Established artists and up-and-comers have been thrown into the pot for this year's Silver Scroll Award, making a tasty jambalaya.

Twenty songs from more than 200 entries have bubbled to the top and will now be put on simmer as Apra's 10,000 members vote to reduce these down to the top five finalists and, ultimately, the winner of the prestigious songwriting award.

The voters have hard decisions to make as not only do the songs in the top 20 span multiple genres, they're all damn fine songs.

New faces in the mix include breakthrough rappers Church & AP with Ready or Not, indie fave Benee with Soaked and Christchurch's emerging singer/songwriter Mousey with Extreme Highs.

They join local stars Broods, with Dust, Alien Weaponry with Ahi Kā, and Tiny Ruins with Olympic Girls and returning finalists Anika Moa with Buttercup, The Beths with Happy Unhappy and Aldous Harding with The Barrel.

The awards ceremony will take place at Spark Arena on Wednesday, October 2, where a songwriter, or songwriters, will also be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

The full Top 20 are:

Ahi Kā - Alien Weaponry
Buttercup - Anika Moa
Can't Help The Way - Foley
Diagonals - Ladi6
Digebasse - CHAII
Dust - Broods
Enough - Miloux
Extreme Highs - Mousey
Happy Unhappy - The Beths
Just 'Cause You Don't Want Me - Mel Parsons
Look Up - SORRENTO
No Emotions In The Wild - SWIDT
Old Images - Anthonie Tonnon
Olympic Girls - Tiny Ruins
Ready Or Not - Church & AP
Soaked - Benee
The Barrel - Aldous Harding
The Sacred - Lydia Cole
Where Were You When I Was All You Needed - Ha The Unclear
Years Gone By - Avantdale Bowling Club