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TAITE MUSIC PRIZE 2017
In search of the year’s finest New Zealand album
#taitemusicprize
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 year’s 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!
Shout-outs to our wonderful partners in the Taite Music Prize:
Recorded Music NZ, NZ On Air,
NZ Music Commission, APRA AMCOS, Red Bull Studios Auckland,
Media Arts Lawyers, 95bFM, NZ Music Foundation and Auckland Live.
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INTERNATIONAL AND INDUSTRY NEWS
Powetool Record’s Jordan Reyne Sings The Theme Song For New Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Game
Unable to be revealed until mid-January, we can now announce that South Island-born singer Jordan Reyne is the voice behind the trailer for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, with the game to be released next Tuesday January 24. Her unearthly vocals are front and centre on the trailer’s haunting theme song “Go Tell Aunt Rhody”, written and produced by Michael A. Levine.So, this is a big deal? Oh my goodness, yes. To give some context, Gamerant.com reported that “Resident Evil VII was confirmed to thundering applause at Sony’s E3 2016 press conference. The game, born from the creepy “Kitchen” VR demo that Resident Evil creators Capcom have been showing off these past couple of years, looks to be one of the scariest virtual reality experiences seen to date”.
On YouTube alone the Resident Evil 7: Biohazard trailer has had over 2 million views; and this barely scratches the surface of the presence it’s had on gaming fan sites. “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” features throughout the game; and the song is from the mid-19th century, written for a young child about the death of their Aunt Rhody’s geese, set to a tune composed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
And our singer? Jordan Reyne already has a passionate following in Europe, the US and New Zealand and beyond, having gathered fans worldwide over the past 2 decades, with her unique ability to blend unnerving folk-inspired songs with industrial soundscapes. In many ways, Reyne’s contribution to the world of aural gamescapes makes perfect sense – Reyne is no stranger to the gaming world; her day job is as a writer and coder for Choice Of Games, a California-based company which creates high-quality, text-based, multiple-choice games.
Levine’s work is also impressive: he is the composer for the George Lucas-produced Star Wars Detours animated series featuring Seth Green and Seth MacFarlane; scored the hit TV show Cold Case; arranged the choir version of The Simpson’s Movie’s “Spider Pig”, and produced Lorde’s spooky rendition of “Everybody Wants to Rule The World” from the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack.
To cap it all off, in the weird way that zeitgeist works, at pretty much the same time that “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” was confirmed as the lead song for the trailer of “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard”, Jordan Reyne is set to release a beautiful tapestry of her work to date: “Jordan Reyne – Best Of” through New Zealand record label Powertool Records; a compilation which was listener voted by Reyne’s fans. Spooky timing? Yes. Worth a listen? Beyond doubt.
Listen to/purchase the CD version of “Jordan Reyne – Best Of” here, and find the digital version here. |
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Show Me The Money!
Usage stats aside, what the music industry really wants to see from streaming services is cash. With millions of music fans and billions of streams, what the artists and songwriters making and performing that music want to know is… “where’s my cut”
David Lowery at the Trichordist updated his 2014 Streaming Price Bible with 2016 figures with data from an indie label, laying out how much each service pays, totals, and more. Updated! Streaming Price Bible w/ 2016 Rates : Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon, Pandora, Etc. (The Trichordist)
Meanwhile, news that Spotify is actively seeking LOWER royalty rates is sure to ruffle feathers further within the creator community. Spotify’s Latest Offer To Labels: A 14% Lower Royalty Rate (Hypebot)
Article sourced via Digital Media Wire. |
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[PIAS] Acquires Inertia Music In Australia
[PIAS] has fully acquired Inertia Music – Australia’s largest independent music sales, distribution and label services business.The synergies between the two parties are fairly obvious: like [PIAS], Inertia runs an in-house record company while also fulfilling distribution/services contracts with famed independent labels including 4AD, Fat Possum, City Slang, Dead Oceans, XL Recordings and Secretly Canadian.
Inertia’s own label operation has signed successful artists such as Robyn, M83 and pop superstar Sia – whose albums, including last year’s This Is Acting, are released through Inertia in Oz.
Continue reading via Music Business Worldwide |
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| Nominations Are Open For The MMF Music Manager Awards
The New Zealand Music Managers Forum in association with OneMusic, NZ Music Commission and Recorded Music NZ are proud to present the 2017 Music Managers Awards.
The New Zealand Music Managers Forum is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2017 MMF Music Managers Awards!
The MMF Music Managers Awards have become one of the most important events in the New Zealand music industry calendar. Held annually, the awards celebrate the behind the scenes work of the music managers who oversee some of our most acclaimed artist’s careers, both at home and internationally.
The following categories are now open for nomination:
• Recorded Music NZ Manager of the Year
• Breakthrough Manager of the Year
• Self-Managed Artist of the Year
• Emerging Manager of the Year
• NZ Music Commission International Achievement
• OneMusic Best Small Venue
• OneMusic Best Large Venue
• Best Independent Tour
In 2016 Ashley Page was honoured with the prestigious ‘Manager of the Year’ award for the second year in a row for his work with the artists Broods, Joel Little and Jarryd James. First-time winner Alastair Burns took home the ‘International Achievement’ award for his global work for Marlon Williams and Julia Jacklin. With the NZ music industry continuing to grow over 2016/2017 the next round of accomplished MMF music managers is highly anticipated.
The New Zealand MMF is the collective voice for music managers and self-managed artists. The MMF is a non-profit trade association dedicated to helping grow artist manager businesses through education, networking and advocacy.The ultimate aim of the MMF is to improve music managers’ capacity to support the careers of the artists they represent.
For details and instructions on how to make a nomination for the MMF Managers Awards 2017, as well as the terms and conditions, please click here and contact Lorraine Owen at lorraine.owen@mmf.co.nz for a password to access the online form. Anyone can nominate managers they believe are worthy of recognition for their hard work.
For more information please contact Julie Warmington julie.warmington@gmail.com T: 021 879 886
Key dates:
Nominations opened 25th January
Nominations close 20 February
Finalists announced 13th April
SAVE THE DATE: The MMF Music Awards Ceremony will be held at The Tuning Fork Wednesday 10thMay. |
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| Growth in music streaming ‘is fundamentally shifting the shape of the music business’, presenting huge opportunities for the independent sector, a Merlin executive has said.
Addressing delegates at the NY:LON Connect conference in London, Charles Caldas, chief executive of the global digital rights agency, said the growth is not only revolutionising the way music is consumed, monetised and distributed, it’s shifting the shape and construction of the market itself.
He added: ‘The traditional [market] view was that you had big major labels with global reach and hit repertoire, which they could drive through the middle of the mainstream, and make a huge profit based on controlling relatively few channels to market.
‘The market has changed and we need to realign our expectations of where the value, power and control sits now and how that develops going forward.’
Caldas referred to a 2016 survey of its 700 members, who represent more than 20,000 labels and distributors across the world. Its findings painted a consistent picture of both the streaming market and wider music business from the independent perspective.
‘The first thing we’ve seen is that independents in the streaming world perform far better than they ever did in the physical world, or even the download world,’ he said.
‘If you look within the streaming space at how we compare in the low-value, free streaming market verses the high-value market – our share increases another 24 percent between them. In a world where more people are paying for music, the more broadly and deeply they consume the sort of music we represent.’
Caldas said that in this new market dynamic, consumption patterns are significantly different – and the uplift is filtering out beyond just streaming.
Continue reading via M Magazine. |
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AROUND THE WORLD
Spotify and Apple Music will struggle in China. Meet the reason…
Tencent Holdings is China’s largest company – with an imperious market cap valuation of more than $250bn.
It also happens to be the world’s third-biggest music subscription business – one which poses a serious threat to the global ambitions of Spotify and Apple Music.
Last year, Tencent spent big to acquire a majority stake in $2.7bn-valued China Music Corp, taking control of two key music platforms – Kuwo and KuGou.
Added together with its own QQ Music, which boasts 200m monthly active users, Tencent now services over 15m paying music subscribers – with an estimated digital music market-share in China of over 77%.
And get this: unlike Spotify, Deezer, TIDAL, Pandora and pretty much any other standalone music streaming service in existence, QQ Music is consistently profitable (just like its parent company).
Tencent is in an especially strong position, because bright people are expecting very big things from its home nation.
Universal’s SVP Jonathan Dworkin predicted this week said that China could become the largest recorded music market in the world over the next decade – surpassing the USA, Japan, the UK and Germany.
Continue reading via Music Business Worldwide.
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| New Vinyl Pressing Factories Plants To Open in 2017
Jack White sees vinyl as a viable business venture.Jack White’s Third Man Records announced that the label will open a new pressing plant in Detroit. Dubbed Third Man Pressing, the state-of-the-art vinyl production facility will open in Detroit’s historic Cass Corridor neighborhood.
Third Man Records will be the first label to operate “brand new” and “environmentally efficient” pressing. The label will minimize water waste from the record curing process in the air conditioning system. Thus, Third Man Pressing will create the only fully climate-controlled processing plant work environment in the entire world. Furthermore, to avoid noise pollution, the plant features precisely engineered sound containment. Continue reading via Digital Music News.
Additional to this Sydney will also be opening a Vinyl Pressing Factory.
Until now, if an Aussie band wanted to press up a vinyl record for a decent price, its best option was to manufacture overseas.
This can be fraught with difficulty, as test pressings, file transfer, the differences between mastering audio for separate formats, the huge beginners’ curve, and all the other annoying intricacies of pressing onto vinyl can often be compounded: subject to language barriers, shipping delays, stock damage, or a million other issues that you don’t think of until your 200-disc order ends up being damaged in transit, or pressed in the wrong format.
Now a state-of-the-art vinyl pressing factory is opening in Marrickville, in the Inner West of Sydney – with a capacity to press three million records per year.
“The new plant will be fully self-sufficient with full analogue mastering, a Neumann disc cutting system, stamper making facility, fully automated record presses, and a manual press for specialty records such as picture discs, split and splatter colours”, a press release states. “For total control over production, a record jacket making machine from Germany is also being installed.”
The factory manager, Vincent Chen has a background as a mechnical engineer at hi-tech machinery manufacturers such as Heidelberg, the German market leader in printing presses.
“We are bringing European quality record pressing back to Australia”, he promises. “There will beno further need to manufacture product overseas and pay for air freight or endure long turnaround times”. Continue reading via TheBrag.com |
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NEW RELEASE FANFARE
The Map Room – Other AnimalOther Animal’ is the first single from The Map Room’s forthcoming sophomore album Weatherless, due for release in early April.
A song about the ‘unconnectedness’ that can often occur living in our ultra-connected digital world, ‘Other Animal’ pushes the band’s sound into new territory with its head nodding rhythm and pulsing synths.
Of the track Simon Gooding says, “This song came out of a writing session where Brendon (Morrow) and I were consciously trying to make some more upbeat, synth-based songs. It’s become a live favourite of ours and we feel like we really captured that energy in this recording, which is not always an easy thing for us to do.”
The single was recorded in part at The Lab Studios with drummer Andy Keegan and bassist Jared Kahi and overdubbed between Auckland and Gooding’s home in Wellington.
Listen to the ‘Other Animal’ here. ‘Other Animal’ is now available for purchase from iTunes. Listen now on Spotify.
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ON THE LIVE FRONT Jackie Bristow announces March NZ tour
Jackie Bristow is pleased to announce she will be returning to her native shores in March with Australian musician and long-time collaborator Mark Punch.
From the Northern reaches of Leigh to the southern depths of Invercargill, Jackie’s tour culminates in Wellington and Auckland where she will open for legendary blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt.
At once heartfelt and sophisticated, Jackie’s songs combine subtle but beautiful melodies and hooks that hypnotise the listener, then sticking around like the backbone of a real friend.
Her 2016 album Shot Of Gold was released in New Zealand and the U.S. and garnered high praise with American magazine Vents calling it ‘simply stunning’ and Graham Reid from NZ Herald awarding it 4 stars.Jackie’s live performances captivate audiences, her soulful voice, well crafted songs and natural command of the room a testament to the commitment to her craft and to the many concert halls, festivals, and listening rooms she has played.
In 2016 Bristow was honoured to tour parts of the USA, opening for Tommy Emmanuel and the Steve Miller Band and she has previously played support for such legendary names as Rick Springfield, Phoebe Snow, Bonnie Raitt and Art Garfunkel to name a few.
Don’t miss the opportunity to catch her in a town near you.
Jackie Bristow March 2017 NZ Tour Dates
March 10 – Yot Club, Raglan – Tickets from Eventfinda
March 11 “The Acoustic Picnic” Inspiration Point, Karioi
March 12 – Leigh Sawmill, Leigh
March 17 – Blue Smoke, Christchurch
March 18 – The Manor Estate , South Hill, Oamaru
March 23 – The Rocks Restaurant and Bar , Invercargill
March 25 – The Sherwood, Queenstown – Pre sales from Eventfinda
March 26 – Bannockburn Hall, Bannockburn
March 31 – St. James Theatre, Wellington OPENING FOR BONNIE RAITT Tickets from Ticketek
April 1 – Civic Theatre, Auckland OPENING FOR BONNIE RAITT Tickets from Ticketmaster
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IMNZ Charts Playlist
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| Watch: LEISURE – Got It Bad |
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