Anna van Riel’s music career by now spans over two decades, but having spent the past 10 years or so focused on recording children’s music, along with writing and performing an environmental rock opera ...
READ MORE >Karl Sölve Steven will need little introduction to most NZM readers. Energised frontman of Supergroove in the late 1990s (and again since the band reformed a decade after), Steven went on to make music ...
READ MORE >Auckland's SAE Creative Media Institute has announced the launch of a new Graduate Diploma in Creative Business, designed to inspire and equip Aotearoa’s next generation of creative professionals and entrepreneurs. Responding to growing demand for creatives who can turn ideas into sustainable careers, the Graduate Diploma in Creative Business builds essential entrepreneurial, strategic, and commercial skills tailored to the creative industries. The programme will empower creatives to confidently ...
READ MORE >Results of the November 2025 Waiata Takitahi funding round have been announced with 15 waiata to benefit from grants of up $15,000 per single, to be released in the coming year. Waiata Takitahi looks to support bilingual waiata that has great broadcast and online audience potential, and incorporates a minimum 25% te reo Māori in the song lyrics. It is an annual Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air co-funded music round. The judging panel included Ani-Piki Tuari (freelance), Kara Rickard (RNZ), Moana ...
READ MORE >Play It Strange has announced a second season of their podcast series launching on November 24, with new episodes every Monday. The 10-episode podcast On The Record with Chaii, will be hosted by artist, producer and Play It Strange alumni Chaii. On The Record with Chaii speaks on different perspectives of the music industry and aims to educate and entertain, acting as a resource for emerging musicians, helping them navigate the industry and their careers - from songwriting tips to live performance ...
READ MORE >Christchurch's SOLE Music Academy has announced a new Hybrid Online Learning Option is being made available for their 2026 Artist Development Programme, commencing 26 January 2026, enhanced with the opportunity of an Emerging Artist Scholarship to attend. Designed for young creatives aged 17 years and up, SOLE’s Artist Development Programme supports talented singers, songwriters, producers, and bands ready to kickstart their music careers. Led by platinum award-winning neo-soul artist Sacha ...
READ MORE >There’s A Tuesday seem to have an uncanny knack for generating attention, without necessarily intending to. 2025 has been a year in which the band released their debut full album, and appeared on stages in all manner of places, including South Korea. Guitarist Nat Hutton and drummer Gus Murray looked back over the year with NZM. When the Ōtautahi dream-pop band initially made waves in public they were named There’s A Tuesday Between A Monday And Between A Wednesday – a poster-filling hazard ...
READ MORE >Lily Stiven isn’t mucking around. Releasing her first single of the ’25 year (williams tragedy) in May, she followed that up with two more by October, her own genre description changing up in the process, from indie-pop/folk to indie-pop/R&B. “At the moment I’m not too worried about having a set genre! Personally I listen to so many different genres in my everyday life and am really inspired by a variety of artists, so it’s hard to pin down one genre. In saying that, my number one ...
READ MORE >As Programme Manager of Southern Institute of Technology’s (SIT) contemporary music and audio production courses, Antonio Mercuri took the opportunity of 2025’s record-shattering Oasis reunion gigs to develop some first-hand content and industry observations for the school’s 2026 contextual-studies paper. He shares a little of his New York concert ‘research’ experience with NZM. In a current industry model that is mostly saturated by AI musical artifacts, algorithms writing melodies, ...
READ MORE >These days living in Auckland, producer/rapper JosiahXVI (Josiah Ioane) grew up in Timaru, later heading north to Wellington in order to have a crack at Massey University’s Commercial Music course. Even now the 23-year old artist isn’t sure if he ever thought he’d see the music degree through, the goal was really more about networking. In the event he gave up on studies after the first year, and has since balanced music making with 9-5 employment. Josiah has been making music since he ...
READ MORE >Nurtured as an artist in a small urban township, 25-year old country pop artist Jenni Smith is now a uni-graduated singer-songwriter who happily embraces the girl-next-door image with her straightforward, and fun, songwriting. Building momentum towards a debut album release in 2026, her latest single Shopping was funded by NZ On Air Music and included on the December NewTracks compilation. Shopping by Jenni Smith What’s your given name and where do you live? Jenni Smith. I was born in Auckland ...
READ MORE >Merv Pinny bought his first guitar at 10, and five decades on it’s evident that making music is still what he most loves to do. 2025 sees him releasing ‘Hard Road’, remarkably only his second album in a career studded with numerous globally successful singles. Musical success can be hard to measure, but being a five-time semi-finalist of the Nashville-based International Songwriting Competition points to the fact he knows how to write a very good tune. Pinny talked with Richard Thorne ahead ...
READ MORE >Having not long settled into the Pōneke scene as a four-piece, alt-rock outfit Dropper released a striking debut album titled ‘Be a Little Kinder’ in November 2025. The album’s propulsive opening track and focus single Anchor sets the tone, feeling, as vocalist Jude Savage describes it, “…like a whole lot of bottled-up feelings being released”. NZ On Air Music included Anchor on the December NewTracks compilation and he kindly answered NZM’s questions. Be a Little Kinder ...
READ MORE >Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and musician Gregory Alan Isakov returns for two NZ gigs this February, ahead of the Australian leg of his ‘Appaloosa Bones’ tour – which has already sold out in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. Performing in an intimate acoustic format the theatre shows will offer audiences a special opportunity to experience stripped-down acoustic arrangements of favourites from Isakov’s studio albums; ‘Appaloosa Bones’, ‘Evening Machines’, ‘The ...
READ MORE >Eclectic local electronic music artists MxDicey, Talmar and Vanessa Tottle are touring the country in March (and the last day of February) as the energising force Soundscape Sirens. Their 2026 four-date NZ tour promises to bring even more deeper, sonic soundscapes from this trio of Kiwi beat makers. Together with local support acts the three artists are planning on leaving you wanting more, clutching your chest as the 808s and synth waves wash over you - taking you out to sea. Heed the Sirens’ call! Step ...
READ MORE >Party Of Special Things To Do is a community focused adventurous music festival occurring in Ōtautahi most years since 2017. This year’s concerts will take place on February 7 and 8, two days of adventurous music and deep listening including a deep listening wananga, led by Mahina Kingi-Kaui. The festival brings together local and international artists from diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The 2026 programme will feature some artists encountering each other in performance for the ...
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