Electronic producer Ninajirachi won five awards at the 2026 AIR Awards in Adelaide on 30 July, having never previously taken home one. The ceremony, in its 20th year, is run by the Australian Independent Record Labels Association — the body representing Australia's independent music sector — and handed out 24 awards across the night Billboard.

Ninajirachi, whose real name is Nina Wilson, won independent album of the year, independent producer of the year, best independent electronic album or EP for I Love My Computer, and two awards for the single "iPod Touch": best independent electronic single and independent song of the year. "iPod Touch" was co-written with Darcy Baylis in 2024 and placed second in the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition. She was not in Adelaide to collect the trophies; she was touring the United States and performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago on the same day Billboard.

The wins cap a decorated run for Wilson since I Love My Computer was released. She has also collected three ARIA Awards, the Australian Music Prize for album of the year, J Awards, and the NSW Music Prize for breakthrough artist. Her label, NLV Records, shared the independent marketing team of the year award with distributor The Orchard, and NLV's founder Nina Las Vegas (Nina Agzarian) took independent label of the year. NLV Records also launched "WannaCry," Wilson's collaboration with Porter Robinson, during the same week as the awards and the Indie-Con industry conference Billboard.

Folk B*tch Trio were the night's other multiple winners, taking three awards: best independent blues and roots album or EP, breakthrough artist of the year, and independent music video of the year for "Cathode Ray," directed by Bridgette Winten.

Genre album awards went to Wilsn (soul/R&B), Devaura (hip hop), Ruby Gill (country), Way Dynamic (pop), Playlunch (rock), Thornhill (heavy), and Godspeed (punk). Thomas Purcell, who produces as Wave Racer, won independent mix, studio or mastering engineer of the year. Melody Forghani's Twnty Three won independent publicity team of the year.

Sebastian Chase, founder of MGM Distribution, received the outstanding achievement award. His son Michael Chase attended the ceremony. MGM Distribution has been a significant force in Australian independent music circulation — the distribution layer that gets independent records into shops and onto streaming platforms Billboard.

The AIR Awards ceremony took place at the end of Indie-Con, AIR's annual conference held in Adelaide, which is described as Australia's only UNESCO-designated City of Music. The event was invite-only. For the 2026 edition, AIR split its dance/electronic single category into two separate awards — Best Independent Dance/Club Single and Best Independent Electronic Single — and renamed its album category from Best Independent Dance or Electronica Album or EP to Best Independent Electronic Album or EP AIR.

More than 250 individual awards have been presented across the ceremony's history. Past winners include Flume, Courtney Barnett, Genesis Owusu, Sampa the Great, Amyl and the Sniffers, and Confidence Man AIR.