The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by
Recorded Music NZ
Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...
, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that a group or artist can receive in
New Zealand music, and have been presented annually since 1965. The awards show is presented by Recorded Music NZ. A range of award sponsors and media partners support the event each year.
History and overview
The first awards for New Zealand recorded music were the
Loxene Golden Disc awards, launched in 1965. The awards were created by soap powder manufacturer
Reckitt & Colman's advertising agency, with support from the
New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC), the New Zealand Federation of Phonographic Industries and the Australasian Performing Rights Society (APRA), with the awards named after Reckitt & Colman's anti-dandruff shampoo, Loxene.
While initially only one prize was given, other awards were added, including categories for record cover, recording artist of the year, and a producer award. From 1970, two awards were given - one to a solo artist, the other to a group however there was still just one supreme award, selected from these two.
The Loxene Golden Disc awards continued until 1972 when the New Zealand Federation of Phonographic Industry decided to institute its own system; these awards became known as the
Recording Arts Talent Awards (RATA). From 1978 the awards became known as the RIANZ Awards after the NZFPI changed its name to the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ).
In 1996 and 1997 the awards were merged with the Entertainer of the Year Awards and were known as the Clear Music and Entertainment Awards, sponsored by
Clear Communications. From 1998 the awards reverted to music only, with the name going back to the New Zealand Music Awards and the award trophy nicknamed the Tui. Also in 1999
Coca-Cola New Zealand became the naming rights sponsor of the awards, known as the Coca-Cola New Zealand Music Awards for one year only.
Since 2004, the show's principal sponsor has been
Vodafone New Zealand. With Vodafone's sponsorship, the awards became known as the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards (VNZMA's).
In 2008 the awards ceremony moved to
Vector Arena in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Prior to this move the event was primarily invitation only, and the increased size of the Vector Arena enabled the event to be attended both by invitation and by the public through sale tickets. While the Loxene Golden Disc award was televised in the 1970s, broadcasting of the contemporary award ceremony started in 2004.
In 2020, the awards were renamed the
Aotearoa Music Awards; its acronym doubly serves to mean a
waka's
outrigger
An outrigger is a projecting structure on a boat, with specific meaning depending on types of vessel. Outriggers may also refer to legs on a wheeled vehicle that are folded out when it needs stabilization, for example on a crane that lifts he ...
(''
ama'') reflecting the award's goal of supporting the local music industry.
New Zealand Music Hall of Fame
Created in 2007 in conjunction with the
Australasian Performing Right Association
APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...
(APRA), the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame pays tribute to those who have "shaped, influenced and advanced popular music in New Zealand." Two musicians or groups are inducted into the hall each year, one at the
APRA Silver Scroll Awards, decided by APRA, and the other is the winner of the Legacy Award at the Aotearoa Music Awards, selected by Recorded Music NZ.
Critics Choice award
Awarded from 2010 until 2016, the Critics' Choice Prize was given to artists who were expected to be successful in the music industry in the future. To be eligible for the award, an artist must have neither released a
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
nor have been nominated for a New Zealand Music Award in the past.
List of ceremonies
Winners by year
1965-1972
1973-1976
1978-current
*
Album of the Year
*
Single of the Year
*
Best Group
*
Best Solo Artist
*
Breakthrough Artist of the Year
*
Best Alternative Artist
*
Best Children's Album
*
Best Classical Artist
*
Best Country Album
*
Best Electronic Artist
*
Best Folk Album
The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the Folk music, folk genre. Honors ...
*
Best Hip Hop Artist and Best Soul/RnB Artist
*
Best Jazz Album
*
Best Māori Artist
*
Best Pacific Music Album
*
Best Pop Artist
*
Best Rock Artist
*
Best Roots Artist
*
Best Soul/RnB Artist
*
Best Worship Artist
*
Highest Selling New Zealand Artist
*
Radio Airplay Record of the Year
*
International Achievement
*
People's Choice Award
*
Critics' Choice Prize
*
Legacy Award
; Artisan Awards
*
Best Album Cover
*
Best Music Video
*
Best Engineer
*
Best Producer
References
* ''For The Record: a history of the recording industry in New Zealand'', B. Staff & S. Ashley, David Bateman, Auckland, 2002,
External links
NZ Music Awards websiteAudioCulture Loxene Golden Disc historyAudioCulture Music Awards History
{{Music awards
Music Awards, New Zealand
New Zealand music awards