With the NZ Music Awards 2017 five months away, a number of category changes have been announced and nominations officially opened today.

Details and instructions on entry, as well as the terms and conditions can be found here.

To be eligible for judging, all nominations including any accompanying material must be with Recorded Music by August 2, 2017.

For any questions regarding the nominations process contact Sarah Leota.

Unless otherwise specified, awards are open to NZ artists who have had recordings commercially released in the 12 months between August 1, 2016 and July 31, 2017.

Categories in 2017 are

• Album of the Year
• Single of the Year
• Best Group
• Best Solo Artist
• Breakthrough Artist of the Year
• Best Maori Artist
• Best Rock Artist
• Best Hip Hop Artist
• Best Soul/RnB Artist
• Best Electronic Artist
• Best Roots Artist
• Best Pop Artist
• Best Alternative Artist
• Best Worship Artist
• Best Classical Artist.
• Best Producer
• Best Engineer
• Best Album Cover
• Best Music Video

The last four categories will be recognised at the Artisan Awards, which are a standalone event held prior to the Music Awards.

Changes

Coming off various debates following the 2016 ceremony there are some notable changes to award categories this year. The dropping of a Best Urban/Hip Hop Album award can be traced directly to Aaradhna‘s public declining of that Tui trophy last year, in which she pointed out she is neither an urban nor a hip hop artist. It has been replaced by two new Tui categories, Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist.

A matching trim back of Tui numbers has been achieved by replacing the previous Best Male Solo Artist plus Best Female Solo Artist awards with the gender-neutral new category of Best Solo Artist.

Recognising the many ways artists are now recording and releasing their music, all genre album categories (Best Rock, Best Pop, Best Alternative, Best Roots, Best Electronic, Best Worship, Best Classical, Best Hip Hop, Best Soul/RnB, Best Maori Album) will be renamed Best Artist. This means nominations can now be put forward if the artists have released an album, or a minimum of five single tracks (as long as they have not previously appeared on an album), all within the eligibility period.

Scheduled for November the 2017 NZ Music Awards will (awkward!) take place at Auckland’s Spark Arena