The Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards – best known as the AIR Awards – returned to Adelaide Town Hall last night (31 July) for the country’s independent music industry’s night of nights.

With live performances by nominees such as Parvyn, Queenie, Alice Ivy, and Emily Wurramara, and the night led by MCs Dylan Lewis and Jessica Braithwaite, the fun was rolling in between awards snapped up by Australia’s most promising—and some of our most successful—independent artists, labels, and publicity teams.

Amyl And The Sniffers and Alice Ivy took home three awards for the night, while multiple artists won two, including Miss Kaninna, whose producer Nick Herrera won the inaugural Independent Mix, Studio or Mastering Engineer of the Year award for work on her debut album, Kaninna.

Amyl And The Sniffers won the Independent Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album or EP awards for their latest album, Cartoon Darkness, and Independent Song of the Year for U Should Not Be Doing That.

Alice Ivy received the awards Best Independent Dance/Electronica Album or EP and Independent Producer Team of the Year for her new album, Do What Makes You Happy, and Best Independent Dance/Electronica or Club Single with the single Do I Need To Know What Love Is? Feat. Josh Teskey.

Miss Kaninna received the awards for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Best Independent Hip Hop Album or EP for her album, Kaninna while David Bridie took home this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his work through the Wantok Musik Foundation. The night was not without controversy, with Bridie using the platform to announce the removal of his catalogue from AIR’s Indiecon sponsors Spotify in response to CEO Daniel Ek’s defence company investments, stating his opinion that the company “used to be a necessary evil. Now it’s just evil.”

Other winners included ABC Music winning Best Independent Label, The Amity Affliction receiving Best Independent Heavy Album or EP, and Kasey Chambers taking home the Best Independent Country Album or EP award. You can see the full list of winners below.

AIR CEO Maria Amato said of this year’s awards, “Congratulations to all the nominees and award recipients! It was a great night of celebration and recognition for our hard-working sector. We thank all our sponsors and are especially grateful to the South Australian Government through the Music Development Office for their continued support.”

SA’s Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels added, “The Malinauskas Government is proud to host the wonderful artists and music businesses that make up the independent music sector on their night of nights. We would like to congratulate tonight’s winners and nominees for excellence in their categories and look forward to seeing their continued success.”

2025 AIR AWARDS WINNERS 

INDEPENDENT LABEL OF THE YEAR
ABC MUSIC

INDEPENDENT PUBLICITY TEAM OF THE YEAR
THINKING LOUD - ROYEL OTIS, PRATTS & PAIN

INDEPENDENT MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR 
NICK RAE, JORDAN RUYI BLANCH - 3%, WON’T STOP FEAT. JESSICA MAUBOY

INDEPENDENT MIX, STUDIO AND MASTERING ENGINEER OF THE YEAR 
NICK HERRERA - MISS KANINNA, KANINNA

INDEPENDENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - CARTOON DARKNESS

INDEPENDENT SONG OF THE YEAR
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - U SHOULD NOT BE DOING THAT

BEST INDEPENDENT SOUL/RNB ALBUM OR EP
ELLA THOMPSON - RIPPLE ON THE WING

BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY ALBUM OR EP
KASEY CHAMBERS - BACKBONE

BEST INDEPENDENT BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM OR EP
EMMA DONOVAN - TIL MY SONG IS DONE

BEST INDEPENDENT POP ALBUM OR EP
GOOD MORNING - GOOD MORNING SEVEN

BEST INDEPENDENT ROCK ALBUM OR EP
AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - CARTOON DARKNESS

BEST INDEPENDENT CLASSICAL ALBUM OR EP
ELECTRIC FIELDS x MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - LIVE IN CONCERT

2025 OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - SPONSORED BY MERLIN
DAVID BRIDIE

INDEPENDENT MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR
OURNESS, THE ANNEX - ROYEL OTIS, PRATTS & PAIN

INDEPENDENT PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
ALICE IVY - DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

BREAKTHROUGH INDEPENDENT ARTIST OF THE YEAR - PRESENTED BY PPCA
MISS KANINNA

BEST INDEPENDENT HIP HOP ALBUM OR EP
MISS KANINNA - KANINNA

BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE OR ELECTRONICA ALBUM OR EP
ALICE IVY - DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE, ELECTRONICA OR CLUB SINGLE
ALICE IVY - DO I NEED TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS? FEAT. JOSH TESKEY

BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM OR EP
PARVYN - MAUJUDA

BEST INDEPENDENT PUNK ALBUM OR EP
GUT HEALTH - STILETTO

BEST INDEPENDENT HEAVY ALBUM OR EP
THE AMITY AFFLICTION - LET THE OCEAN TAKE ME (REDUX)

BEST INDEPENDENT CHILDREN'S ALBUM OR EP
TEENY TINY STEVIES - THE GREEN ALBUM