2026 Aotearoa Music Awards Winners
The 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards winners were revealed at the annual awards ceremony held this year at The Civic in Tāmaki Makaurau on May 28. A spectacular showcase recognising the diversity of successful ...
READ MORE >On Foreign Soil
On Foreign Soil: Written By Wolves Tour of Europe/UK, April-May 2026
Although they’d never played with or even met Solence before, Auckland’s high energy progressive rock act Written By Wolves were invited to join the Swedish electronic rock/metal band on their 21-date ...
READ MORE >NEWSMORE >
News
New Album-centred Digital Platform Lume Announced
Scheduled for launch in June, Lume has been announced as a conceptually new Kiwi-designed digital platform for artists to sell albums and related artist features, which fans can buy and own. Developed by The Spinoff founder Duncan Greive, in partnership with Justin Warren, Tim Harper and Sacha Judd, the Lume platform is designed for album-oriented artists and fans - with the very appealing promise of 80% of net revenue going to artists and their associates. ‘We know that there are problems with ...
READ MORE >News
2026 Country Music Honours Winners Announced
Winners of the 2026 Country Music Honours were announced at the awards event held on Friday 22 May in Gore, with country music artists from across Aotearoa gathered for the 10-day Tussock Country Festival. Whakameatia Mai, written by Marlon Williams (Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) and Kommi Tamati-Elliffe (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa) won the APRA Best Country Music Song Award. In his acceptance speech Williams described the waiata as “…an all-in song about togetherness and being fully engaged with the ...
READ MORE >News
The Others Way Festival Farewell Announcement
After more than a decade as a concentrated highlight of Tāmaki Makaurau’s independent music festival scene, The Others Way will not return in 2026 or beyond. Banished Music organisers of the last three TOW festivals, say the decision comes after years of mounting financial pressure, rising industry costs and an increasingly unstable live music and funding landscape, making the festival no longer sustainable to deliver. Announced at the mid-point of NZ Music Month, the press release follows: Since ...
READ MORE >News
Matt Harvey Appointed to Head UNIFIED in NZ
UNIFIED Music Group has announced its expansion into NZ with the appointment of veteran musician and artist manager Matt Harvey in the role of Senior Artist Manager. UNIFIED is an independently owned Australian multi-service music company, with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, USA, Toronto and London. The NZ connection signals a commitment to the local music industry, focused on providing infrastructure and development opportunities to help local artists grow and thrive on a global scale. First ...
READ MORE >FEATURESMORE >
Interviews
Scream by Tulips: Alternative Energy in Bloom
Scream by Tulips is a six-piece alternative rock band hailing from Tāmaki Makaurau, known for their explosive live energy. Fronted by two lead vocalists, Sam Redgrove (also known as Teddy) and Malachi Freeman, whose contrasting female and male vocals help shape the band's sound, the group also features guitarists William Lyall and Anders Lee, bassist Minje Kim, and drummer Lucas Choi. The band initially formed when William and Malachi met in high school. William later connected with Anders and ...
READ MORE >Interviews
Shaun Garea: Soundtracking Fantasy Board Games
Shaun Garea was born in Cornwall, England some 40-odd years ago, moved to Aotearoa as a youngster and has since lived in Christchurch, Auckland and the Manawatū, where he has a small home studio. His musician aptitude is mainly synths and piano, but he also has experience as an indie filmmaker plus lots of other artistic, academic and professional skills. Shaun recently completed composing a soundtrack to a new board game called Dark Dungeons, part of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy franchise. The ...
READ MORE >NewTracks New Artist
NewTracks New Artist: Loa Loa
Their band photos are blurred and the online description helpfully starts, ‘The loa loa is a filarial nematode…’, indicating Loa Loa are quite private types and happy to keep the Dunedin band’s identity a little obscure for now. Jamming ‘some sort of post rock shoegaze’, most of their songs are EP length, however new 2026 single Always wriggled its way onto the NZ On Air Music May NewTracks compilation. Who is Loa Loa and where do you hail from? The Loa Loa members are George ...
READ MORE >Industry
Gokula Music in Newmarket, Auckland
In an era when so much buying and selling takes place online, it sounds almost fanciful to describe a local second-hand musical instrument store as jaw-dropping shopping, but Newmarket’s Gokula Music in central Tāmaki Makaurau well fits that description. Occupying a semi-basement space down a sloping driveway on the ‘wrong side’ of the inner-city suburb’s main drag, Gokula provides a rock’n’roll contrast to the glitz and glamour of the premium Westfield Newmarket shopping mall opposite. With ...
READ MORE >NewTracks New Artist
NewTracks New Artist: Silcrow
Heavy rock four-piece Silcrow have a discography dating back to 2020, but have been noticeably quiet on the singles front since releasing their self-titled debut album in 2024. They put that down to international plans that didn't quite pan out, and re-opened their account in 2026 with the powerful grunge statement of Unclean. The new single was included by NZ On Air Music on their May NewTracks compilation. Who are the Silcrow members and what instruments do you play? We have Lorenzo Hazelwood ...
READ MORE >Fresh Talent
Fresh Talent: Star
Growing up in a small coastal farming community just outside of Raglan, fledgling indie pop artist Star says she’s been singing for as long as she can remember. By the age of 15 Star Knuiman knew music was more than just a passion and started experimenting with writing songs, drawing from her own experiences, emotions, and the people around her. At school Star competed in Rockquest three years in a row, describing it as a really great learning experience and platform to gain confidence with performing. “It ...
READ MORE >On Foreign Soil
On Foreign Soil: Borderline Tour North America
For any band from NZ, touring North America is the dream. For Borderline that dream became reality in April 2026. The band - Ben Glanfield (guitar, vocals, keys), Jackson Boswell (drums, vocals), Matthew McFadden (lead guitar), and Max Harries (bass, sax) - embarked on a 14-date run across the United States and Canada, playing to a fan base that has been steadily building there over the last few years. The band’s first EP 'Perfect Movie Scene' landed on the North America College & Community ...
READ MORE >EVENTSMORE >
Event Guide
The Trusts Live! at Corban Estate in May
West Auckland organisation The Trusts (Portage Licensing Trust and Waitākere Licensing Trust), are joining in NZ Music Month with The Trusts Live!, five Saturday nights of live music in the intimate wine cellar at Corban Estate Arts Centre, Henderson. With a diverse line-up of local artists across funk, soul, electronic, hip hop, indie and more, The Trusts Live! programme will also shine a light on the emerging artists and sound engineers from Crescendo (the Henderson-based music programme supporting ...
READ MORE >News
2026 NZ Music Month Summit
The 2026 Official New Zealand Music Month Summit will be held on Saturday May 2nd, at The Tuning Fork in Parnell, Tāmaki Makaurau. Presented by MMF Aotearoa and the NZ Music Commission with support from other industry organisations, this year's summit centres on the theme of NZ Music Month 2026 ‘Our Sounds, Our Spaces’, celebrating our music and all the places it's made and enjoyed across Aotearoa - live music venues, community halls, schools, libraries, marae, public parks and all ages ...
READ MORE >Event Guide
Mauao Landslide Fundraiser, April 26
The Mount Maunganui music community will come together in a show of unity late April, with a landmark fundraising concert set to raise money for families affected by the tragic Mauao landslide. The event will be hosted by Totara Street live music venue in Mount Maunganui, and run from midday to 11pm on Sunday 26 April, 2026. Spanning two live stages and a DJ courtyard, the Mauao Landslide Fundraiser event will feature more than 25 local artists and acts. Tiki Taane headlines a bill that includes ...
READ MORE >