Big winners at the 2020 BET Awards included Migos (Best Group), Lizzo (Best Female R&B/Pop Artist), Megan Thee Stallion (Best Female Hip Hop Artist), DaBaby (Best Male Hip-Hop Artist), Roddy Ricch was named Best New Artis while his album 'Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial' won Album of the Year, and Beyonce’s 'Brown Skin Girl' (HER Award). Chris Brown won Best Male R&B/Pop Artist and Best Collaboration ('No Guidance' featuring Drake), and DJ Khaled won Video Of The Year for 'Higher' featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend. Check out the full list of nominees and winners at Deadline. Public Enemy joined forces with Nas, The Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought, YG, and Rapsody for a special performance of 'Fight the Power' to kick off the 2020 BET Award - watch here, and Alicia Keys gave a powerful performance of 'Perfect Way to Die'.

UK electronic-jazz drummer Moses Boyd and drill rapper Digga D are the most nominated artists for this year’s AIM Independent Music Awards, with three nominations each. Electronic music trailblazers Flying Lotus and Floating Points, as well as Polish pianist Hania Rani and psychedelic R'n'B singer Greentea Peng are vying for two awards each. The most attractive category, Best Independent Album, is filled with interesting releases: Brooke Bentham 'Everyday Nothing', Everything Is Recorded 'Friday Forever', Kidjo Ojua 'The Mixtape', Kim Gordon 'No Home Record', Laura Marling 'Song For Our Daughter', Moses Boyd 'Dark Matter', Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 'Ghosteen', The Ninth Wave 'Infancy', Phoenix Da Icefire & Husky Brown 'Panacea' and Sarathy Korwar 'More Arriving'.

Among the 40 artists on the 2020 Long List for the best Canadian album are: Caribou, Lido Pimienta, Jessie Reyez, Andy Shauf, KAYTRANADA, The Weeknd, U.S. Girls, dvsn, Leif Vollebek, Jacques Greene, Daniel Caesar, Cindy Lee, Men I Trust, and Allie X.

Blues guitarist and singer Christone “Kingfish” Ingram was the big winner at the Blues Foundation’s 2020 Blues Music Awards taking home five awards - album of the year for his debut 'Kingfish', best emerging artist album, best contemporary blues album, instrumentalist-guitarist and best contemporary blues artist, Commercial Appeal reports. Nick Moss and his band featuring Dennis Gruenling won two awards for band of the year and traditional blues album for 'Lucky Guy!', while Moss took home the statue for song of the year for 'Lucky Guy'.

Melbourne-based hip-hop artist Sampa the Great won the Australian music prize yesterday with her album 'The Return', two years after she first won the award for 2017 album 'Birds and the BEE9', making her the first artist in the history to win the Australian music prize twice, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Zambian-born Sampa Tembo thanked the judging panel for recognising an album “not written for radio play or commercial appeal”, the Music Network reports. The album deals with themes of migration and displacement. Sampa’s album beat out a shortlist that included recordings by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Thelma Plum, Amyl & the Sniffers and more. Previous winners of the AMP include Gurrumul, Augie March, Courtney Barnett and AB Original.

Lewis Capaldi was the big winner at last night's Brit Awards picking up statues in Best new artist and Best song categories ('Someone You Love'). Dave won the No. 1 award, the Best album category, for 'Psychodrama', Mabel was awarded Best female award (30 years to the day her mother Neneh Cherry won her very own trophies), Stormzy got the Best male, and the Foals Best British group awards. Billie Eilish won in the International female category, with Tyler, the Creator wining in the International male category. Rising star award went to Celeste. Independent points out to Dave's political statement at the Brits - called out UK prime minister "racist", and lack of women, nominated or awarded.

Little Simz won the NME award for the best British album for her 'GREY Area', with Lana Del Rey winning the best album in the world award for her 'Norman Fucking Rockwell'. Best song in the world award went to Billie Eilish for her ‘Bad Guy’, Robyn was named songwriter of the decade, FKA twigs got the best British solo act award, Clairo is the best new act in the world, Emily Eavis got the godlike genius award, and the Foals were named best live act. All the nominees and the winners at the NME. Photos from the awards - here.

Songwriter extraordinaire Diane Warren and operatic prima donna Anna Netrebko have been named the Laureates for the 2020 Polar Music Prize, an award founded in 1989 by Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, the manager and music publisher of ABBA. Traditionally, it is awarded to a person from the pop world and one from the classical or jazz genre. Previous winners of the Polar Music Prize include Sting, Elton John, Metallica, Ennio Morricone, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon, Björk, Wayne Shorter, Patti Smith, Dizzy Gillespie...

Young Iceland composer Hildur Guðnadóttir won the Oscar last night in the Original score category, for her work on 'Joker' soundtrack, beating a quartet of men - Randy Newman, John Williams, Thomas Newman, and Alexandre Desplat. In the best original song category Elton John (music) and Bernie Taupin (lyrics) got the Oscar for their '(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again' from the biopic Rocketman.

Patti Smith is being awarded the 2020 PEN Literary Service Award, given to authors who write about “the human condition”. “She has testified to the transformative power of literature in her own life, and used her stardom to encourage reading and writing in the legions who revere her” - PEN President Jennifer Egan said in a statement, adding she "set an example of badass female artistry, coupled with deeply principled humanity". Previous recipients include Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, and Bob Woodward.

Iceland composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is nominated for Oscar, in Music - Original Score category for her work in 'Joker'. Other nominees in this category are Alexandre Desplat for 'Little Women', Randy Newman for Marriage Story, Thomas Newman for '1917' and John Williams for 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'. Nominees in the other music category - Original Song - are: Randy Newman for 'I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away' from 'Toy Story 4'; Elton John and Bernie Taupin for '(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again' from 'Rocketman'; Diane Warren for 'I'm Standing With You' from 'Breakthrough'; Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for 'Into The Unknown' from 'Frozen II'; Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo for 'Stand Up' from 'Harriet'.