The 6th Australian Music Prize (The Amp) is proud to announce CLOUD CONTROL as the winner of the $30,000 cash prize courtesy of PPCA.

CLOUD CONTROL’S stellar album “Bliss Release” was chosen by a panel of judges from media, retail and fellow musicians as the stand out release of 2010. The Sydney band beat eight other outstanding shortlisted acts including DAN KELLY, SALLY SELTMANN, GARETH LIDDIARD, PIKELET, EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING, TAME IMPALA, RICHARD IN YOUR MIND and Red Bull Award winners THE HOLIDAYS.

The Amp is judged on the quality of the album alone, rather than accolades, awards or record sales. Each year, it defines the best of the Australian music scene and rewards the winner with a much needed cash injection to encourage and foster future releases, touring and international exports.

CLOUD CONTROL are currently in the UK embarking on their first headline tour. The band recently relocated to London whilst they continue their onslaught on the European market, having already supported Noah and The Whale and NME buzz band Naked & Famous.

After conquering Europe, CLOUD CONTROL head to the USA for seminal music festival and conference SXSW in Austin, Texas before heading back to Australia for two very special dates.

This continues their amazing run for their debut album which was also nominated for the J Award, ARIA Awards, as well as winning a slew of prizes at FBi’s SMAC Awards. They blew away audiences at Laneway and Falls Festivals over the summer.

The Amp Director Scott B. Murphy said, “For the 6th year in a row The Amp has successfully enabled an independent body of relevant judges to listen and review the body of work created by Australian recording artists and released in a particular calendar year. All musical genres have been welcomed and all entries have been treated equal. This process yet again produced 9 great Australian albums and I’m pleased to announce tonight that CLOUD CONTROL are the very worthy winners of the prize.”

Last night in Sydney The Amp staged it first public live event “AMP ALIVE” featuring shortlisted acts RICHARD IN YOUR MIND, PIKELET and Red Bull Award winners THE HOLIDAYS. “AMP ALIVE” was held at the Annandale Hotel in conjunction with Nova, Channel [V], The Music Network, Street Press Australia and Rolling Stone.

The Amp thanks its principal partners PPCA, Red Bull, Coopers and Channel [V] as well as its media partners Channel [V], Street Press Australia, Nova, Rolling Stone and The Music Network. Thanks is also extended to the Patrons of The Amp, the Judges and Industry Sponsors and all who make The Amp possible to continue to recognize Australian music of excellence.

The Amp will return in August 2011 with the launch of The 7th Australian Music Prize – visit www.australianmusicprize.com.au for further information.

The 6th Australian Music Prize (The Amp) continues to reward excellence in home grown talent with the announcement of the shortlist. Nine standout artists have been chosen by a judging panel of media, artists and retail staff to vie for the title.
In the running for the $30,000 prize money courtesy of principal partner PPCA, the following shortlisted artists have produced albums of such high quality they deserve national and international recognition.

The shortlist for the 6th Australian Music Prize is: CLOUD CONTROL, THE HOLIDAYS, DAN KELLY, SALLY SELTMANN, GARETH LIDDIARD, PIKELET, EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING, TAME IMPALA and RICHARD IN YOUR MIND.

The Amp Director Scott B. Murphy congratulated all artists deemed worthy of this esteemed recognition. At the Shortlist Announcement at the Sydney Opera House today, Murphy said:
“The judges had a tough time choosing these 9 titles from the 200 or so entries received in 2010 – it was a great year for Australian music as anyone can tell from the strength of our 6th shortlist.”

The Amp this year welcomed principal sponsor, quality Australian beer brand Coopers. In addition, the long term partnerships with Red Bull and PPCA continues to go from strength to strength and exist to discover, promote and reward Australian music of excellence. The CEO of PPCA, Dan Rosen said:
‘On behalf of everyone at PPCA I would like to offer our congratulations to all of the short-listed artists. The quality of albums released by Australian artists in 2010 was exceptional, so for these nine acts to be chosen by a panel of their peers and industry experts is an absolute credit to them. PPCA would like to wish all of the artists the best of luck for the final and is proud to once again be the major prize sponsor of The Amp’.

With renewed and new partnerships in 2010, The Amp is able to bring contemporary Australian music to a wider audience. Capitalizing on extensive media partnerships with principal partners Channel [V], cross media partner Street Press Australia and media partners Nova, The Music Network and Rolling Stone, the music of these impressive nine acts permeates throughout the nation.

Coopers TV have also come on board to take an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at The Amp process from submission through to the final event. They have uploaded a series of exclusive episodes available for viewing at www.cooperstv.com.au  

The Amp congratulates winners of the Red Bull Award for Best Debut Release, The Holidays, who not only took out the prize of $15,000 worth of flights and accommodation to record in the Red Bull Studio in LA, but also find themselves on the shortlist for the major award. The 6th Australian Music Prize winner will be announced on March 3rd.

The 5th Red Bull Award for Best Debut Release has been awarded to Sydney’s The Holidays as part of the 6th Australian Music Prize. The Red Bull Award has long recognised outstanding potential, with the 2010 prize renewing its focus to concentrate on debut albums only.

The Holiday’s “Post Paradise” earned a raft of critic’s praise including many four and half star reviews, and earning them the 2010 mantle for The Amp’s Red Bull Award.

Previous Red Bull Award winners include Goyte, Bluejuice, Jack Ladder and Oh Mercy many of whom have gone on to receive critical and commercial success including Platinum album sales and ARIA Awards and nominations.

The Holidays receive $15,000 in flights and accommodation to travel to Los Angeles and spend a week in the Red Bull studio in Santa Monica. The Los Angeles studio is a state of the art facility that has played host to all levels of musicians ranging from world-renowned GRAMMY winning artists to undiscovered musical talent.

The Holidays singer/guitarist Simon Jones felt honoured by the win. “So many great debut albums have come out in 2010 that we feel truly honoured to receive the Red Bull award. This award is a really important boost for us at the start of what we’re hoping will be a big year in Australia and overseas.”

The Holidays intend to make use of their prize as they traverse the globe for South By South West in Texas in March. They will be working on demos for their follow up album to the stellar debut.

“Listening to the album [“Post Paradise”] now I almost forget the process of creating it. You forget the thousands of ideas that we’re carefully rejected before arriving at the most refined product: The sounds, beats and words that nobody objects to. Ultimately for us, this album is 18 months worth of our good ideas,” Simon said of the album process.

Now the band are focused on putting as much energy into their highly anticipated sophomore release and thanks to the Red Bull Award have the opportunity to do it in style.

The Red Bull Award winner was chosen by The Amp Director Scott B. Murphy and Red Bull’s Tom Sigelski from the long list selected by the panel of judges.

“Red Bull is proud to continue to encourage outstanding new acts and give them a platform to not only take their music further in Australia but also the world. With this new prize which offers tangible results for the bands in the form of studio time and international experience, Red Bull is taking Australian music to another level,” said Red Bull’s Tom Sigelski.

“The Holidays were a stand out choice amongst a tough field of debut releases, with an album that media, fans and industry has embraced. I can’t wait to see the results of their studio session start to take shape.
Previous Red Bull Award winners have gone on to great success, proving The Amp and Red Bull have their eye on the future of Australian music.”

The nine shortlisted acts for The 6th Australian Music Prize will be revealed in full at the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday, February 2nd at 12pm. Even though The Holidays have received the Red Bull Award they could still be in the running for the major prize!

The winner of The 6th Australian Music Prize will be announced on Thursday, March 3rd and will receive $30,000 cash thanks to PPCA. Previous Amp winners include Lisa Mitchell, Eddy Current Supression Ring, The Mess Hall, The Drones & Augie March.

The 6th Australian Music Prize (The Amp) is pleased to welcome some new faces to the judging panel for the 2010 prize. With 31 judges across media, retail and the music industry, The Amp is the most prestigious contemporary music prize awarded on merit rather than sales and airplay. The judges battle it out for the album that reigns supreme for 2010 in oft-heated discussions on music. Joining judging stalwarts from the artist community Tim Freedman, Renee Geyer, Holly Throsby, Lorna Clarkson and Romy Hoffman are The Preset’s Julian Hamilton, Oh Mercy’s Alexander Gow, Spiderbait’s Kram, Urthboy, The Black Sorrow’s Pete Luscombe, Died Pretty’s Ron Peno and musician Cameron Bruce.

Respected music media critics, writers and editors also return to the table with Andrew Mast (Street Press Australia), Bernard Zuel (Sydney Morning Herald), Clem Bastow (The Big Issue), Dom Alessio (triple j), Richard Moffat (3RRR), Simon Collins (The West Australian), Mish Stampfli (Groupie), Iain Shedden (The Australian), and Kathy McCabe (The Daily Telegraph). Joining the esteemed panel in 2010 is Spicks and Specks captain Alan Brough, Mikey Cahill (News Ltd) and Darren Levin (Mess & Noise).

Spicks and Specks’ Alan Brough is excited about the prospect of listening to so much good Australian music.
“As a lover of music and jurisprudence judging The Amp is a dream come true,” he said.

Retailers round off the judges panel for 2010 with Chris Berkley, Dave Clarke, Michelle Rains, Mike Glynn, Sarah Thompson, Tom Beaumont returning and Greg Rutherford joining for this year.

The 6th Australian Music Prize is also very pleased to welcome back its media partners with Street Press Australia, Rolling Stone and Nova returning for a second year. 2010 also sees the addition of industry bible The Music Network. Channel [V] continues its role as a principal partner. Street Press Australia’s national network of papers including Drum Media, Time Off, Inpress, Drum Perth and 3D World (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane) is the perfect vehicle for spreading the word about The Amp.

Always taking the initiative in creativity, SPA and Gideon are also lending their unique Sydney headquarters Church on Chalmers for two key Australian Music Prize events to be announced. “Street Press Australia as it has been from the very first AMP are proud to be involved in what we believe is one of the most significant awards bestowed each year. The Amp plays an important role as not only an award but an opportunity to celebrate the talent we have in our country and lets face it sometimes we aren’t that good at celebrating the quality of our artists.” Leigh Treweek Director of Street Press Australia.

The Amp’s continued partnership with Rolling Stone expands this year with new initiatives, as well as expanded editorial coverage and exclusive content. “Rolling Stone is proud to be involved with The Amp 2010. It’s getting tougher every year for artists to make a living out of music, so something like The Amp that propels musicians into the next phase in their career is increasingly important.” Matt Coyte, Editor In Chief Rolling Stone.

The Nova Network supports new music through significant across the board airplay and online activity. The Amp is pleased to be able to get high calibre independent and signed artists involved with the station. “New music is core to the Nova brand, and we’re excited to be supporting The Amp once again across the network.” Dan Bradley, Nova Assistant Group Program Director.

The music industry’s key publication, The Music Network, comes on board in 2010 to keep the industry up to speed on all developments with the Australian Music Prize. “The artist is the lynch pin for our entire industry and an award such as the Australian Music Prize, an award largely bestowed by other artists, is a fitting acknowledgement of the talent, triumph and sacrifice these artists undertake in pursuit of their goals. Without their sacrifices this industry would be dead and all our lives would be the lesser for it.” Nicole Fossati, Editor in Chief of The Music Network.

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