ARIA Nominations By The Numbers: Indies And First-Timers Make Up Biggest Year Yet

In just under two months, on November 19th, the Australian music industry will come together to share in what is bound to be the biggest night of the community’s calendar: the ARIA Awards.

Releasing their list of nominees this morning, the 2025 ARIA Awards are on track to be a huge event.

Leading the charge is DJ and producer Ninajirachi who has earned eight nominations, contending for prestigious awards including Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist, Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist, and Best Independent Release.

Other big names include Dom Dolla, who is up for seven, Amyl And The Sniffers are in contention for six, Hilltop Hoods and Thelma Plum have claimed five nods apiece, and Folk Bitch Trio, Missy Higgins, Royel Otis and RÜFÜS DU SOL are up for four awards.

If you’re thinking it’s on track to be a lofty evening, you’re not wrong, with the 2025 ARIA Awards actually featuring the most number of entries ever received. At 1,387 entries, it improves upon last year’s Awards by just 24, with the next-closest competitor being the 2013 ceremony, which drew in 1,334 entries.

All told, this year’s event features a total of 95 nominees, an increase of six upon last year’s ceremony. However, that’s not the only notable increase, with this year also seeing a 26% increase upon first-time nominees – bringing the total from last year’s 35 to 44 this year.

The biggest takeaway is likely the representation of indie acts, which take up almost three quarters of the nominations. For 2025, 69 of the 95 nominees are independent acts, making up a total representation of 72.6% – up from the 52.4% majority share last year.

Other stats related to the make-up of this year’s nominees show 12.6% of acts identify as First Nations. This follows on from a year which saw a strong showing of Indigenous acts, including 3% who won two awards from their four nominations last year, including Best Hip Hop/Rap Release and Best Cover Art for Kill The Dead.

"We made this album at a time when people said our people shouldn't have a voice,” 3%’s Nooky said at the time. “Well, it looks like they fucking heard it.”

Additionally, 28 of the nominated acts are female, with 25 being male, and two identifying as non-binary. A total of 40 groups also make up the nominations, of which 16 (40%) include a female member, and three groups include a female and non-binary member.

This year’s winners will be revealed during a ceremony at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday, November 19th. The award ceremony will air on Channel 10 and be live-streamed on Paramount+.

This uear, the publicly voted ARIA Awards will be integrated into the presenting partner’s platform: Spotify. Fans will be able to vote for their favourite artists in publicly decided categories, Best Australian Live Act presented by Destination NSW, Song of the Year, Best Video, and Most Popular International Artist.

Public voting is now open until November 10th via Spotify and the ARIA website.