This year’s edition of the ARIA Awards is adding a new, if familiar category, with the addition of the Best Alternative Release Award.
The announcement of the new category comes as part of the latest criteria changes for the 2026 ARIA Awards, which note the creation of the Best Alternative Release to honour "singles and albums that fit within the Alternative format".
If this sounds relatively familiar, it may be because a separate award under the same name existed between 1994 and 2001, with the likes of You Am I and Regurgitator both winning it twice, alongside the likes of Not From There, Art Of Fighting, Dirty Three, and nascent ARIA Hall Of Famers Spiderbait.
It was briefly revived in 2010 and 2011 as Best Adult Alternative Album with Angus & Julia Stone and Boy & Bear taking out the honour. Another hiatus took place before it re-emerged in 2016, with Sarah Blasko's Eternal Return taking it out for the Awards' 40th edition.
According to the ARIA Awards’ Eligibility Criteria document, the new genre category is open to both solo artists and groups, with album and single recordings not entered in any other genre category eligible for judging by the Judging School.
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Of course, the exact definition of ‘alternative’ has long been a difficult one to grasp, though the document aims to clarify exactly how ARIA look to define the genre.
It reads:
The Album or Single must embody experimental, innovative, eclectic or progressive musical styles and attitudes which diverge from mainstream music formats and are not easily classified into other genre categories.
Alongside the news of the new category, a message sent to ARIA Members also outlined changes to the recognition of recording engineers, and organisation’s approach to compositions that utilise artificial intelligence.
“AI is very much in the spotlight right now, but since 2025, ARIA has allowed entries that use AI in limited ways to be eligible for entry provided that a human is the primary creator and the human contribution is substantial,” the message states.
“This year the criteria just makes it clear that unlicensed AI tools cannot be used in the creation of recordings submitted to the Awards.”
“Recordings/items that incorporate elements of Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be submitted for entry, but only if a human is the primary creator of such recording/item and the human contribution is substantial and meaningful,” ARIA added in a message sent out to media.
“AI cannot be the sole or central element of any recording/item that is submitted for entry. Any AI services/tools used to assist in the creation of any recording/item must be a properly authorised and lawful service/tool.”
“The ARIA Awards have always moved with Australian music, and the return of Best Alternative Release reflects our strength in the alternative scene and how much great music is being made in that space,” says ARIA CEO, Annabelle Herd.
“The rest of this year’s changes are about keeping entry clear and fair, from how we recognise the engineers behind a record to making sure the work entered contains human artistry and is not generated using illegal AI tools.”
The 2026 edition of the ARIA Awards will take place on November 18th at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, with the full list of nominees expected to arrive in the coming months.
