ARIA, Network Ten and Motorola are pleased to today announce the Final Five Nominees in 26 categories in the 2007 ARIA Awards, with the winners to be announced Sunday October 28 at Acer Arena.

For a full list of nominees, visit our Media Centre and download the press release that can be found at the top of the left-hand column. Alternatively, visit our Winners & Nominees page.

Also announced today is the return of Rove McManus as host of this year's event. Rove will be ably assisted by Australian Idol's James Mathison who'll be reporting from behind-the-scenes and on the Red Carpet.

ARIA is also pleased to announce the first artists who'll be special performers at the 2007 ARIA Awards. Please welcome Powderfinger, Silverchair, John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins and Sneaky Sound System.

Finally, please join us in congratulating the winners of the Artisan Award categories in the 2007 ARIA Awards.

Produer of the Year: Wayne Connolly & Josh Pyke for Josh Pyke's acclaimed album 'Memories and Dust'.
Engineer of the Year: Wayne Connolly, also for his work on Josh Pyke's album 'Memories and Dust'.
Best Cover Art: Aaron Hayward and Dave Homer at Debaser for Powderfinger's album 'Dream Days at the Hotel Existence.' This is Debaser's second ARIA Award in as many years.
Best Video: Paul Goldman and Alice Bell for Silverchair's 'Straight Lines' film clip.

Tickets to the ARIA Awards are now on sale:

Click here for General Public tickets.

Click here for Industry Tickets.

We look forward to seeing you on October 28 at Acer Arena.

AMRA (The Australian Music Retailers Association), in conjunction with ARIA, today announced the winners of the 2007 RETAILER OF THE YEAR Awards.

The Awards are presented to five independent and five chain stores across Australia and recognise the importance of music retail to the artists, producers and promoters of music. A drum roll please for the good folk at the following chain and independent retail stores who have been honoured in the 2007 Retailer of the Year Awards:

WINNERS - BEST CHAIN STORES
NSW - HMV Mid City, Sydney
VIC/TAS - JB Hi-Fi, Chadstone
QLD - JB Hi-Fi, Chermside
SA/NT - JB Hi-Fi, Adelaide
WA - JB Hi-Fi, Perth City

WINNERS - BEST INDEPENDENT RETAIL OUTLETS
NSW - Leading Edge Music, Warriewood
VIC/TAS - Capricorn LEM, Warrnambool
QLD - Rocking Horse Records, Brisbane
SA/NT - The Muses, Adelaide
WA - 78 Records, Perth

A special presentation to these winners will be made at the ARIA Chairman's Reception, an invitation only event that will take place on Sunday, October 28th just prior to the ARIA Awards.

The Final Five nominees in 26 Award categories, along with the winners in the Artisan Award categories of Best Video, Best Cover Art, Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year, will be announced 11am on Wednesday 19th Sept.