One of Australia's biggest nights in music is almost upon us. At the 2021 ARIA Awards we celebrate the greatest and most popular music and acts that we've been listening to over the course of the past year. Which, it must be said, has proved to be a challenging time for the Australian music industry.

Between cancelled shows, sporadic lockdowns and the #VaxTheNation campaign, Aussie musicians have not had a break. And so, acknowledgement of their spirit, hard work and creativity could not have come sooner. But when will the 2021 ARIA Awards be held? And who is in the running for each category? Find everything you need to know about the 2021 ARIA Awards, below.

When are the 2021 ARIA Awards?

As we've come to expect with most annual ceremonies and events, the 2021 ARIA Awards will take place digitally, as it did last year. The winners will be announced over a YouTube livestream on Wednesday, November 24. So strap in at home, grab some snacks and read below, for the the musicians to tune into in the lead up.

Who are the frontrunners in this years ARIA awards?

At this point it's clear that we'll be seeing Amy Shark and Genesis Owusu's names pop up a lot over the course of the evening. Both artists are nominated for six categories each, three of which they'll be direct competitors for the title. Namely, Album of the Year, Best Artist, and Best Australian Live Act – which is publicly voted for.

Aside from those two, however, we'll be keeping our eyes on 19-year-old Budjerah Slabb who's name is peppered throughout the nominees list for his eponymous EP. Along with Budjerah, we've got our fingers crossed for Odette and B Wise, who released his second album Jamie this year, that featured the likes of Milan Ring, Becca Hatch and ONEFOUR.

For the full list of nominees and categories, see below.

Album Of The Year

Amy Shark - Cry Forever
Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth 
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators - The Makarrata Project
The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
Tones And I - Welcome to the Madhouse

Best Artist

Amy Shark - Cry Forever
Budjerah - Budjerah (EP)
Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth
Keith Urban - The Speed Of Now Part 1
Kylie Minogue - Disco
Masked Wolf - Astronaut In The Ocean
Ngaiire - 3
The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber - 'Stay'
Tones And I - Welcome to the Madhouse
Vance Joy - 'Missing Piece'

Best Dance Release

Cosmo's Midnight - Yesteryear
Dom Dolla - Pump The Brakes
Jolyon Petch - Dreams
KLP & Stace Cadet - People Happy
RÜFÜS DU SOL - Alive

Best Group

AC/DC - Power Up
Gang Of Youths - The Angel of 8th Ave.
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators - The Makarrata Project
RÜFÜS DU SOL - Alive
The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You

Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist

Budjerah - Budjerah (EP)
Gretta Ray - Begin To Look Around
Masked Wolf - Astronaut In The Ocean
MAY-A - Don't Kiss Ur Friends
Ngaiire - 3

Best Pop Release

Amy Shark - Cry Forever
The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber - Stay
Tones And I - Fly Away
Vance Joy - Missing Piece

Best Hip Hop Release

B Wise - jamie
Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth
Masked Wolf - Astronaut In The Ocean
The Kid LAROI - WITHOUT YOU
Youngn Lipz - Area Baby

Best Soul/R&B Release

Budjerah - Budjerah (EP)
Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant
Ngaiire - 3
Tash Sultana - Terra Firma
Tkay Maidza - Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3

Best Independent Release

Archie Roach - The Songs Of Charcoal Lane
Ball Park Music - Ball Park Music
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Crossover
Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth
Vance Joy - Missing Piece

Best Rock Album

AC/DC - Power Up
Ball Park Music - Ball Park Music
Holy Holy - Hello My Beautiful World
Middle Kids - Today We're The Greatest
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators - The Makarrata Project

Best Adult Contemporary Album

Big Scary – Daisy
Crowded House - Dreamers Are Waiting
Kylie Minogue - Disco
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Carnage
Odette - Herald

Best Country Album

Brad Cox - My Mind's Projection
Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham - The Song Club 
Shane Nicholson - Living In Colour
The Wolfe Brothers - Kids On Cassette
Troy Cassar-Daley - The World Today

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album

Alpha Wolf - A Quiet Place To Die
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound
Tropical F**k Storm - Deep States
Yours Truly - Self Care
A. Swayze & the Ghosts - Paid Salvation

Best Blues & Roots Album

Archie Roach - The Songs Of Charcoal Lane
Emma Donovan & The Putbacks – Crossover
Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald - Push The Blues Away
Martha Marlow - Medicine Man
Ziggy Alberts - Searching For Freedom

Best Children's Album

Amber Lawrence - The Kid's Gone Country 2
Bluey The Album - Bluey
Diver City - Dance Silly
The Wiggles - Lullabies With Love
Various Artists - The Moon, The Mouse & The Frog: Lullabies from Northern Australia

PUBLIC VOTED AWARDS

Best Video

24k - Tkay Maidza, Nicholas Muecke
Astronaut In The Ocean - Masked Wolf, Daniele Cernera
could cry just thinkin about you (Full Version) - Troye Sivan & Jesse Gohier-Fleet
Dance - Julia Stone, Jessie Hill
First Nation - Midnight Oil ft. Jessica Mauboy & Tasman Keith, Robert Hambling
Higher - Budjerah, Mick Soiza
Love Songs Ain't for Us - Amy Shark, James Chappell
Missing Piece - Vance Joy, Annelise Hickey
The Divine Chord - The Avalanches, Jonathan Zawada
Won't Sleep - Tones and I, Nick Kozakis, Liam Kelly

Best Australian Live Act

Amy Shark - Cry Forever Tour 2021
Ball Park Music - The Residency
Budjerah - Budjerah 2021 Aus Tour
Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth Album Tour
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Micro Tour
Lime Cordiale - Relapse Tour
Midnight Oil and First Nations Collaborators - Makarrata Live
The Avalanches - The Avalanches Live
The Teskey Brothers - The Teskey Brothers (Headline Shows + Festivals)
Thelma Plum - Homecoming Queen Tour

Song of the Year

Amy Shark Feat. Keith Urban - Love Songs Ain't For Us
Dean Lewis - Falling Up
Hooligan Hefs - Send It!
Keith Urban & Pink - One Too Many
Masked Wolf - Astronaut In The Ocean
Sam Fischer & Demi Lovato - What Other People Say
Spacey Jane - Booster Seat
The Kid LAROI with Miley Cyrus - Without You
Tones and I - Fly Away
Vance Joy - Missing Piece

Most Popular International

Ariana Grande - Positions
Doja Cat - Planet Her
Justin Bieber - Justice
Kanye West - Donda
Luke Combs - What You See Ain't Always What You Get
Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets To My Downfall
Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour
Pop Smoke - Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon
Taylor Swift - Evermore

Music Teacher Award

Aaron Silver - Wodonga Primary School, Regional VIC
Ashley Baxter - Pimlico State High School, Townsville QLD
Daniel Wilson - Star Struck, Newcastle NSW
Zoë Barry - Sacred Heart School, Melbourne VIC

ARTISAN AWARDS

Best Cover Art

Ngaiire Joseph & Dan Segal for Ngaiire - 3
Eben Ejdne for Odette - Herald
Kofi Anash & Bailey Howard for Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth
Jonathan Zawada for The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
Giulia Giannini McGauran & Mitchell Eaton for Tones and I - Welcome to the Madhouse

Engineer Of The Year

Chris Collins
Eric J Dubowsky
Konstantin Kersting
Matt Corby
Tony Espie

Producer Of The Year

Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer
Konstantin Kersting
M-Phazes
Matt Corby
Robert Chater

FINE ARTS AWARDS

Best Classical Album

Christian Li - Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Emily Sun & Andrea Lam - Nocturnes
Genevieve Lacey and Marshall McGuire - Bower
Grigoryan Brothers - This is Us: A Musical Reflection of Australia
Nat Bartsch - Hope

Best Jazz Album

Australian Art Orchestra, Reuben Lewis, Tariro Mavondo & Peter Knight - Closed Beginnings
Kristen Beradi, Sean Foran & Rafael Karlen - Haven
Petra Haden & The Nick Haywood Quintet - Songs from my Father
Vazesh - The Sacred Key

Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album

Angus & Julia Stone - Life Is Strange
Antony Partos - Rams (Original Motion Picture Score)
Caitlin Yeo, Maria Alfonsine, Damian de Boos-Smith - Wakefield Season One Official Soundtrack
Sia - Music: Songs From And Inspired By The Motion Picture
Yve Blake - Fangirls

Best World Music Album

Bob Weatherall & Halfway, with William Barton - Restless Dream
Bukhu - Bukhchuluun Ganburged - The Journey
Eishan Ensemble - Project Masnavi
Joseph Tawadros - Hope In An Empty City
Kuya James - ISA