The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known as ARIA Music Awards or ARIA Awards) is an annual awards night celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA). The event has been held annually since 1987, when it was first conceived by Glen Mylne and Jim Keyes index/jimkeyes.htm" target="_blank">http://www.abc.net.au/longway/artist_index/jimkeyes.htm. It encompasses the general genre-specific and popular awards (these are what is usually being referred to as "the ARIA awards") as well as Fine Arts Awards, Artisan Awards and Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Winning or even being nominated for an ARIA award results in a lot of media attention on an artist, and usually increases recording sales several-fold (for example, in _2005, after Ben Lee won three ARIA awards his album Awake Is the New Sleep jumped from #31 to #5 in the ARIA Charts, its highest-yet position). However the awards are often viewed with skepticism by less mainstream artists, who view the awards an opportunity for a good party. (Tim Rogers of You Am I was once reported as keeping his awards in his outhouse toilet. )