21st Australian Music Prize Winner Announced

The winner of the 21st SoundMerch Australian Music Prize, one of Australia's most prestigious awards recognising and honouring the creative accomplishments of Australian musicians, has been revealed.

Ninajirachi has taken the win with her debut album I Love My Computer, culminating in $50,000 of prize money.

“Thank you so much to the Australian Music Prize for awarding me this year, this truly means a lot to me!! I’m so proud to have produced an Australian album. I Love My Computer drew from my growing up on the central coast and the Australian dance music I heard in my childhood," she said of her win.

"To sincerely contribute to the awesome story of Australian music was one of my highest hopes. I hope I can keep making albums and telling stories forever. Thank you so much, I’m so honoured to receive this award.”

Ninajirachi exploded on the Australian music scene this year with the album, which looks back on her experiences growing up during the early days of the internet, and features a string of previously released singles including “All I Am” (her first ARIA-charting song), “Fuck My Computer”, and “It’s You”. It followed her 2022 mixtape Second Nature and builds on her reputation for crafting intricate, otherworldly EDM. The album has also secured her eight nominations at this upcoming ARIA Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist, Best Dance/Electronic Release, and Best Produced Release.

Since 2023, she has also been steadily breaking into the US market. She signed with Nina Las Vegas’ label NLV records, has played the likes of Lollapalooza and EDC Las Vegas, and has been selling out her debut album tour across New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. The electronic artist was also one of four Australian acts recently named on the Coachella 2026 lineup.

"The AMP process favours originality and Nina's album is certainly that! I thank the team of judges who have put so much effort into choosing I Love My Computer as our 21st winner - the shortlist was very strong so choosing a winner wasn't easy," founder and prize director, Scott B Murphy, said.

The other nominees this year were Folk Bitch Trio with Now Would Be A Good Time, Floodlights' Underneath, Mudrat's Social Cohesion, Bleak Squad with Strange Love, Tropical Fuck Storm's Fairyland Codex, Ruby Gill with Some Kind Of Control, Mia Wray with hi, it's nice to meet me, and Divide & Dissolve's Insatiable.

Previous winners of the prize, widely recognised as one of the most prestigious for Australian recording artists, include Kankawa Nagarra (2024), RVG (2023), King Stingray (2022), Genesis Owusu (2021), and The Avalanches (2020).