Marvin Cornell Elliott, better known by his stage name Marvin Priest, is a British-born, Australian-based singer-songwriter. In November 2011 Priest released his debut studio album, Beats & Blips, in Australia, which spawned the top ten single "Own This Club" on the ARIA Singles Chart, as well as top one-hundred singles "Take Me Away" and "Feel the Love". "Own This Club" was also a top ten hit in New Zealand. At the APRA Music Awards of 2012 the track, which was co-written by Priest with Antonio Egizii and David Musumeci, won an award for Urban Work of the Year and was nominated for Most Played Australian Work.
Marvin Priest, Luna Park Sydney, October 2011
APRA Music Awards of 2012
The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2012 are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2012 was the 30th annual ceremony by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) to award outstanding achievements in contemporary songwriting, composing and publishing. The ceremony was held on 28 May 2012 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Art Music Awards were introduced in 2011 to replace the Classical Music Awards and were distributed on 3 April at the Sydney Opera House. They are sponsored by APRA and the Australian Music Centre (AMC) to "recognise achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music". The Screen Music Awards were issued on 19 November by APRA and Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC), which "acknowledges excellence and innovation in the genre of screen composition".
At the 2012 ceremony, Gotye (aka Wally de Backer) won three APRA Music Awards: Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year and Most Played Australian Work.