THE AUDIO MUSIC EXPO

The Audio Music Expo is New Zealand's first premier Expo dedicated to the Audio, Music industry.

The Expo will be the Hub that helps bring together all different aspects of both industries to one central location based over two days. 

Over the two days, the Expo is setting up to showcase Recording Equipment, Education, Instruments, Audio Accessories to Radio Stations, Record Stores, Record Labels, Recording Studios, Funding associations and much more all followed up by the chance to meet some of New Zealand's top Artists and Performers.

With a variety of different sized stands, we hope to offer the chance for everyone to showcase themselves whether you're a Street Performer, Searching for work in the Industry, In a Band, to Building and Selling your own Instruments, Private Tuition, Workshops and so on.

With New Zealand Artists winning Grammy Awards, Breaking no.1 Single Chart Records to having one of the World's Leading Music Software companies. I wanted to help others get noticed and give them the chance to showcase their ideas and talent. This also gives the opportunity for the larger companies to reveal to the public a new release or an upcoming product.
 

Keep update to date with the latest news on what is happening with the Audio Music Expo through our website and social media pages.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Snapchat | Linkedin

If you're looking to become an exhibitor or have a general interest in the two-day event, please feel free to contact us.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE PACIFIC MUSIC AWARDS OPEN NOW

The Pacific Music Awards Trust proudly announce the details for the 2017 Pacific Music Awards:

· Awards ceremony date and venue: Thursday 1 June, Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland
· Nominations for all the entered award categories are now open – and are due by Tuesday 7 February

The 2017 Pacific Music Awards provide the opportunity to celebrate the music released in 2016 and to acknowledge the amazing talent of all our Pacific music artists. The Trustees are looking forward to planning the celebration of Pacific music and to sharing this with you, so please save this date!

Pacific artists who have released singles, EPs or albums for sale during 1 January – 31 December 2016, will be eligible. To confirm an artist’s eligibility, please read the 2017 PMA Terms and Conditions document

All nominations are completed online and can be submitted by the artist or their representative.

The entered categories for 2017 are confirmed as the following:
· Best Pacific Group
· Best Pacific Female Artist
· Best Pacific Male Artist
· Best Pacific Language
· Best Pacific Song
· Best Pacific Music Video
· Best Pacific Gospel Artist
· Best Pacific Urban Artist
· Best Producer
· Best International Pacific Artist
· Best Pacific Music Album (nb: NZ Music Award ‘Tui’)

To obtain more information about the nomination process and obtain login details for the online system, please email: info@pacificmusicawards.org.nz

If you have any questions about the Pacific Music Awards or the nomination process, please contact them at info@pacificmusicawards.org.nz. For more details about the awards, please go to: www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz

2017 NEW ZEALAND JAZZ AWARDS HEAD TO WELLINGTON

The 2017 New Zealand Jazz Awards are heading to the capital, in a new partnership with the Wellington Jazz Festival, 7-11 June.

Presented by music industry representatives APRA AMCOS New Zealand and Recorded Music New Zealand, the annual awards recognise exceptional talent within Aotearoa’s busy jazz scene. Past winners include Nathan Haines and Rodger Fox’s Wellington Jazz Orchestra.

“The Wellington Jazz Festival is the very epicentre of New Zealand’s vibrant jazz music scene,” explains Anthony Healey, Head of New Zealand Operations for APRA AMCOS. “We’re excited that this year’s Awards will recognise New Zealand’s best jazz musicians amongst the world-class line up of artists and performers that make the Wellington Jazz Festival such a wonderful experience.”

Damian Vaughan, CEO of Recorded Music New Zealand agrees “With the enthusiastic support of Aotearoa’s jazz community, we’re very pleased to be able to bring the New Zealand Jazz Awards to Wellington and celebrate with our talented jazz composers and artists in 2017.”

The annual Wellington Jazz Festival has a growing reputation as New Zealand’s leading contemporary jazz festival, heating up the capital with a mid-winter culture hit. In 2016 more than 25,000 people attended 140 free and paid events, including sold-out international headliners Wayne Shorter Quartet and Snarky Puppy.

Shelagh Magadza, artistic director of the Wellington Jazz Festival says “We feel hugely privileged that the Wellington Jazz Festival enjoys such strong support from the local jazz community. So we are rapt to be in a position to return the favour by joining forces with the New Zealand Jazz Awards in 2017.”

Entries for both the APRA Best Jazz Composition award and Recorded Music New Zealand Best Jazz Album award are now open, and close on Monday 13 February 2017.

The 2017 Wellington Jazz Festival line-up will be announced from 9 March 2017 at www.jazzfestival.co.nz.

THE TAITE MUSIC PRIZE 2017 - NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!

Independent Music NZ is proud to announce that nominations are now open for the Taite Music Prize 2017 - one of the most prestigious music events on our nations calendar.

Named after the late Dylan Taite, one of the country's most highly respected music journalists, this will be the eighth year for the award. The Taite Music Prize's purpose is to recognise outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one album. The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, to be spent as they wish – with thanks to Founding Partner of the Taite Music Prize Recorded Music NZ. Additionally through the support of Red Bull Studios Auckland, the winner receives recording time at the Auckland studios, alongside a years supply of Red Bull product.

Acknowledging originality, creativity and musicianship regardless of sales figures or genre, the Taite Music Prize was established to champion the finest release by a New Zealand artist or group – the previous winners have all been excellent albums that demonstrate these criteria well.

The overall winner will be announced at a presentation in a lavish new hosting venue on Tuesday 18th April 2017. Alongside the main prize, there are two additional awards to be given out at the ceremony in 2017: the already established Independent Music NZ Classic Record and a newly-created award that celebrates the freshest talent of Aotearoa. We'll have more details for you about the new award and entry details when everyone is back from the beach - more news on that very soon!

All event nominations close 5.00pm on 7th February 2017.

For more details on specific eligibility and nomination forms please visit: http://www.indies.co.nz.

Previous Taite Music Prize winners are:

2010 - Lawrence Arabia Chant Darling (Honorary Bedouin Records)

2011 - Ladi6 - The Liberation Of (What? Music)

2012 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Seeing Records)

2013 – SJD - Elastic Wasteland (Round Trip Mars)

2014 – Lorde - Pure Heroine (Universal Music NZ)

2015 – Jakob – Sines (Shoot The Freak)

2016 – Silicon - Personal Computer (Weird World/Domino Recordings)

Previous Independent Music NZ Classic Record recipients are:

2013 - Gordons – Gordons (Flying Nun)

2014 - AK79 – Various (Ripper Records)

2015 - Herbs – What’s Be Happen? (Warrior Records)

2016 – Upper Hutt Posse – E T? (Jayrem Records)

AMPLIFIER IS BACK - BIGGER, BETTER, AND BOLDER!

The groundbreaking Kiwi music initiative Amplifier has relaunched with a fresh focus that ups the ante on taking local talent to the world and re-establishes itself as a finger-on-the-pulse tastemaker worth following.
 
Set up in 1999 as the home of music in Aotearoa, Amplifier ceased website sales a year ago. Following a revamp and incorporation of sibling operation theaudience, the best New Zealand music will now be showcased through steaming audio platforms, starting with Spotify. It also expands its scope internationally - both in reach and in the artists it covers.
 
It begins with two curated Spotify playlists:

AMPLIFIER BUZZ

AMPLIFIER BUZZ is the place to find the brightest emerging local and international artists creating a stir in the industry. This unique playlist will be updated every two weeks. 
 
Follow here:
https://open.spotify.com/user/amplaylister/playlist/72qLRHQpf6O9VuLluqEQbd
 

theaudience HOT

theaudience HOT is the home of bubbling Kiwi talent, whether new to the scene or already established. Covering a wide range of genres, this playlist will be updated every week.
 
Follow here:
https://open.spotify.com/user/amplaylister/playlist/3DnRLdN1etauocIOZLSE7t

This revamp also sees the return of both platforms popular newsletters, now combined. With updates on the best new music from across the board, the newsletter will now be issued on a monthly basis and can be subscribed to here: http://www.amplifier.co.nz
 
It’s an exciting new chapter for the independent initiatives, which have worked with more than 3000 artists over a 17-year history. Cementing long-lasting relationships with musicians and labels, Amplifier has proudly represented many household names, from Fat Freddy's Drop to Savage, and Dave Dobbyn to Tiki Taane.

Collectively the two services have also worked with up-and-coming acts now forging paths in the local industry and on the international scene, such as Theia, Name UL, Shakes, Nomad, Louis Baker, Rousseau and many more.
 
On expanding into playlist curation, content manager Andy Low comments:
“We’re thrilled to showcase some of the best new music through carefully selected playlists, presented both locally and abroad. Some artists you already know will now be introduced to international audiences, and others you'll be discovering for the first time. We hope you enjoy."

THE NEW ZEALAND MUSIC PRODUCER SERIES EVENING MASTERCLASS SCHEDULE

Here it is! The New Zealand Music Producer Series Evening Masterclass schedule:

Monday 16th January, 7pm. *
Sponsored by SAE Auckland
“Career Paths in the Music Industry” with Guy Massey, Dave Eringa, Greg Haver.

Tuesday 17th January, 7pm.
“Working with Iconic Artists” with Dave Eringa and Greg Haver.

Wednesday 18th January, 7pm.
“Recording, Engineering, Mixing and Mastering” with Guy Massey, Dave Eringa and Nick Poortman.

Thursday 19th January, 7pm.
Sponsored by Universal Music NZ.
“Remastering the Beatles” with Guy Massey.

All masterclasses will be held at the APRA Auckland offices:
Unit 113, Zone 23, 
23 Edwin Street
Mt Eden, Auckland 1024

Thanks to the continuing support of all our sponsors the New Zealand Music Producer Series would now like to offer free entry to the evening masterclasses on a first come, first served basis. Please email your name and which seminar(s) you would like to attend to: greghaver@icloud.com

*Please note that current and former SAE students will have priority placements for the Monday masterclass.

NZ MUSIC PRODUCER SERIES: APRA SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED

There's a great opportunity for keen music producers coming to Auckland very soon: the New Zealand Music Producer Series, and APRA are excited to announce that we have a scholarship available to enable one talented individual to attend.

Hosted by producer Greg Haver and supported by NZ On Air, Recorded Music New Zealand, and APRA AMCOS, the event is bringing two internationally renowned producers and engineers to Auckland, to give a series of masterclasses at Roundhead Studios from January 16 - 20.

The series will involved tracking and mix sessions for groups of up to eight people during the day, plus evening seminars for larger groups, to exchange ideas across all facets of the recording industry.

Grammy award-winning producer/engineer Guy Massey and renowned producer/engineer Dave Eringa are confirmed for the series (check out more info on their auspicious careers HERE).

Today APRA AMCOS NZ is very happy to announce that we have a scholarship available to pay for one talented producer to attend the series for the whole week, which will include five days tracking and mixing, four evening seminars and two one-on-one tuition sessions.

If you are interested in applying for the APRA Scholarship for the NZ Music Producer Series program, please email ljenkin@apra.co.nz with your name, contact details, and a brief paragraph about why you'd like to attend to NZMPS.

Terms and Conditions:

• Applications must be submitted by 5pm, Friday December 16, 2016
• You will be required to submit three examples of your production/engineering work as part of the application. Submissions by link (Soundcloud, Spotify etc).
• Successful applicants will be informed by 5pm, December 24, 2016.
• By applying, you are confirming your availability to attend the series at Roundhead Studios in Auckland from January 16-20, 2017.
• Travel, transfers, meals and accommodation are not included in the scholarship and are the responsibility of the attendee.
• The New Zealand Music Producer Series reserves the right to amend or vary the content of the Series at any time.
• By participating, attendees grant The New Zealand Music Producer Series permission to use their names, photographs and video likeness for future promotion and marketing purposes without remuneration.

WCB DROPS DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO

Originally hailing from Auckland, openly gay artist WCB aka Will Cooper Barling (Rebecca Coleman-Smith) is a singer-songwriter and producer, now based in Sydney. WCB unites sparse, ariose production with his melodic vocal style to bring old school R&B into the modern day. His music is an atmospheric soundscape, a storyline into which you can escape, and is a unique form of indie electro-pop with undertones of classic trip-hop.

Fresh from performing his EP live release to a sold out crowd at The Golden Dawn, Auckland’s indie-music hotspot, WCB has just released his debut music video, Overdone.

WCB is both an internationally recognised performer and an unrelenting rising star who has graced stages in New Zealand, Australia, London and Edinburgh and featured on BaseFM and RNZ’s Music 101. Other notable performances in 2016 include the iHeartRadio Soundstage with Auckland Arts Festival, curated by Tama Waipara.

“Will Barling [WCB] … because of his silky tone and that beautiful vibrato … my favourite number of the night, hands down.”
– KeepingUpWithNZ

Already well respected in the New Zealand entertainment community for his undeniable talent, WCB was commissioned to produce music for Okareka Dance Company in 2015, where he reworked the classic Winter Wonderland in his typically haunting electro-influenced style.

His EP is set for worldwide digital release on 16 December but for now, check out his debut music video