NewTracks New Artist: Lottie
2025 has been a productive year for richly-voiced Tāmaki Makaurau pop artist Lottie, with four singles released and her first ever Australian show. Lottie has an extensive background in dance ...
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Hiva Folau Vaka: Revitalising Pacific Languages in Song
Hiva Folau Vaka - Vaka Carrying Music is a legacy project for the Pacific Music Awards Trust, an album of songs developed to highlight and aid the revitalisation of at-risk Pacific languages. The ...
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NewTracks New Artist: Goodspace
Shape-shifting Tāmaki Makaurau artist Goodspace has always been a project of multiple collaborations and forms, Jefferson Chen performing as a soloist or indie band, composing for immersive theatre and ...
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Hybrid Online Artist Development Programme for SOLE Music Academy in 2026
SOLE Music Academy has announced a new Hybrid Online Learning Option is available for the 2026 Artist Development Programme, which will commence on 26 January 2026. Also just announced is an opportunity ...
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News
Waiata Takitahi 2025 Funding Decisions
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 ...
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Play It Strange Launch Podcast Series with Chaii
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 ...
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SOLE Music Academy Add Online Learning Option for 2026
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 ...
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First New Music Project Touring Fund Recipients Announced
The first recipients of NZ On Air’s New Music Project Touring (NMPT) fund have been announced, with 10 solo artists and 10 groups each receiving grants of up to $50,000, covering up to 50% of the related eligible touring costs. This first pilot round attracted 36 applications with 20 artists receiving funding from a total available pool of $500,000. The announcement including news that the NMPT fund will return in 2026. Announced in July the NMPT fund was designed to help local acts take ...
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NewTracks New Artist
NewTracks New Artist: Double Parked
Hailing from the bush and black sand beaches of west Tāmaki Makaurau, Double Parked is a community – as the band like to describe it. The indie rock five-piece bring lost-in-the-groove post-surf tunes, alongside emotive alt-rock ballads about the troubles of life. ‘I'm finding it hard/ just waiting for my efforts/ to be reflected’ they sing on recent single Necklace, which was included on NZ On Air Music’s November NewTracks compilation. Who are Double Parked? Where are you all from ...
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Theia: Twisting The Trope
From the glossy electropop of 2016 breakout single Roam to the sharp-edged hyperpop of ‘99% Angel’ EP, to the soft, organic reo Māori of her side project TE KAAHU, Em-Haley Walker’s artistry has evolved considerably over the past decade. ‘Girl, In A Savage World,’ Walker’s long-anticipated debut album as the artist Theia pushes that evolution still further. Melding folk, electropop and her Māori roots, the album sees Theia finding her own unique and purposeful voice. She talked with ...
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Coast Arcade: Delivery on Debut
Added to successful tours of both the South and North Islands, Coast Arcade have in recent months played two showcases at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND industry event, along with headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney – building to the October release of their debut album ‘Coast Arcade’. Odessa Neilands talked mid-tour with the Auckland rock band’s songwriters, Bella Bavin and Leo Spykerman. Coast Arcade’s debut album is sensibly self-titled. The straight rock grooves from drummer Thom Boynton, ...
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NewTracks New Artist: Christabel
The name will take many Kiwi readers back to 2021, and the NZ Popstars TV series that saw Christabel Williams announced as grand prize winner. Now recording as Christabel she released her debut album ‘INTUITION’ in October this year, including the single Done For, which was included on NZ On Air Music's October NewTracks compilation. Where were you born, and where are you living now? I was born in National Women’s Hospital in Greenlane! I lived most of my life in Howick, Auckland ...
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Michaela Tempers: Experiments in Self-Compassion
Drawing threads from legend, current friendships and religion, the six songs on Michaela Tempers’ ‘Good Woman’ EP bridge contemporary and classic folk styles. Rich with meaning and coloured by excellent musicians, they creatively reflect life’s challenges, her sincerity leavened by wit and uniquely dynamic constructs. The Te Whanganui-a-Tara writer and musician talked with Richard Thorne. Michaela Tempers recorded and independently released her first EP over a decade ago, then in her early ...
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Fresh Talent: Myah Eve
In mid-October developing Ōtautahi-based dark pop artist Myah Eve released Layers, a haunting piano ballad that comes from a space where hurt and healing meet. The live music video that followed a few weeks after further reveals her soaring, emotive vocal range, reflecting the single’s empowering theme of the transformative power of being truly seen and loved unconditionally. Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, Eve (Myah Somers) has been immersed in music since childhood, writing songs, performing ...
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Baby Zionov: Heartfelt with Cheese
Since first emerging in 2018, Aaliyah ‘Baby’ Zionov has been a growing and active presence in Aotearoa’s underground electronica scene. The Tāmaki Makaurau DJ and ‘happy-hardcore’ electronic producer’s second album, ‘Raceways Of My Heart,’ is an effervescently melodic and visual offering, further showcasing that Baby Zionov (she/her) brings something quite new to the table. Nur Peach talked with her about laying tracks for the raceway. Raceways Of My Heart by Baby Zionov Born ...
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Event Guide
Dani Josie – The Suckerpunch Spring Tour
Wellington pop-punk artist Dani Josie is stepping into the spotlight with her first-ever headline tour. The SUCKERPUNCH Spring Tour will hit Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Auckland this September and October, with special guest Emerson joining the run. Tickets are available at danijosie.com
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Wellington Jazz Festival Returns in October
From 15-19 October, the annual Wellington Jazz Festival returns to the capital with a powerhouse programme of internationally acclaimed artists making their Aotearoa debuts, leading homegrown musicians, and fresh new music. More than 100 gigs will take over Te Whanganui-a-Tara, transforming the city with the sounds of jazz - soul, swing, funk, and everything in between. Featuring some of the finest musicians from across Aotearoa and around the globe, for 2025 the festival’s First Release acts will ...
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Bic Runga & the Auckland Phil in Concert
Bic Runga & the Auckland Phil will be together in concert at the Aotea Centre, Saturday September 6. One of Aotearoa’s most highly awarded and cherished recording artists, Bic Runga's iconic tracks have woven themselves into the country’s cultural tapestry for more than two decades. This extraordinary concert will feature a soul-stirring performance of her greatest hits, with a setlist including beloved classics like Something Good, Precious Things and Bursting Through, re-imagined with ...
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