Australian Independent Record Labels Association  The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (commonly known as AIR), formerly Association of Independent Record Labels, is a non-profit trade association which supports the growth and development of Australia's independent recording industry independent recording industry. It represents Australian-owned record labels and independent artists based in Australia who function without the backing of major record labels. AIR was founded in 1996 in Sydney and is now located in Melbourne. In 2000, it founded the Independent Music Charts, also known as AIR Charts, which track the sales of Australia's highest-selling independent artists on a weekly and monthly basis, and since 2006 the annual Independent Music Awards, or AIR Awards, have been run to celebrate the year's highest-charting independently released Australian singles and albums. Along with the Awards ceremony in Adelaide since 2017, AIR has run a music industry conference, Indie-Con Australia. AIR was started by a group of Sydney and Melbourne music industry professionals and labels, who began meeting regularly to formulate ideas on how to start an industry association that would assist the ongoing development of Australia's independent record industry. The association was incorporated in 1996 thanks to a small donation from Phantom Records, and received its first operation funding grant from the Australia Council for the Arts in 1998. Additional Australia Council funding was received in 2000, and in this same year, members also voted to change AIR's legal status from Incorporated Association to Company Limited by Guarantee. AIR moved its base from Sydney, New South Wales, to Brisbane, Queensland, in 2004 when Stuart Watters (formerly of Q Music, Queensland's state music council) took over as its Chief Executive Officer. In 2007 AIR moved its operations from Brisbane to Melbourne, Victoria, where it is now based in the Rubber Records and Media Arts Lawyers building in North Melbourne. In 2009 it registered a collective bargaining notification to bargain on behalf of 63 participating members, with each of Telstra, Optus, Foxtel, Austar, MTV, XYZnetworks, Fuel TV (Australia) and Bigpond, regarding the licensing of sound recording rights in respect of public performance and transmission of music videos. The application, which would last for three years, was approved. The collective bargaining power brought a number of benefits to members. AIR began as a small association with 25 members to a company with over 200 financial members across all sectors of the Australian music industry. AIR's membership of significant Australian Independent Record Labels includes but is not limited to Head Records, Shock Records, Elefant Traks, Obese Records, Dew Process, Liberation Music, Plus One Records, Remote Control Records Pty Ltd, MGM Distribution, UNFD – We Are Unified, Ivy League Records, Vitamin Records, , Red Cat Records, Illusive Sounds, Future Classic, Casadeldisco Records and Jarrah Records.