title: Dancing in the Dark
Artist: Ziggy Alberts
Writer: Ziggy Alberts
Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing
Most Performed Country Work
Title: Summer Nights
Artist: Casey Barnes
Writers: Casey Barnes / Michael De Lorenzis / Michael Paynter
Publisher: Mushroom Music
Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work
Title: Never Let You Go
Artist: Jason Derulo & Shouse
Writers: Jack Madin* / Edward Service* / Sean Congues / Jason Desrouleaux^
Publishers: ONELOVE Publishing* / Sentric Music Publishing /
Universal Music Publishing^
Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work
Title: Darker Still
Artist: Parkway Drive
Writers: Benjamin Gordon* / Luke Kilpatrick* / Jeffrey Ling* / Winston McCall* /
George Hadjichristou
Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing*
Most Performed Hip Hop / Rap Work
Title: COMMA’S
Artist: ONEFOUR ft. CG
Writers: Spencer Magalogo* / Jerome Misa* / Salec Su’a* / Bailey Pickles /
Chandler Hammond / Hugo Hui / Caleb Tiedemann
Publisher: Sony Music Publishing*
Most Performed Pop Work
Title: How Do I Say Goodbye
Artist: Dean Lewis
Writers: Dean Lewis / Jon Hume*
Publishers: Kobalt Music Publishing / Concord ANZ*
Most Performed R&B / Soul Work
Title: Cinderella
Artist: JKING
Writer: Jordan Samatua
Most Performed Rock Work
Title: Good Time
Artist: Polish Club
Writers: David Novak / John-Henry Pajak / Robby De Sa
Publisher: Sony Music Publishing
Most Performed Australian Work Overseas
Title: Unstoppable
Artist: Sia
Writer: Sia Furler / Christopher Braide*
Publishers: Sony Music Publishing / Concord ANZ*
Licensee of the Year
Australian Calisthenic Federation Inc
Most Performed International Work
Title: Anti-Hero
Artist: Taylor Swift
Writers: Taylor Swift / Jack Antonoff*
Publishers: Universal/MCA Music Publishing / Sony Music Publishing*