TUTAHI - STAY

Stay Home, Save Lives

Created by over 20 artists in collaboration while in lock down, ‘Stay’ is a waiata created with one simple goal - encouraging the people of Aotearoa to “stay home, save lives”.

The brainchild of Te Māngai Pāho and Loop, the track & video were written, produced & recorded remotely by over 20 artists in just seven days, showcasing how New Zealanders are able to pull together in a time of crisis.

‘Stay’ was written and arranged by Anna Coddington, Rob Ruha, Scott Tindale and Brad Kora, Ara Adams-Tamatea & Joel Shadbolt (L.A.B), with a wide range of sixteen vocalists featured throughout including - Anna Coddington, Bailey Wiley, Hollie Smith, Ria Hall, Theia, Fran Kora (Kora), Jackson Owens, Joel Shadbolt (L.A.B), Kings, Logan Bell (Katchafire), Pere Wihongi (Maimoa), Rei, Rob Ruha, Stan Walker, Tiki Taane & Troy Kingi.

‘Stay’ is the final result, written, recorded & edited in seven days, remotely combining over 20 of New Zealand’s most exciting and well known artists together with a clear and simple message - “this isn’t forever, we’re in this together”.

All proceeds from ‘Stay’ will be donated to Music Helps, who are doing great things to help those in the music industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea for ‘Stay’ was inspired by the work of a Uganda music artist that Anaru Mill, Head of government fund Manaaki, had come across in his mahi at COVID Command. Anaru suggested to colleague Te Atawhai Tibble that Kiwi artists should do one. Atawhai called Nadia Marsh, Kaiarahi Puoro at Te Māngai Pāho, to see what could be done. She engaged Mikee Tucker from Loop, and the project began to come together.

“He wairua māhorahora tō te waiata nei, nā te hao kia whakakotahi tātau i a tātau.” (“The spirit of the song is warm & inviting, inspired by the desire to bring people together.”) - Rob Ruha, co-songwriter.

“It’s inspiring to see what can be achieved from lockdown in seven days! A fun project with an important message that utilised the full power of the internet.” - Mikee Tucker of Loop

“Te Māngai Pāho is proud to be able to support this kaupapa. What an achievement to capture so much love and talent in a song in such a short time. We thank and congratulate Mikee Tucker and all the incredible artists whose collaborative breath has given birth to this waiata. Mauri oho, mauri tū, mauri ora!” - Larry Parr, Chairman of Te Māngai Pāho

‘Stay’ Features Anna Coddington Bailey Wiley Hollie Smith Ria Hall Theia Ara Adams-Tamatea (L.A.B) Brad Kora (L.A.B) Fran Kora (Kora) Jackson Owens Joel Shadbolt (L.A.B) Kings Logan Bell (Katchafire) Pere Wihongi (Maimoa) Rei Rob Ruha Stan Walker Tiki Taane Troy Kingi

MusicHelps announces COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Grant for kiwi music workers

MusicHelps has announced the details of its initial emergency grant response to the COVID-19 crisis, which in just a few short weeks has shattered the livelihoods of kiwi music workers nationwide.

The music industry charity will be making a $500 rapid response grant available to people that are New Zealand citizens or residents, have been working for pay in the music industry for the last 5 years and have experienced loss of income as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and cancelations.

The charity will be making 200 grants available initially, after which it will review the success of the programme.

MusicHelps is encouraging applications from the full range of music industry workers. Roadies, riggers, technicians, crew, performers, songwriters, managers and anyone who has lost income from their work in the production or performance of live or recorded music in Aotearoa are invited to apply.

Applications for the grant can be made online from Monday 20 April at the charity’s website: https://musichelps.org.nz/covid-19-grant . More information on the grant is available at this address now.

The MusicHelps COVID-19 Emergency Grant has been made possible by the MusicHelpsLive campaign, where over 60 organisations and companies have come together to raise awareness of the grave impact of the crisis on the kiwi music industry.

The campaign has promoted ways for New Zealanders to donate to a fundraising appeal to provide vital emergency financial assistance & wellbeing support services to the kiwi music community.

Since it was launched last week, the fundraising appeal has so far raised over $210,000 from more than 230 donations.

The MusicHelpsLive appeal can be found at https://musichelpslive.co.nz MusicHelps will distribute 100% of all funds raised through the MusicHelpsLive appeal to kiwi music people in need through this and further grant rounds.

NZ MUSIC INDUSTRY COVID-19 UPDATE- 3 APRIL

The effects of Covid-19 continue to provide a great deal of uncertainty and raise a lot of questions
for the music community. There are many challenges ahead, and while we all try to adapt to this new normal, we want to assure you that the music industry bodies are operating at full capacity, and continuing to meet twice a week to share plans, actions, ideas, and resources to try and reimagine the future.

We wanted to provide music whanau with a further update as we head into the weekend, with a few pieces of good news that might be helpful at this time.

MUSIC INDUSTRY HUI - YOU'RE INVITED

The collective music organisations are hosting an online hui next Thursday at 11am on Facebook, to update you all on the various actions and initiatives we're working on, and connect with our music whanau.

Representatives from NZ On Air, NZ Music Commission, Creative NZ, Recorded Music NZ, Te Māngai Pāho, and APRA AMCOS NZ will speak, moderated by wonderful Teresa Patterson from MMF NZ, with support from IMNZ, OneMusic NZ, SOUNZ, and MusicHelps.

It will be an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas. Everyone is welcome, and if you're not able to join in live, the video will be available to watch afterwards.

WHEN: Thursday April 9, 11am

WHERE: Facebook and YouTube Live (you’ll see links on all of social media pages next week)

WHAT: Updates and Q&A from the collective music industry organisations

MUSICHELPS LIVE

While we absolutely appreciate that very few people in the music industry are in a position to make charitable donations at the moment, we wanted to let you know about this new MusicHelps campaign that's going on, raising some emergency funds for the NZ music community. MusicHelpsLive launched on Monday, and so far has raised $205,782 from 141 generous donors. The aim is to raise $2 million to see kiwi music people through the coming winter. All funds raised will be distributed to those music workers whose livelihoods have been shattered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

It's wonderful to see artists helping to spread the word about MusicHelpsLive already - Vodafone and LiveNation's Lounge Jam series with Tiki Taane, Hollie Smith and Dave Dobbyn; NicNak's Lockdown Live series with Ashy, Harry Parsons, and Dillastrate; and OUSA's Jam On Toast music festival, have all committed to helping the cause. Get in touch with MusicHelps if you're keen to get involved! www.musichelpslive.co.nz

NZ ON AIR FUNDING

NZ On Air announced their next New Music Single round will still go ahead as planned with the deadline of 23 April and results announced 21 May.

They also confirmed the second of their Pasifika focus rounds - New Music Pasifika. Applications for this focus round will open on Thursday 7 May and close on Thursday 21 May and more details and criteria will be coming soon. Follow @nzonairmusic on social channels or see nzonair.govt.nz for updates.

NZ On Air is also keen to emphasise to artists and creators who have a funded Single or Project in the works that they completely understand there are likely to be delays given the current Covid-19 Alert level 4 status in NZ. They just ask that artists contact NZ On Air to update them on the revised plans for your release – or just to advise that it’s delayed until you can make a plan! Best email address for these updates is newmusic@nzonair.govt.nz

The latest NZ On Air NewTracks release for April was released this morning and contains a massive 40 brand new NZ tracks across a range of genre. The compilation goes to a wide selection of media both in NZ and Australia including radio networks and streaming services.

NZ On Air is also working closely with the stations of the Student Radio Network who support a huge amount of New Zealand artists. Like all media advertising revenue has slumped for this sector so NZ On Air are working with those stations to try and provide some stability through these trying times so they can continue to expose a wide range of new NZ music and artists.

NZ MUSIC COMMISION - OUTWARD SOUND GRANTS

The Music Commission’s Outward Sound international investment programme has a round scheduled to close on 20 April. For this round, Outward Sound will be accepting targeted applications for artists to continue promoting recent international releases in overseas markets.

More information is available here.

MMF MENTORING SESSIONS

The MMF are holding bi-weekly group mentoring sessions with a selection of their mentors starting next week and will soon be starting weekly online seminars covering a range of topics.

RECORDED MUSIC NZ ROYALTY DISTRIBUTIONS

RMNZ are in the process of finalising the 2020 distribution and intend to bring the date forward as soon as they can. In order to swiftly and efficiently make that distribution they are asking everyone to make sure they register all new recordings released in 2019 with them prior to the deadline of 30th April 2020.

There is still a small number of artists have not claimed their royalties from the 2019 distribution, if this may be you please access your RMNZ artist login page and complete the details. If you have any questions please contact the membership team: memberservices@recordedmusic.co.nz

Also, you can now check out all of the weekly radio airplay charts online and they are now available via www.radioscope.co.nz . These charts are based on airplay data collected from 60 stations including all major commercial stations, student and iwi radio.

APRA AMCOS NZ ROYALTY DISTRIBUTIONS

In an effort to get money into the hands of members as urgently as possible, APRA are bringing the Performance Report royalty distribution forward from November to May. Any members who have played live between July 2019 and April 2020 need to get in touch with the member services team to discuss what they need to do before April 9.

Please read further info here.

Also if you haven’t lodged a performance report for performances in previous years (up to three years prior), you should get in touch with member services to file a retrospective report, so you can get those royalty $$. International distributions will continue to happen monthly, and all other royalty distributions will continue to happen quarterly. APRA are also looking a new ways to do workshops and seminars in an online environment, and will have more details about these opportunities in coming weeks.

AWARDS

Congratulations to Shona Laing, who has been announced as the very deserving recipient of the 2020 Taite Music Prize Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award for her wonderful 1987 album ‘South’, which includes the seminal track (Glad I’m) Not A Kennedy.

Shona will receive the award at the Taite Music Prize ceremony, alongside the winners of the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut, and the Taite Music Prize.

This ceremony was due to take place in April, but is being reimagined for current circumstances, with a new date and venue to be confirmed soon.

Also, while the upcoming Pacific Music Awards, NZ Children’s Music Awards, NZ Country Music Awards, and NZ Jazz Awards have all been affected by the Covid-19 restrictions, it’s still very important that songwriters and artists are celebrated for their work, and there are plans for all of them to take place in a yet to be confirmed online form, and dates will be announced as plans are finalised.

I LOST MY GIG NZ

We've had nearly 600 responses to the I Lost My Gig NZ survey so far, totalling around $8.9million in lost income, but we know there are plenty more of you out there who may not have heard about the survey, or perhaps not gotten around to filling it out yet - please do!

It's very helpful for the music industry organisations to get a greater picture of the scale of loss in the NZ music community, and to be able to use this information to advocate to government for support.

LOCKDOWN LIVE

‘Lockdown Live’ – a new weekly live streaming initiative to support emerging New Zealand musicians - will be launched next Wednesday, April 8.
 
The ‘Lockdown Live’ line-up will be curated by NicNaK Media and each Wednesday night, three local acts will perform live via Instagram from 8pm to 8:30pm. The first week’s line-up features Christchurch pop act ASHY; Christchurch duo Dillastrate and Auckland-based singer-songwriter Harry Parsons.
 
Each artist/act will perform for 10 minutes, streamed live from their own Instagram accounts. With New Zealand currently in lock-down, many musicians are not in the same ‘bubble’ as band members and/or producers, so each act will tailor their performances accordingly.  
 
The New Zealand music industry has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and we are looking to local media and fellow music-related businesses to support initiatives such as this and the artists involved. Although ‘Lockdown Live’ is being organised and curated by NicNak Media, we are extending the invite to all emerging New Zealand acts (regardless of whether they work with NicNak Media or not). Our hope is that this will give artists the much-needed boost to continue performing live for their fans and while doing so, gaining new fans and embracing new ways of reaching audiences.
 
If you are a Kiwi music worker who has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, visitMusicHelps. MusicHelps provides useful information and sources of support. There is also a dedicated Give A Little page for those who would like to donate towards MusicHelp’s work with Kiwi music people affected. Donate here. Or simply text 'Music' to 2448 to donate $3 to the MusicHelps emergency appeal.

The MusicHelps Wellbeing Service is a 24 hour helpline and a free professional counselling service for those experiencing emotional distress.
 
Make sure you follow ASHY, Dillastrate and Harry Parsons for the first ‘Lockdown Live’session on Wednesday, April 8. Please support and share!

If you are an artist and would like to take part in 'Lockdown Live' please contact NicNak Media here.

LIVE NATION AND VODAFONE ANNOUNCE LOUNGE JAMS

Live Nation and Vodafone New Zealand are bringing the joy of live music straight into your home with Lounge Jams, in support of MusicHelps - a registered charity that provides crisis relief and professional counselling services to directly affected Kiwi roadies, artists and music workers.

Taking place every Thursday at 7pm on Facebook for the next three weeks, the sessions will feature some of the biggest names in Kiwi music coming live from their home, to yours – starting this week with Tiki Taane.

Lounge Jams is happening to raise awareness of MusicHelps Live, the New Zealand music industry’s response to the devastation that has resulted from the many show cancellations due to the pandemic. In the past month, the live music industry has been wiped out and New Zealand musicians and those who work behind the scenes are facing an uncertain future. MusicHelpsLive is calling on those New Zealanders that can to help, visit www.musichelpslive.co.nz to make a donation or find other ways to support the live music industry.

Vodafone Lounge Jams

Tiki Taane – Thursday April 2, 7pm

Hollie Smith – Thursday April 9, 7pm

Dave Dobbyn – Thursday April 16, 7pm

Vodafone spokesperson: “The social distancing and self-isolation we are experiencing right now is extremely hard, and we wanted to find a way to bring everyone together through the power of live music.”

MusicHelps board chair and MusicHelpsLive spokesperson Campbell Smith says: “Even though we are apart this is an opportunity for Kiwis to stay connecting by listening to great music, and at the same time supporting some incredible musicians and the wider music industry through a difficult time."

Possibly one of the country's most well-known and diverse artists and producers, Tiki Taane is considered an influential element in the pioneering of New Zealand’s bass culture. First rising to prominence as a live engineer and front man of Salmonella Dub, Tiki is renowned as much for his powerful live performances as he is for the anthems he writes. Although affectionately known in NZ as ‘King of the Dubs’, Tiki’s musical influences and appeal are broad, traversing from dubstep, reggae, drum n bass and hip-hop, to more contemporary pop/rock sensibilities. No matter the set he performs, the audience is always reminded of the sheer power of Tiki’s ability to unify, warm and wow as he seamlessly delivers a unique performance experience.

Hollie Smith is a prolific hardworking singer, songwriter, and performer who has always maintained a highly respected reputation of creating music with the utmost integrity and passion. Her incredible live performances and powerhouse vocals have made her one of the most sought-after acts in the New Zealand music industry. After the success of her performance on Don McGlashan’s song Bathe in The River which showcased Hollie’s soulful talent, she has spent over a decade cementing herself as one of New Zealand’s most iconic and top artists.

MUSICHELPS LIVE - Uniting in support of the unsung stars of the New Zealand music scene

MusicHelpsLive aims to support New Zealand’s music industry, which has been left devastated by COVID-19.

In the past month we’ve seen live music cancelled en masse throughout the country. New Zealand musicians and those who work behind the scenes are facing an uncertain future.

For eight years MusicHelps has been the music industry’s charity and among our core activities has been providing emergency financial support and professional counselling to kiwi music people when crisis strikes. Now we have started MusicHelpsLive to specifically support people and organisations facing hardship due to COVID-19.

MusicHelpsLive aims to raise $2 million dollars to see kiwi music people through the coming winter. All funds raised will be distributed to those music workers whose livelihoods have been shattered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

MusicHelps board chair and MusicHelpsLive spokesperson Campbell Smith says: “New Zealand’s musicians and the teams behind them are always there for us in times of trouble and tragedy, like the Band Together concert after the Christchurch earthquakes and You Are Us/Aroha Nui concerts following the Christchurch terror attacks. Now they are the ones that need our help.

“COVID-19 is having a devastating effect on the live music industry and the livelihoods of thousands of kiwi music people and businesses. Shows are cancelled, venues are threatened; production suppliers, roadies and crew are without work. With almost no notice, these hard-working, ordinary New Zealanders and their dependents are facing levels of distress and hardship never seen before.”

We’re calling on New Zealanders to visit www.musichelpslive.co.nz to make a donation or find other ways to support the live music industry.

MusicHelpsLive supporters

 The following organisations have already pledged to support MusicHelpsLive:

Aston Road

Auckland Live

Auckland Stadiums

Audio Foundation

Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)

Bay Dreams Festival

Big Pop Studios

College Hill

Commotion

CRS Management/CRS Presents

Delete Management

Dominion Law

DRM

Dryden Street

Eccles Entertainment

Entertainment Accounting Services

Flying Nun Foundation

Frontier Touring New Zealand

Independent Music New Zealand

Kiwi Krew

Kobalt Music Publishing

Laneway Festival

Live Nation

Loop

Lorraine Barry Management

Love Police

Mediaworks

Mushroom Music

MusicHelps

Native Tongue

Neptune Ent

New Zealand Music Awards

New Zealand Music Commission

New Zealand Music Managers Forum

New Zealand Musician

New Zealand Promoters Association

Nik Nak Media

NZ on Air

NZME

Oceania

OneMusic

Page 1 Management

Pead PR

Plus1

Radio New Zealand

Recorded Music New Zealand (RMNZ)

Red Bull

Rhythm and Alps Festival

Rhythm and Vines Festival

Richmond Music

Rockshop New Zealand

Sony Music

Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Soundsplash Festival

Spark

Spark Arena

Spotify

Sum Square & Co

The Label

The Production Company

Ticketmaster

Universal Music

Universal Music Publishing

Venue Merchandising Services

Warner Chappell

Warner Music

Donate here:

COVID-19 Update & Information From the Music Organisations

This update includes changes to the Wage Subsidy Scheme criteria for music sector people.

The situation has changed rapidly this week, with unprecedented steps taken by Government that will affect every member of our music community and all New Zealanders. The movement of alert stages, and the national lock down, will have an impact on the music sector unlike anything we have ever seen. Musicians, songwriters and all the people who work around them – the crew and production people, venue and record store owners and their staff, publicists, managers, promoters and label owners, distributors, people who work in radio, music video production, and so many more – everyone will be affected by COVID-19.By the end of last weekend, at least twenty full-time music venues had closed either temporarily or indefinitely. Event and tour cancellations saw another twenty venues unable to open their doors. Now, of course, everything is closed for the safety of the nation.As part of trying to gauge the extent of this impact, the collection of information over at I Lost My Gig Aotearoa continues. By Monday this week, the figure had grown to a collective loss of over $7.7million from 467 individual submissions – and we are aware that there are still large parts of the sector whose information is yet to be included. If you haven’t registered your lost work (gig or job), please do.

There are two important issues to cover in this update. Firstly, as we noted last week, financial relief for people impacted by COVID-19 was made available by the Government through the Wage Subsidy Scheme. There were a few parts of the initial criteria that made it difficult for some musicians, alongside self-employed and contractor music people, to apply. The Ministry of Social Development have agreed to immediate changes to the Wage Subsidy Scheme criteria to provide urgent relief for more music people. Those changes are:

1. Creative sector workers who can demonstrate either a 30%+ decline due to COVID-19 in their average monthly revenue across the last 12 months, or can provide proof of cancellations of work due to COVID-19 amounting to a 30%+ decline in revenue, will be eligible to access the Wage Subsidy.

2. Self-employed creative sector workers whose primary source of income is from their creative endeavours, and who otherwise qualify for the Wage Subsidy, will be eligible as 'working 20 hours or more per week'.3. Self-employed applicants should type in 'Sole Trader' in the 'NBN number' field of the application form.4. MSD have confirmed that the criteria for licences, permits, qualifications and such will not be required (i.e. The criteria currently states that Sole Traders must have government licences and permits for their business needs, and qualifications or registrations for their trade or profession).

We are really pleased that the Ministry of Social Development responded so quickly, and we thank them for resolving these issues. We are also hearing that increasing numbers of music sole traders and small businesses are now receiving the wage subsidy with no issues, which is positive news. The scheme appears to be operating on a very high level of trust – so all applicants must ensure that they are able to prove their financial criteria for receiving the subsidy in due course. You can find more information about the support available here.

Secondly, a big announcement this week was that Creative New Zealand have established an Emergency Response Package, which includes a first phase $16million investment to buffer and support the arts community, both now and beyond the immediate crisis. Further details on the application process will be available on their website soon, but they have already revealed there will be Short-term Relief for CNZ Investment Clients, alongside Resilience Grants - comprising both an Arts Continuity Grant and an Emergency Relief Grant (of up to $10k per individual), for eligible artists and arts practitioners, collectives and groups who may be experiencing devastating loss of income and opportunity. Ngā mihi nui to everyone at Creative New Zealand who has worked so hard, and so fast, to get this package together for the arts in Aotearoa.

We would also encourage everyone that is facing an uncertain future to please have a look at the Government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Package, to see what hardship support might be available for you. This is a rolling Government response, and we hope to see more announcements in the near future.Our national music organisations – APRA AMCOS, Independent Music NZ, the NZ Music Managers Forum, MusicHelps, the NZ Music Commission, NZ On Air Music and Recorded Music NZ – are continuing to work together to share information and to plan for the coming weeks, and the ongoing challenges through the coming months. Over the lockdown period, we will be providing these updates weekly or as we have new details to share.Lastly, we just wanted to remind you that MusicHelps is there if you are feeling anxious, stressed, or are simply struggling with the mental load of these current events - 0508 MUSICHELPS.Stay home, stay safe – and we hope you get to listen to some great music from artists right across Aotearoa over the coming weeks.

Update on the effects of Covid-19 on the music industry, and our plan of action.

As we head into the weekend, the music industry bodies and organisations wanted to update our music community and whanau.

The events of this week, the new restrictions around gatherings, travel, and everyday life, are having a profound impact on everyone involved in our music industry – not only musicians and songwriters, but crew who work across sound, production, backline, and all manner of technical aspects, as well as venues, publicists, managers, and the many individuals who support music in this country with specialist skills.

We’re aware that 55% of all music sector employment stems from live music, and that live music is a vital revenue stream. We’re also acutely aware that while musicians and crew are often the first to jump in to help when we face a national crisis, many of you are forced to work without much of a financial buffer or safety net of your own.

The scale of the Covid-19 impact is hard to summarise. In the first 48 hours since we created the ‘I Lost My Gig NZ’ survey, there were around 300 submissions with a total of approximately $3.2 million noted in lost revenue. We expect this number to grow substantially in the next week, and will provide a further update on this next Monday.

If you have lost work, big or small, please complete the survey if you can. We know it can be a bit of a negative vibe filling out a form about your disappearing income, but we’re hoping to get a greater understanding of the shape and scope of the loss, and to use this data for publicity and asking the government for economic support for our industry at this very vulnerable time.

We also want to reassure you that we are collectively working on steps forward – solutions, answers, ideas, advocacy, and government proposals.

We will make an update on these developments by Wednesday next week.

In the meantime, please take a look at the government relief package, and their wage and leave subsidy schemes.

https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/eligibility/emergencies/2020/coronavirus.html

They have made provision for contractors and those who are self-employed (which is a large number of people in the music industry) – the application form is here:

https://services.workandincome.govt.nz/ess/trader_applications/new

There is also a leave subsidy if you have to self-isolate and need 14-days of sick leave:

https://workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/covid-19-support.html?utm_source=business.govt.nz&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=special_cv_edition#null

And for those of you who are employers who may need a staff subsidy, there is info for you here:

https://services.workandincome.govt.nz/ess/employer_applications/new

Please also contact MusicHelps if you are feeling anxious, stressed, or are simply struggling with the mental load of this week’s events. They are there for you. 0508 MUSICHELPS.

We’ll be in touch again soon.

Keep listening, keep sharing, and keep supporting each other.