George Young, a pioneer of Australian music as a member of The Easybeats and producer for AC/DC, the band fronted by his brothers Angus and Malcolm, has died aged 70.

Young "created a new sound for the Australian music industry," the production company Alberts, where he spent many years producing hits for other acts, said in a statement on its website.

Young co-wrote Friday On My Mind, an enduring hit that charted around the world, with Harry Vanda, who became his long-time song-writing partner.

The pair were inducted in the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, and have a highly regarded song-writing award named for them.

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Love Is In The Air, the disco number Young and Vanda penned for John Paul Young, was another chart success, reaching number seven in the US.

Vanda and Young also wrote songs for Meatloaf and Stevie Wright, their former Easybeats colleague, including the latter's acclaimed Evie, Parts 1, 2 and 3.

The cause of death has not been announced and the family has requested privacy.

'Trailblazing' producer

"A consummate songwriter, trailblazing producer, artist, mentor and extraordinary musician, George was above all else a gentleman who was unfailingly modest, charming, intelligent and loyal, a man with a wonderful sense of humour," Alberts CEO David Albert said in a statement.

"He will be missed."

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AC/DC said that without Young's help and guidance "there would not have been an AC/DC".

"As a musician, songwriter, producer, advisor, and much, much more, you could not ask for a more dedicated and professional man.

"As a brother, you could not ask for a finer brother. For all he did and gave to us throughout his life, we will always remember him with gratitude and hold him close to our hearts."

Jimmy Barnes said Young's passing was a loss for music.

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ARIA CEO Dan Rosen said Young helped create the Australian pub rock sound and broke new ground in terms of how artists from this country might crack international markets.

"He had a great ability to write songs that had a global following," he said.

"Not only were they big in Australia, [but] Friday On My Mind was one of the first songs that broke in the UK. They were able to fuse the influences from the US and UK and make it uniquely Australian."

A songwriting competition, held annually by APRA AMCOS, is named after Young and Vanda, "who have written a string of hits since the 60's performed by both local and international artists".

"Worldwide their songs have been replicated by the likes of Grace Jones to Tom Jones, David Bowie and Meatloaf," APRA said on their website.

Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition winners Megan Washington (2009)

Megan Washington (2009) Kimbra (2011)

Kimbra (2011) The Preatures (2013)

The Preatures (2013) Husky Gawenda (2014)

Husky Gawenda (2014) Gretta Ray (2016)

From Beatles-esque rocker to hitmaker

The Young brothers were born in Glasgow and came to Australia in 1963.

Around that time, a music company called Alberts Productions was established in Sydney.

Ted Albert, a keen musician who helped start the company, took an interest in The Easybeats, who as teenagers would make a racket at Villawood Migrant Hostel, where they lived.

"When they got together in the laundry at the Villawood Migrant Hostel, it was as much to cling together for support as it was to make music," the broadcaster Glenn A Baker told the ABC, describing the environment as rough.

"But then they found that they had at their fingertips the ability to set particularly little girls' hearts on fire, and suddenly Australia was beset by Easy-fever."

As the southern hemisphere's smart-suited answer to The Beatles, the group went on to find international success. More than a dozen singles charted around the world.

The Easybeats, with George Young second from the right. ( Supplied )

They recorded Friday On My Mind in London, and the song was an instant classic, selling more than a million copies.

After the group disbanded in 1969, Young and Vanda spent a brief period living in London before returning to Sydney to begin their reign as sought-after songwriters and producers, working with a generation of Australian musicians including Rose Tattoo, The Angels and others.

Young himself oversaw the AC/DC albums Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, T.N.T, Powerage and High Voltage — classics of the hard rock genre — and was as much a guiding figure in the studio as a songwriter and producer.

Asked by the ABC's Richard Fidler recently how Young and Vanda were able to produce so many great songs, John Paul Young said he did not know.

"If I knew, I'd do it myself."