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Cornel Wilczek, Megan Washington and Bluey composer Joff Bush were in the winners’ circle Tuesday night, Oct. 28, as the 2025 Screen Music Awards were presented in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
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With two donut-shaped trophies, Wilczek, the Melbourne-based composer, was the big winner on the night, taking out best music for a television drama (Fake) alongside 2024 emerging screen composer of the year champion Alex Olijnyk; plus best opening title television theme with Thomas Rouch for the Netflix adaptation of the Jane Harper book, The Survivors.
Washington, winner of several ARIA Awards, including best female artist back in 2010, now has a Screen Music Award for her collection. The homegrown talent won for best original song composed for the Screen with “Dream On,” lifted from How to Make Gravy, the film adaptation of Paul Kelly’s beloved Christmas song.
The gravy kept flowing as Electric Fields, who performed the song in the movie, closed the evening with a stunning performance, accompanied by a choir led by Deline Briscoe.
Another Queensland creative, the celebrated children’s screen composer, Joff Bush, scooped most performed screen composer – overseas for his work on Bluey, the most-streamed show in the United States in 2024. Bush won the same category in 2023.
Meanwhile, Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks extended their impressive streak, scoring most performed screen composer – Australia for the 11th time, thanks to their work on Farmer Wants a Wife, LEGO Masters, MasterChef and Travel Guides.
Jed Kurzel nabbed feature film score of the year for the British period action-drama Tornado, his fourth win in the category after Monkey Man (2024), Slow West (2015) and Snowtown (2011).
Veteran screen composer Christopher Gordon was awarded the coveted distinguished services to the Australian screen award in recognition of his “extraordinary body of work and enduring contribution to the screen music industry.”
Legendary Australian director Bruce Beresford was on hand to present the trophy to Gordon, with whom he has collaborated on several acclaimed films including Ladies in Black and Mao’s Last Dancer.
“I feel like such an imposter, there are so many people worthy of this award,” Gordon remarked, before exploring his self-destructive 20s and how he got a fresh, healthier mindset through his connections with the Screen Writers Guild. “I got my life together.” He continued, “the support that I felt and the sense of community with other composers was extremely important for me.” He also discussed the drought he experienced between film scores, something every creative needs to prepare for. “You really need patience in this business.”
Stage and screen star David Wenham hosted the ceremony alongside Mark Coles Smith and Nathalie Morris, with Erkki Veltheim returning as music director, helming a live orchestra performing selections from nominated works.
The evening got away with a bloody Halloween trick, with a creepy orchestral piece set to a grisly edit from Wolf Creek, the horror film which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Wenham would describe the moment as “probably the most terrifying opening to an awards, ever.” It was a good thing the hundreds of guests at Fortitude Music Hall had finished their dinner.
Presented for the first time in the Sunshine State, the annual ceremony is an initiative of APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC).
During his third and final speech leading the AGSC as president, Dale Cornelius touched on streaming quotas, AI, the human condition and more. Cornelius will hand the reins over to composer and Go-Betweens great Amanda Brown, who was in the audience, but not before he returned to the stage to collect the win for best music for a short film, for The Way Home.
Timing is everything. And, with the federal government on Monday ruling out a controversial proposed exemption to the Copyright Act that would allow for text and data mining, the timing wasn’t lost on guests and speakers.
“This is a massive win,” Jenny Morris, chair of APRA AMCOS, remarked from the podium. And not just for APRA AMCOS members, “but for every creator in the room and the country.” She continued, “we said ‘no.’ And importantly, we said no together…when we unite, when we speak with one voice, we are unstoppable.”
The music community, she continued, had real cause to celebrate after a such an “historic” victory.
Click here for the full list of 2025 Screen Music Awards winners.
CISAC, the international trade organization for copyright collecting societies, has a new Chair, with APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston elected into the role.
Announced on Thursday (May 29), Ormston is only the second Australian to hold the title in CISAC’s 99-year history, with his APRA AMCOS predecessor Brett Cottle having previously served in the role from 2006 until 2010.
Ormston brings more than two decades of experience in the fields of music rights management, policy and advocacy to his new appointment. Since 2018, he’s served as the CEO of Australia and New Zealand’s music rights management organization APRA AMCOS, which represents more than 124,000 songwriters, composers and publishers.
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“Being elected Chair of the CISAC Board at such a pivotal moment for creators worldwide is an honour,” Ormston said in a statement. “As the creative economy enters a new era shaped by AI and global digitalisation, the opportunity to secure a fair and thriving future for creators has never been greater.
“Creators are central to the cultural, social and economic fabric of every nation. Each country has a responsibility to nurture its own cultural voices by ensuring a strong copyright framework and enabling creators to share in the value generated by innovations such as Generative AI.”
Ormston’s noted focus on ensuring a fairer future for creatives in the current AI-focused climate comes just over a year after he was named as one of the 20 leaders from the creative industries and academia invited to join the Steering Committee of the Attorney-General’s Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group (CAIRG).
APRA AMCOS have themselves been noted voices in the Generative AI debate, releasing their AI and Music report in August 2024 which focused on the benefits and concerns facing creators in Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, CISAC performed their own global study in December which re-iterated international calls for credit, consent and fair remuneration for songwriters and composers.
As newly-elected Chair of CISAC, Ormston takes over from Marcelo Castello Branco, the CEO of Brazil’s UBC, who has occupied the role for six years. Ormston is joined by Jennifer Brown, CEO of Canada’s SOCAN, who has been re-elected for a second term as Vice-Chair, and VG Bild-Kunst director general Urban Pappi, who has been elected as Vice-Chair for the first time.
Founded in France in 1926, CISAC has been presided over by Swedish singer, songwriter, and ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus since 2020, taking over from French composer Jean Michel Jarre after he had spent a seven-year stint in the top job.
“CISAC’s global network is uniquely positioned to amplify the voice of these creators to decision-makers across the world,” Ormston added. “I look forward to working with the new Board and the entire CISAC community to champion creators’ rights, further develop our services, and empower societies and their members to lead in this rapidly changing global market.”
Empire of the Sun’s “Walking on a Dream” jogs into APRA AMCOS’ The 1,000,000,000 List, an accolade that recognizes one billion streams clocked up across all platforms.
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Released as the project’s debut single in 2008, the track cracked the top 10 (peaking at No. 10) on the ARIA Singles Chart and won single of the year at the 2009 ARIA Music Awards, one of their four victories on the night.
The following year, at the 2010 APRA Music Awards, the song — written by Nick Littlemore, Luke Steele and Jono Sloan — was awarded dance work of the year and the trio jointly won the breakthrough songwriter award.
Littlemore and Sloan were on hand for a presentation at APRA AMCOS’ Sydney headquarters. The song’s publishers are Universal Music Publishing for Littlemore, Sony Music Publishing for Steele, and Kobalt Music Publishing for Sloan, who BMG previously published.
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“It’s an evergreen record,” says Littlemore. “It’s new for every generation. It’s the hope as a songwriter or creator in any sense that you can continually reach the kids and give them something to play back.”
In the U.S., the song had a second life when it was synced to a Honda Civic commercial in 2016, driving it to No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and powering it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs, their second leader on the tally after 2013’s “Alive”.
Later, in 2022, the song soundbedded a five-year global campaign for Western Australia Tourism, and was nominated last year in the new ARIA Awards category of best use of an Australian recording in an advertisement.
Currently, according to APRA AMCOS, “Walking on a Dream” is 10-times platinum certified in Australia, and platinum in the U.S. and U.K.
“It is an honor to acknowledge ‘Walking on a Dream’, a song that retains its freshness and otherworldly sound no matter what year it is or where you are in the world,” comments Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS.
The 1,000,000,000 List acknowledges APRA AMCOS songwriter members and their publishers, and takes into account streaming numbers from major services Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
It’s said to be the first award of its kind to celebrate a songwriter’s streaming achievement, and is the inspiration for the BPI’s BRIT Billion Award, which the U.K. trade association introduced in 2023.
Previous recipients of the APRA AMCOS Billions Award include Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker (for “The Less I Know The Better”), Flume (“Never Be Like You”), Troye Sivan and Alex Hope (“Youth”), Tones And I (“Dance Monkey”), 5 Seconds of Summer (“Youngblood”), and SHOUSE (“Love Tonight”).
See the full list here.
Shouse shuffles to an APRA AMCOS Billions Award for their “coming out of lockdown” anthem “Love Tonight.”
The Melbourne dance music duo is saluted for notching one billion streams of their song, an overnight sensation that was, in reality, five years in the making.
“Love Tonight” is the creation of Jack Madin and Ed Service, one a primary school teacher, the other an arts community manager, who were spotted performing the moody number in 2016 by OneLove head of A&R Ant Celestino. He documented the performance on video; in the cold light of day, Celestino knew it was a total banger.
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Soon after, the track was recorded with a choir of local Melbourne friends and released in 2017 on the OneLove imprint Hell Beach.
The story took another turn when, in early 2017, OneLove struck a partnership deal for global digital distribution and label services with Ingrooves Music Group, an arrangement that cleared a path for “Love Tonight.”
“It was like an unhealthy obsession,” Celestino told this reporter on stage at 2022 Indie-Con. “We never stopped. I just thought the record was so good.”
The eight-minute original cut was spun off into a string of new remixes and edits, the track was serviced to radio, DJs and tastemakers in 2021, an underground swell bubbled away in European clubs, and when the doors finally burst open after the pandemic — a global hit.
The single went top 10 in over 20 countries including Germany, France, Greece, Netherlands, and Belgium. “Love Tonight” reached No. 18 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, and No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.
According to APRA AMCOS, “Love Tonight” is certified diamond in France, triple platinum in Australia, double platinum in Belgium and Portugal, Platinum in Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Greece, and gold in Denmark, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.
“Hearing the voices of our makeshift Melbourne choir resonate across crowds around the world will never get old,” comments Madin and Service on receiving their circular trophy. “We’re thrilled and stunned that our little moment of collective joy here in our home has made an impact on so many. They always sing along. We hope that this song inspires people to sing and create music with friends, family and their community. Music is magic!”
The 1,000,000,000 List takes into account streaming numbers from major services Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, and is given to APRA AMCOS songwriter members and their publishers in recognition of a song surpassing one billion streams.
It’s said to be the first award of its kind to recognize a songwriter’s achievement. Other recipients include Tones And I (for “Dance Monkey”), 5 Seconds of Summer (“Youngblood”), Vance Joy (“Riptide”), Gotye (“Somebody That I Used to Know”), VASSY (“Bad”), Harry Michael and Tyron Hapi for Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut in the Ocean.”
Read more on the “Love Tonight” story here.
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