Ourness founder Andrew Klippel collected manager of the year at the 2025 AAM Awards, presented Wednesday, April 30th in Melbourne, while Missy Higgins was a guest performer, delivering a solo surprise for Legacy Award winner John Watson.
Klippel earned the AAM’s top award for his efforts spearheading the success of Genesis Owusu and Royel Otis, and, in his pre-recorded speech, tipped off the next Ourness act to watch for, Sonic Reducer.
James Fava of Intergalactic Fantastic Worldwide won Breakthrough Manager of the Year for his work guiding electronic music superstar Dom Dolla.
Lemon Tree Music’s Elise Naismith nabbed Emerging Manager of the Year, recognition for his stellar work with Kita Alexander, while Nala Music’s Lousie Sawilejskij (Community Engagement Award) and Topic Artists’ Summer King (Patron’s Gift) were on hand to collect their respective prizes.
The biggest cheers of the day were reserved for John Watson, who was presented with the Legacy Prize by Sahara Herald, tour director at Frontier Touring.
Watson’s family watched on from the front row at Northcote Social Club as the legendary artist manager and label chief scored a standing ovation. Before Watson took the mic, Higgins, who is coming off a remarkable year which included a 46-date sold-out tour, several ARIA Awards, including induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and another No. 1 album, paid tribute to her mentor by playing “All For Believing”, the song that won her triple j Unearthed back in 2001.
“All For Believing” was also the first of her songs that Watson heard. Higgins recounted how, on her 18th birthday, she met with Watson, founder of John Watson Management and Eleven: A Music Company. She’d been “shopping around for a manager and a record label,” though every rep tried to crush her dreams of going backpacking. Not Watson. He said, “‘I think that’s a great idea,’” she recounted. “’I think that’s an excellent idea, you’ll get life experience, you’ll have the best time, take as much time as you need.’ I realised then that he had a completely different frame of mind.” Watson, she explained, “plays the long game. He has longevity in his mind for his artists.” His secret sauce, she continued, “is that he really really cares about his artists.”
Watson took time to thanks his mentors, artists and family, and assured there was more work to be done. “Many of the things that we take for granted were accomplished by previous generations of music industry workers, so we all have a responsibility to pay that forward. Clearly it’s a great time for export, but a really difficult time to get heard locally,” he remarked. “A lot needs to change if Australian music is to overcome algorithmic handicaps and get on a level playing field with the Americans.”
Paying tribute to his late friend Michael McMartin and Michael’s Rule, the campaign launched a year ago in the late artist manager’s name, one that asks that a local act is, without question, on the bill for international tours in Australia, Watson suggested there’s some “big news” coming up. “It’s not going to solve everything but it’s a step in the right direction,” he remarked.
Also, Ash Hills of UNIFIED Music Group, manager of Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, received the APRA/AMCOS Lighthouse Award.
With her acceptance speech, Hills captured in 90 seconds an artist manager’s world. “This job is really tough,” she said. “It demands everything, your time, your energy, your emotional bandwidth, you ride the highs and the lows with your artists and you put your whole self into building something lasting, and then I’ve means time away from your home and from your family. As a mum, that’s one of the hardest parts. I’m about to head overseas for three weeks and the anxiety that’s come with it is currently keeping me up at night. I don’t share that for sympathy, but to outline just how much of us this job takes. That said, it’s also incredibly rewarding and exciting. Teen Jesus is supporting Pearl Jam at arenas across America.” And the best part,” she quipped, “it honestly doesn’t get any Vedder than that.”
Now in its sixth year, the awards are an initiative of the AAM, the trade association for the Australian music industry’s managers, representing over 400 active managers, who in turn represent over 1,000 artists in contemporary music.
Manager of the Year (Presented by White Sky)
Andrew Klippel, Ourness
Breakthrough Manager of the Year (Presented by DMT Law Firm)
James Fava, Intergalactic Fantastic Worldwide
Emerging Manager of the Year (Presented by Live Event Logistics)
Elise Naismith, Lemon Tree Music
Community Engagement Award (Presented by Oztix)
Lousie Sawilejskij, Nala Music
Legacy Award (Presented by Frontier Touring)
John Watson, Eleven
Patron’s Gift (Presented by AAM Patrons)
Summer King, Topic Artists
APRA/AMCOS Lighthouse Award
Ash Hills, UNIFIED Music Group