November 28, 2023 /

Official NZ Music Charts moves to Friday publication

Beginning this Friday December 1, the weekly Official New Zealand Music Charts will be published at 4pm on Friday afternoons.

The Top 40 Albums and Singles Charts, along with a suite of other music charts, have been published at 10am on Saturday mornings since July 2019.

The return to a traditional Friday unveiling means the weekend can get off to the right start for the artists, labels and music fans waiting to hear where their latest releases have landed before heading home or setting up for Friday night shows.

It will also mean that the Official New Zealand Music Charts can go back to being the first national charts in the world to be published each week.

The prior decision to publish the Charts on Saturdays was dictated by the availability of data arriving from online platforms based in other time zones. Led by Director of Data & Analysis Paul Kennedy, the Charts and Data team has since been able to reduce delays and make system adjustments which now allow a faster rollout.

The Official NZ Music Charts have been an institution in Aotearoa since 1975 and are the only weekly snapshot of New Zealanders’ music consumption habits that takes into account physical and digital sales, audio and video streaming and in some cases – via the RadioScope charts – airplay, on all major platforms.

The weekly Charts will continue to be published at www.nztop40.co.nz. Nearly 50 years of Official Chart archives can be found there too.

Please direct any queries about the Official NZ Music Charts and/or submit data to the team via data@recordedmusic.co.nz

November 20, 2023 /

Aotearoa Music Awards return: Nominations now open for 2024

The next Aotearoa Music Awards will take place on Thursday 30 May 2024, at the Viaduct Events Centre in Tāmaki Makaurau – closing out Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa | New Zealand Music Month in style.

Nominations are now open and will close on 20 December 2023 at 5pm. The eligibility period for AMA 2024 is 1 August 2022-31 December 2023 (17 months), except for two categories. To complete the nomination process, click here.

The Aotearoa Music Awards is the annual showcase event for the music industry, celebrating artists and music from Aotearoa. The event recognises the biggest musical successes of the year while also providing a platform to promote emerging artists.

Grounded in nearly 60 years of history, AMA has evolved to reflect our unique cultural identity. It has launched music careers, told artists’ stories and created memorable moments. Recorded Music NZ produces the Aotearoa Music Awards and acts as its kaitiaki – preserving our musical heritage, celebrating the hits of today and paving the way for the artists of tomorrow.

We are excited to bring AMA back at a new time of year with the support of NZ On Air.

The Aotearoa Music Awards was paused in 2023, as we considered the outcomes of the review we undertook in 2022. It was important to us to engage with artists and the wider music community about the format, purpose and meaning of AMA. We interviewed and surveyed 350+ people who are actively working in music in Aotearoa, the majority of whom are artists and artist managers.

The message from the community was clear: the Aotearoa Music Awards is seen as essential, and aspirational for emerging artists. We heard strong support for our continuing commitment to embed te ao Māori and te reo and to reflect the unique cultural identity of Aotearoa.

There were, however, some calls to refresh our judging processes, and to communicate them more clearly and transparently. We have taken the time to do that work, and have taken steps to more actively promote diversity and inclusion across the judging process.

As a result of the review we have made a number of changes to the nomination and judging process for AMA 2024. Click here for the full updated Terms & Conditions and a summary of the changes.

We’re also excited to announce a fresh format for next year’s event. AMA 2024 will consist of two connected ceremonies, the AMA 24 Opening Ceremony and AMA 24 Showcase, awarding more than 20 Tūī (awards) in total:

  • The AMA 24 Opening Ceremony will take place prior to the AMA 24 Showcase, at a venue within the same precinct. The Opening Ceremony will include presentations of 15 genre and artisan Tūī, featuring what we heard was important to artists: each winner will have the chance to accept their award and thank their whānau and teams in front of their peers. Artists will then walk the red carpet into the Showcase as winners, and be celebrated for their achievements along the way. Video content highlights from the Opening Ceremony will feature in the Showcase. All awards to be presented at the AMA 24 Opening Ceremony are listed here
  • The AMA 24 Showcase will be a stylish in-room experience that celebrates NZ’s leading artists. It will be short and sharp, featuring musical performances and high production values. The Showcase will be filmed to create quality shortform content for media and artists to share across their online platforms, maximising promotional opportunities. All awards to be presented at the AMA 24 Showcase are listed here

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More information about AMA 2024 will be released in early 2024. For now, save the date. We look forward to celebrating together!

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About Aotearoa Music Awards
The Aotearoa Music Awards is the annual showcase event for the music industry, celebrating artists and music from Aotearoa. The event recognises the biggest musical successes of the year while also providing a platform to promote emerging artists. Grounded in nearly 60 years of history, the Aotearoa Music Awards has evolved to reflect our unique cultural identity. It has launched music careers, told artists’ stories and created memorable moments.

Recorded Music NZ produces the Aotearoa Music Awards and acts as its kaitiaki – preserving our musical heritage, celebrating the hits of today and paving the way for the artists of tomorrow.

Additional assets
Access Word docs and artwork here

Nomination process enquiries:
Sarah Owen
Artist & Event Liaison
ama@recordedmusic.co.nz
+64 9 361 6871

Communications & media enquiries:
Sarah Illingworth
Communications Specialist
sarah.illingworth@recordedmusic.co.nz
+64 20 4138 7432

September 14, 2023 /

Changes to Music Grants Programme in 2024

Recorded Music offers Music Grants for projects related to recorded music, to support development in the music community. The programme makes a small number of contestable grants available to specific, non-commercial projects that are educational, archival or charitable in nature.We are making some changes to the Music Grants programme to better align with the kinds of applications we are seeing and the pool of funds available. The changes are:

  • There will be only two rounds of grant funding available in 2024, with application deadlines of 31 March (decision notified by 30 April) and 30 September (decision notified by 31 October)
  • Grants will only be available for projects with a budget of $5k. We will not be offering grants for less or more than this sum

There will be one more grant funding round in 2023. The application deadline is 30 September (decision to be notified by 31 October 2023). There will be no grant round in December 2023.Please be reminded that to be considered for a Music Grant your project must be:

  • Specific and non-commercial
  • Educational, archival/conservation or charitable in nature
  • Led by a resident of Aotearoa

View the full eligibility criteria and grant parameters, and download an application form herePlease note there have been some changes to the programme Terms & Conditions, so be sure to check the updated version of these, as annexed in the application form.Music Grants applications are reviewed and successful grant recipients decided by a funding panel of artist members, who also sit as Recorded Music’s Artists Committee. In 2022 we supported 17 projects, including Girls Rock! Aotearoa, the Official NZ Music Month Summit, and the Dunedin Fringe Arts Trust Amped Music Project. View the full list herePlease direct any queries related to the Music Grants programme to rochelle@recordedmusic.co.nz

September 11, 2023 /

Paul Kennedy & Dean Cameron promoted to new roles at Recorded Music NZ

Recorded Music NZ is pleased to announce well-deserved promotions for longstanding senior staff members Paul Kennedy and Dean Cameron.

Paul Kennedy is stepping up to the new role of Director of Data and Analysis. In his new role Paul will provide advice and strategic leadership for Recorded Music to improve and grow its data management, reporting, systems and analysis and will continue to lead the Data Services team.

To support Paul in stepping up to this role, we are looking to recruit a new staff member – Data Specialist – to join the team in Tāmaki Makaurau, learn the ropes from Paul and take on many of the day-to-day data-related tasks. The role will be advertised later this week. Alongside this change, Phil Matcham, Manager – Official NZ Music Charts will be taking on more of the day-to-day operational work to produce the Official Charts, reporting in to Paul.

Paul has been compiling the Official Charts since 2002 and currently holds the position of GM Data, which has been in place since he joined Recorded Music as an employee back in 2011, when Recorded Music acquired Paul’s business, Media Sauce. The tasks expected of that role have been many and varied and have increased exponentially over time – ranging from day-to-day data ingestion and processing to providing regular reporting for right holders and industry organisations, as well as the weekly Official Charts and RadioScope Charts. Paul continues to be a much-valued source of knowledge for Recorded Music and its stakeholders – artists and right holders, DSPs and data providers, label staff, artist managers and radio programmers.

Dean Cameron is stepping up to the role of Director Member Services and Distribution. Dean has been with Recorded Music for over 20 years, most recently as Member Services Manager, and is responsible for the most important thing we do – getting money out to right holders and recording artists. Since Dean started with us, Recorded Music’s membership has grown massively and now numbers over 3000 right holders and over 4000 individual recording artists, meaning Dean’s role has grown and changed with our membership and evolution in the music business. Dean will be leading work over the next two years to update and transform Recorded Music’s systems to improve and streamline distributions. Rochelle Stables will continue her Member Services role supporting Dean and liaising with artists and right holders.

Recorded Music’s data work is supported by Data Systems Developer Tony Simmis, who built many of the bespoke systems we use to manage data, and who works to maintain the systems and develop automated tools and reporting. Rachel Mackie assists with data matching tasks, with a focus on student and iwi radio reporting, alongside her Admin Services role. Recorded Music’s operations are overseen by Loren Midlane, who is our Head of Finance and Operations and part of the senior management team alongside Head of Legal and Business Affairs, Christy Whelan.

We are pleased to congratulate Paul and Dean on their well-deserved promotions, and look forward to having the enhanced team in place to help us continue to improve and modernise Recorded Music’s operations. For more on the members of our full team, go to Our People.

September 7, 2023 /

2023 NZ Music Industry Manifesto | Te Pae Ahumahi Puoro O Aotearoa

Recorded Music NZ, APRA AMCOS and the New Zealand Music Commission have collaborated on a NZ Music Industry Manifesto | Te Pae Ahumahi Puoro O Aotearoa ahead of the 2023 General Election. The Manifesto is supported by a cohort of industry partners, including Independent Music NZ, MusicHelps, Music Managers Forum Aotearoa, Music Producers Guild NZ, and Save Our Venues.

The document highlights the significant contribution the local music industry makes to New Zealand’s economy as well as its culture, and asks the next government to invest in the sustainability of Aotearoa music by supporting local artists and industry to thrive both in the current economic context and in the longer term. We are calling on the next government to partner with us in a multi-year, appropriately resourced strategy to grow the industry and strengthen pathways for export and international success for our artists, and with an ongoing commitment to safe and equitable workplaces.

To do this we are focused on three key areas:

  1. DEVELOPMENT: Investing in the talent pipeline
  2. MARKET SETTINGS: Creating the conditions for music to thrive
  3. EXPORT: Growing and strengthening the pathways for international success

Get the full Manifesto
Get the short version

July 11, 2023 /

2023 distribution – please invoice

Recipients of our 2023 distribution have been advised. Artists can now access their direct-to-recording artist statements via the online portal.

This distribution represents licensing income collected in 2022 and we’re pleased to report that we have sustained the progress made in 2021. We’ve also connected with more local artists and are paying out against more Aotearoa recordings than ever before.

If you’re yet to invoice us, please do! If you’d like to register with Recorded Music ahead of the 2024 payout you can do so here.

July 6, 2023 /

PWC Report: Music industry contributed $720 million to NZ GDP in 2021 & 2022

Recorded Music NZ has released the report on the Economic Contribution of the Music Industry in 2021 and 2022. The report was commissioned by Recorded Music NZ with the support of APRA AMCOS and The NZ Music Commission and conducted by PWC. The report combines two years of data, sourced from Recorded Music and APRA. There was no report in 2022.

The report reveals that in 2022 the Aotearoa music industry contributed $720 million to Aotearoa GDP after accounting for multiplier effects. It directly employed around 2,250 people in full-time equivalent jobs (FTEs).

The findings show a continued impact of COVID-19. Between 2019 and 2021, the industry’s economic contribution decreased year-on-year, primarily due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular on live performance revenue and overseas income. Radio broadcasting revenues decreased initially but have since recovered to 2019 levels.

In 2022, GDP contributions increased relative to 2021, driven by streaming and overseas earnings. Overall, the retail sub-sector has continued to grow, driven by continued growth in streaming revenues and possibly also bolstered by changes to consumer behaviour associated with “lockdown life.”

Download the report

June 22, 2023 /

Mark Roach to depart in July

One of Recorded Music NZ’s longest-serving staff members will be leaving his role with us next month. Special Projects and Marketing Manager, Mark Roach has been with the company for 18 years and is leaving to focus on his creative agency, Muse Creative.

“I’m immensely proud of the work I’ve undertaken in my time here, and the legacy of the mahi which continues to serve our incredible music community,” says Mark. “I also want to say what a pleasure it has been to work with so many wonderful people at Recorded Music NZ and our many partner organisations.”

Since first arriving as Business Development Manager in 2005, Mark has worked across all facets of the company. His creative vision has supported the company’s brand evolution, notably creating the branding for the company’s transition to Recorded Music NZ. Mark has also designed collateral for the Aotearoa Music Awards for over a decade, has overseen The Artists’ Tūī and Tūī Music Series programs and created the design for The Official NZ Music Charts.

Mark has made a unique contribution to music heritage projects. He developed the branding and website for the NZ Music Hall of Fame and spearheaded the exhibition Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa at Auckland Museum which remains one of the best attended exhibitions in that institution’s history. The exhibition can still be visited digitally here. In addition as part of Recorded Music’s ongoing work to get more local music online, Mark has digitally restored over 800 Aotearoa album covers for recordings that are now available on streaming platforms.

As part of his role Mark also provided branding, design and website support for music sector charities SoundCheck Aotearoa and MusicHelps, and designed a range of posters and visual resources for SoundCheck Aotearoa.

Last but certainly not least, Mark was responsible for bringing the global award-winning Auckland City of Music office to life, and has undertaken an array of projects under this banner including the Music in Venues and Young Gig Makers grants, gender-equality project Equaliser, Songlines music heritage trails, as well as supporting initiatives such as SyncPosium, Young At Art and From The Pit.

A massive thank you from the team at Recorded Music for Mark’s many years of service, and we look forward to working with him in future on an independent contractor basis.

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