NSL and Shure New Zealand have announced the winners of the 2024 Shure Next Extraordinary Sound competition, which was a feature promotion of NZ Music Month 2024.

The three winners are:

• Effervescent NZ/Indian pop artist and songwriter Ashy.
• Filiva’a James, vocalist for Shepherds Reign, the award-winning South Auckland band known for their unique fusion of traditional Polynesian sounds and heavy metal. 
• Producer, vocalist and dark experimental pop music producer Lola. 

The judging panel included artist and producer Tiki Taane, Marcus Powell (Blindspott, Crescendo Trust), and John Faulding (Lost Vessels, NSL). This is the second time NSL has run the Next Extraordinary Sound campaign to find talented NZ representatives for the Shure brand.

The winners in 2022/23 were Cory Newman (Sit Down In Front), Rebel Reid (Valkyrie), Reshma Martin and Thabani Gapara. NSL received over 300 entries from a diversity of talented artists, with the youngest entrant just eight years old and the oldest over 80. A Spotify playlist has been curated to showcase some of the awesome submissions from artists.

“The standard of entries was incredibly high, so judging was not easy,” says John Faulding. “All three artists we chose had a combination of stunning production, authentic engagement with fans, and original style which represents Shure’s Extraordinary Sound. Congratulations to these incredible artists and thank you to all our entrants from around NZ.”