Playlists are both the convenient digital-era version of lovingly shared mixtapes, and an efficient promotion mechanism for artists – and for the millions compiling them for any variety of other reasons. Still, ...
READ MORE >Auckland student radio station 95bFM has announced it will relocate to K’Rd by the end of July 2026, marking a major new chapter in the station’s nearly six-decade history. Moving to Karangahape ...
READ MORE >NZ On Air has announced results of the New Music Pan-Asian 2026 Funding round, with 20 Pan-Asian artists to be supported with up to $11,000 for the recording, video content, and promotion costs of their new song. The round received 77 eligible applications,and the recipients represent a wide spectrum of Asian identities, including local artists hailing from Armenia, China, India, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Among the 20 successful songs, ...
READ MORE >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 >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 >Recorded Music NZ have announced Che Fu as the 2026 NZ Music Hall of Fame inductee. Che will be formally inducted into Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa | the NZ Music Hall of Fame at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards, on Thursday 28 May. A pioneer of conscious hip hop in Aotearoa, Che Fu (Che Ness) is of Niuean and Māori descent, and weaves Pasifika and te ao Māori through his recordings in a truly unique way. Born and raised in Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau, he is one of the most significant ...
READ MORE >Tehran Don (aka T.DON) was writing poetry from a young age, and fell in love with hip hop early on – listening to underground artists in his homeland of Iran, where rap music is illegal. Tehran (Saman Tehrani) came to Aotearoa as a refugee at nine, and with exposure to how broad the genre is in English he embraced hip hop even more. “I love the art form, and work every day to better myself in the craft.” Now in his mid-20s, the Auckland artist has been releasing music under various names ...
READ MORE >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 >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 month-long Angel’s Calling Tour of northern Europe and the UK. Vocalist Michael Murphy provided NZM with this entertaining early part-of-the-tour guide. In 2023 Written By Wolves made our first trip to Europe and the UK, headlining a whirlwind 12-show tour through the continent. It was an incredibly ...
READ MORE >Zentarge is the soulful, reggae/RnB combo of brothers Mana and Hau, who've likely been playing up together since birth. From busking covers as kids in the Far North, the duo now in their early 20s are building towards the release of their debut album in July 2026. Expressing quiet resolveTall Poppy was a first building block towards the album release, and was included by NZ On Air Music on their May NewTracks compilation. What are your names and where are you from? We’re brothers; Te Manawanui ...
READ MORE >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 >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 >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 >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 >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 >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 ...
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