Independent Music NZ (IMNZ) has announced the eight finalists for the Taite Music Prize 2018. 

• Aldous Harding – ‘Party’
• Fazerdaze – ‘Morningside’
• Grayson Gilmour – ‘Otherness’
• Kane Strang – ‘Two Hearts and No Brain’
• Mermaidens – ‘Perfect Body’
• Nadia Reid – ‘Preservation’
• Teeks – ‘The Grapefruit Skies’ 
• The Bads – ‘Losing Heroes’

Now in its ninth year, the Taite Music Prize recognises outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one recording which will be announced at a presentation at The Civic’s Wintergarden in Auckland on April 17 2018.

Also awarded on the night will be the Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award and the Best Independent Debut Award, celebrating the new local talent.

Named after the late Dylan Taite, one of New Zealand’s most respected music journalists, the prize-winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 to be spent as they wish.

The finalists for the Best Independent Debut award are:

• Kendall Elise – ‘I Didn’t Stand A Chance’
• L.A.B. – ‘L.A.B.’
• Strangely Arousing – ‘Strangely Arousing’
• Daniel McClellant: ‘Anxious Heart’
• The Miltones – ‘The Miltones’