The 2015 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra set to return exclusively to Sydney and The Star on November 26

The 2015 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra

set to return exclusively to Sydney and The Star on November 26

The Australian music industry’s biggest night of celebration, the 2015 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra and proudly supported by the NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, is set to make a dazzling return to Sydney and The Star Event Centre, for its third consecutive year on Thursday, November 26, 2015.

The 2014 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra delivered the most social #ARIAs ever with 4 million impressions from 400,000 tweets (up 600% on 2013) and with a massive 149% audience increase from 2013, ARIA is thrilled to confirm that this year’s event will return to TEN, the official broadcast partner of this year’s show.

ARIA Chairman and Chairman & CEO of Sony Music Entertainment Australia & New Zealand and President, Asia, Denis Handlin AM, said: “On behalf of the ARIA Board, we look forward to another wonderful celebration of Australian music at this year’s ARIA Awards, as we recognise those artists that have captured the nation’s imagination over the past twelve months. ARIA is delighted to announce that Sydney and The Star will again host Australian music’s biggest night  – the 29th Annual ARIA Awards.  We would also like to acknowledge and thank the Ten Network, Telstra, David Jones, Qantas and the NSW Government, through Destination NSW, for their passionate support of our local music industry. We look forward to partnering with them again in 2015 as we celebrate a remarkable year in Australian music.”

ARIA Chief Executive Officer, Dan Rosen, said: “We are excited to welcome back Telstra as our major ARIA Awards partner, and together we will ensure that the 29th Annual ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra offer Australian music fans a truly unique and memorable experience.”

“There has been a host of Australian #1 Albums and Singles on the ARIA Charts this year, from established artists such as AC/DC, Delta Goodrem, John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John to newcomers like Troye Sivan, Conrad Sewell and Grace.  These achievements, combined with stellar live performances, unforgettable collaborations, and special guest appearances, ensure we are in for an exceptional night at The Star on Thursday 26 November.”

This year Australian artists including AC/DC, Iggy Azalea, Courtney Barnett, Tame Impala, Vance Joy, Hillsong United and Troye Sivan have featured strongly on the charts around the world. Locally there have been nine #1 Australian albums since September 2014 with Australian artistsspending a total of fourteen weeks at the top of the ARIA Album charts.

In the same timeframe, four Australian singles have claimed the #1 spot on the ARIA Singles Chart spending a total of seven weeks at the top of the ARIA Singles charts. Vance Joy’s single ‘Riptide’ set a record on the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming the single to have spent the most weeks in the Top 100 in ARIA Charts history. ‘Riptide’ has spent 115 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 100, knocking off the previous record set by Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’, which spent 106 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 100 between 2008 and 2011. 

NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, Stuart Ayres, said, “Sydney is the nation’s live performance capital and a fitting home for the music industry’s pinnacle event, the ARIA Awards. The ARIA Awards showcase the harbour city as a world class live performance destination and the NSW Government is proud to have secured Sydney as the home of the ARIAs through to 2017. We look forward to welcoming visitors to Sydney in November.”

ARIA and the NSW Government, through Destination NSW, are also pleased to announce the return of ARIA Week for its fourth consecutive year in 2015. ARIA Week will host a broad and eclectic range of showcases, curated gigs, and conferences, including the popular ARIA Masterclass, bringing the music industry together and offering the community unprecedented access to Australian music in the lead-up to the main event. The full ARIA Week schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

As well as watching the broadcast on TEN, music fans from around Australia can join in the festivities watching their favourite artists arrive on the David Jones Red Carpet at The Star, Sydney on Thursday, November 26.

Greg Hawkins, Managing Director for The Star said: "I am delighted to be working with the Australian music industry and the ARIA team again in 2015. Our continued partnership with the best of Australia’s music talent is highly valued by the team at The Star. The Event Centre is the perfect home for the ARIA Awards offering state-of-the-art technical and audio visual facilities along with The Star’s range of world class facilities, accommodation, restaurants and after party venues. The 2015 ARIA Awards is shaping up to be the music event of the year."

ARIA is thrilled to welcome back Qantas as a sponsor of the event and PPCA as the sponsor of the ‘Breakthrough Artist’ ARIA Award for the fifth consecutive year, continuing their support of Australia’s emerging artists.

Australian music fans will once again have the chance to have their say in who takes home an ARIA Award, with four publicly voted awards, including 'Song Of The Year', 'Best International Artist', 'Best Australian Live Act' and 'Best Video'. Voting for these categories opens on Wednesday, October 7.

The winners of the ARIA Fine Arts (Best Classical Album, Best Jazz Album, Best World Music Album and Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album) and Artisan Awards (Engineer Of The Year, Producer Of The Year and Best Cover Art) will be announced at the 2015 ARIA Nominations event on Wednesday, October 7 at the Telstra Customer Insight Centre in Sydney.

Stay tuned to ariaawards.com.au for all 2015 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra updates. 

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