Five finalists have been announced for Best New Australian Artist on Commercial Radio for 2004, as part of the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs).
The nominees are Jet, John Butler Trio, Pete Murray and ‘Australian Idol’ winner, Guy Sebastian, and runner up, Shannon Noll.
This award, sponsored by Austereo for the fifth straight year, is designed to help develop new artists or groups based in Australia, with the winner receiving airtime worth $50 000 across the 2DAY and Triple M networks to promote current or future releases.
The 2004 finalists have all made the Top 50 singles chart for the first time during the judging period (1 July 2003–30 June 2004), and remained there for ten weeks or more. The finalist list has been developed, in consultation with the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) and The Music Network.
The winner is decided by vote from commercial radio program and music directors, using eight criteria, including the artists’ potential to succeed, appeal of the original material performed, credibility as a performer, willingness to tour Australia and be partof commercial radio promotions, listener requests, chart position obtained and CD sales.
Commercial Radio Australia CEO, Joan Warner, says the award is an example of the commitment of commercial radio and Austereo, providing a development platform for new music talent in Australia.
“It’s been a phenomenal year for new Australian talent – it’s going to be very tough to pick one winner, as all the finalists have had a huge debut.
“As part of the radio industry’s pledge to fostering new Australian talent, we are also holding the third New Music to Radio Showcase (NM2R) at the Gold Coast on 15 October, featuring up to seven new Australian artists, who perform in front of the radio industry for the first time.”
The 2004 ACRAs include 28 categories, which cover all areas of radio broadcasting including news, talk, comedy, sport and music across metropolitan, provincial and country radio stations in most categories.
Winners of the 2004 awards, the 16th annual event, will be announced on 16 October at a gala ceremony at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. MC for the night is Austereo drive co-presenter, Kyle Sandilands.
The ACRAs are again supported by Arbitron, Nielsen Media Research, Australian Retirement Fund, RCS Sound Software, Comsyst and The Music Network.