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NewTracks New Artist: Ra Charmian

Coming from a background of session music and cover gigs, husband-and-wife duo Rā Toia-Booth and Hayden Booth have turned towards performing their original material that come with a chilled-out reggae ...

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News

NewMusic Development On Hold After March ’24 Round

NZ On Air Music’s first NewMusic Development (NMD) funding round for 2024 opened on February 29. It will also be the last NMD round for now, with NZ On Air Music taking time out to consult with industry about the best way to fund development level artists going forward. The decision to pause NMD in its current format was made after industry feedback included in the NZOA Music Funding Review published in October last year which noted that, '… although the NewMusic Development fund does enable ...

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News

2024 Taite Music Prize Finalists

Independent Music NZ (IMNZ) has announced 10 finalists for the 2024 Taite Music Prize. The prize acknowledges outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained in one recording, and highlights outstanding albums from Aotearoa, released in the past year. The award is open to all genres of music and judged on artistic merit regardless of genre, record label or sales, with the winner receiving a cash prize of $12,500. Current members of IMNZ, musicians and music industry personnel ...

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Opportunities

FromThePit 2024 Submissions Open

FromThePit 2024 submissions are open to local music photographers wanting to showcase your images. You can submit up to five images for consideration in the 2024 exhibition. Those photos can be no older than June 2022 and must be of NZ artists playing in NZ for entry consideration to the AV exhibition, which will run during Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa | NZ Music Month (May 2024). FromThePit is focused on images made at shows in an official capacity, i.e. photographing for a publication, a venue, ...

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Opportunities

Nominations Open For Taite Music Prize 2024

Nominations are now open for the Taite Music Prize 2024, Outstanding Music Journalism Award and Best Independent Debut Award. Nominations close January 31 and the award ceremony is confirmed for April 23 at Q Theatre, Tāmaki Makaurau. You can find details on eligibility and nomination forms on the website of Independent Music NZ.

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Ex-Pat Files

Expat Files: Jupita

The last few months haven't been a stressful time for Julia Morris, which is a pity because under her adopted artist name Jupita she's just released a pretty cool EP called 'Want You Back', and ideally she'd be 'working the room' as it were. The offspring of Kiwi pop royalty in musician/producer Ian Morris and singer Kim Willoughby, Julia and her twin sister Maude briefly had a pop act called Lexxa, dating back to 2018. Five years later finds her releasing her own EP debut here in Aotearoa, while ...

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Interviews

Elena: Getting In The Mood

Elena Laota has put her second round of NZOA funding to great use with her new single Mood. Written by South Auckland soul singer-songwriter Jeremiah Fale, aka Hales, and produced by her manager Edy Liu (Donell Lewis, Razé, Mikey Mayz) the song is a short and sweet departure from Elena’s previous RnB slow jams like Selfish and Ur Vibe. Jasper West finds out more, made with support from NZ On Air Music. “Mood is just about two people hanging out, listening to music,” explains Tāmaki ...

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Industry

Industry: Songwriters 4 Climate Action

What better way to release some of the anxiety in these crazy times than through music? And as an artist, why not scream your message from the rooftops through songs exploring your worries and hopes for our future? Tāmaki Makaurau-based initiative Songwriters 4 Climate Action is doing just that, inviting artists to share their thoughts on our climate crises through music, and through the recording of two compilation albums, the second of which is due in early 2024. Ravi Ratnam tells the story. Holding ...

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NewTracks New Artist

NewTracks New Artist: Castaway

Ōtautahi-based five-piece Castaway started out jamming in their dorm while studying at the University Of Canterbury. Supernova is the first single of their second EP, due later in the year, and NZ On Air Music enjoyed the driven alt rock tune enough to add the song to their NewTracks compilation this March.  What are your names, where are you from and what instruments do you each play? Jack Hassell, originally from Auckland - saxophone / keys Rhys Blaas, originally from Wanaka - guitar / ...

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Fresh Talent

Fresh Talent: Esbee

Deriving their name from the guitarist/lead singer's nickname at school, S-B (for Alex Scott-Billing), charismatic and eccentric heptet Esbee has brought a new jazz-variant sound onto the Te Whanganui-a-Tara scene. The other Esbee members, predominantly jazz music students, are Mysty Cooke (trumpet), Alex Vujanic (tenor sax), Ryder Smith (drums), Wicket Kendrick (bass), Sam Hunter (keyboard), Arran Cargill-Brown (synth/vocals). Combining jazz and rock, with a peppering of several other inspirations ...

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NewTracks New Artist

NewTracks New Artist: Cruze Control

Catching the wave of up-and-coming surfy indie pop artists, Ōtepoti quartet Cruze Control work hard to keep the local jangle alive and bring the good vibes. Their latest single When I Land featured on NZ On Air Music's NewTracks compilation this February. So who are Cruze Control, where are you from and what instruments do you each play? Cruze Control was formed in Dunedin, and is made of Tommy Meek on vocals and rhythm guitar, Cam MacFarlane on lead guitar and trumpet, Maxwell ‘Teddy’ ...

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Interviews

Flaxxies: Striking Out Towards The Sun

When two high school friends started jamming at Saint Kentigern College in Pakuranga, Tāmaki Makaurau, little did they suspect eight years later they would be working with one of Aotearoa's biggest music producers and uniting dance-floors across Aotearoa. With their third EP 'Sunstruck' released in late 2023, Flaxxies are ready to take the country by storm. Charlie Rodgers speaks with rhythm guitarist Nick Tait. Liquid Gold by Flaxxies "We started out as a co-curricular project back when Chris ...

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Event Guide

Back To Basics 2024

Music Managers Forum Aotearoa announce a new series of free Back To Basics seminars in 2024. Aimed at all who are in the early stages of artist management, including self-managed artists, the seminars explore the fundamentals and inner workings of the music industry.   More info here. Mar 5 - Kirikiriroa, Hamilton Mar 12 - Whangārei

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Event Guide

Ōtautahi: Off Centre Festival Is Back For 2024

Eclectic and exuberant, celebrating the best of the arts, Off Centre is everything Ōtautahi loves about The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora. For two nights and one day, The Arts Centre will be bursting with music, comedy, circus, theatre, food, and vibrant entertainment. Off Centre is a solid mix of arts and entertainment for everyone, with family-friendly and free events as well as ticketed performances. The line-up this year features 1 Drop Nation, singer-songwriter Hera, Shay Horay presents ...

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Event Guide

Syncposium 2024 In Auckland, February

Syncposium 2024, a two-day screen music industries conference, will be held at Q Theatre in Tāmaki Makaurau over two days, February 23-24. Syncposium brings together Grammy and Oscar-winning composers Pasek and Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman, Hollywood television and movie executives and a group of Aotearoa’s best music talent. It will be a rare opportunity to gain insights, knowledge and inspiration from some of the most influential voices in the entertainment industry. Tickets are ...

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