Amid social media confusion about this Thursday’s South Australian Music Awards, the state’s peak organisation for music running the event admits planning has been “bumpy” but promises it will be “fantastic”.

When approached by CityMag about the planning of the 2022 South Australian Music Awards, recently-appointed Music SA CEO Christine Schloithe says that like many businesses and events in the music industry, the organisation is “also feeling the pressure of staffing shortages and adapting to changing circumstances”.

“The planning has been a bit more bumpy than we wanted but the SAM Awards event itself is coming together beautifully and it will be a fantastic night in a great new venue,” she says.

“The planning has taken extra time this year because it is a new venue and we want to make sure we get things right on the night.

“The South Australian music community is at the very heart of this event and these awards honour and celebrate that.”

Workers from Adelaide’s music industry have taken to social media to question who will host the South Australian Music Awards this Thursday at the newly-opened Hindley Street Music Hall, and why tickets for the annual event only went on sale eight days before the event.

They have also questioned what the $70 ticket gets punters – which, before we made inquiries for this story, included two drinks and nibbles – and why seven of the awards were (for the first time) awarded at a seperate small ceremony by newly-installed Minister for Arts, Andrea Michaels.

On Tuesday, Music SA finally announced a musical line-up for the night, in response to questions from CityMag.

A screenshot of a comment on a South Australian Music Awards post

Christine says Music SA has billed some “terrific performers” for the annual celebration of South Australian musicians, educators and innovators, including APY hip hop group Dem Mob, Nukunu singer Tilly Tjala Thomas, neo-funk duo The Wanderers, and “a few more surprises that will be revealed on the night”. ABC The Sound host Jane Gazzo will MC.

Christine says the line-up wasn’t announced until this week because Music SA had to wait for the finalists to be confirmed before they offered “invitations [for musicians] to perform at the event”.

“The SAM Awards are about celebrating the awards and the performances are complementary to that,” she says.

“We want to try new things and mix it up a little, and if you look at some of the great industry ‘awards’ it’s not unusual for there to be more categories that can fit into one event.

“We’ll definitely be celebrating these nominees and winners again on Thursday night.”