The New Zealand Music Commission are encouraging Aotearoa to ‘Level Up’ this TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA 2022 (NZ Music Month). This year’s ‘Level Up’ theme is about bringing into focus tomorrow’s stars, showcasing up-and-coming talent and success stories, and celebrating what emerging success means for the New Zealand artists.

Rodney Fisher, NZ Music Commission, hopes 2022’s ‘Level Up’ theme will encourage all members of New Zealand’s music industry to be proactive and support the new generation of incredible artists and music professionals: “We’d love for this year’s TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA to not only shine a light on Aotearoa’s incredible emerging artists, but to also support them to the next level of their music career.”

An exciting range of upskilling events are confirmed to take place around the country to help build skills for careers in music, with RDU 98.5 in Christchurch launching Synthonics Electronic Music Production workshops, Making Waves music production sessions happening in Wellington and Auckland, and the Aotearoa Music Producers Series taking place in Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Invercargill and Dunedin.

On Monday 2nd May, THE STUDIO is taking place at Christchurch’s SOLE Music Academy, with Tiki Taane, rising indie star Mousey and production dream team Josh Logan and Adam Hogan (LOHO) delving into the process of taking a song from demo to final produced track.

Ending a month of upskilling opportunities, this year’s NZ Music Month Summit will return on Saturday 28th May at the Tuning Fork in Auckland in partnership with the Music Manager’s Forum Aotearoa. There will be discussions with NZ artists and music industry professionals around the TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA 2022 ‘Level Up’ theme of supporting emerging musical talent.

For younger Kiwis, the Musicians Mentoring in Schools programme will connect New Zealand’s top music artists with emerging young talent in schools around the country. This year-round project gets super-charged for May, with 38 school visits booked to date and more to be added with the national move to orange. Mentors including Laughton Kora, Bella Kalolo, Mazbou Q and Annie Crummer are visiting schools from Invercargill to Taipa in the Far North over the course of the month.

A huge range of celebrations, new releases, artist tours, initiatives and special events will be rolling out nationwide during the month of May. Here’s a snapshot of what’s coming up, with more information to follow in our weekly e-newsletters:

The hugely popular NZ Music T-Shirt Day returns on Friday 27th May, with Kiwis encouraged to wear their favourite music t-shirt and donate to the MusicHelps appeal. The charity is providing vital support to workers in the Aotearoa music industry whose livelihoods have been compromised due to the challenges of Covid-19. Get involved and register a team at: https://www.nzmusictshirtday.org.nz/donate
TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA 2022 will see a phenomenal line-up of local acts performing right across Aotearoa. The Veils, Bic Runga, Nadia Reid and Arahi will perform a free show at Lilypad on Sunday 8th May, debuting new venue Lilyworld at Mt Smart Stadium. One week later, Lilyworld will play host to new festival Everyday People, featuring Melodownz, Summer Thieves, Muroki, Sin, Peach Milk, AW B, Soaked Oats and many more. Other confirmed shows this May include Niko Walters, Emma Dilemma with band and Con Carne, Sam Bartells, Albi & The Wolves, Salmonella Dub, Adam Hattaway & Tess Liautaud, Jackie Bristow, Tablefox, Anthonie Tonnon, Daniel Armstrong & The Monsoons, Savage with DJ SirVere, Kings, Vayne, Tipene & Katayanagi Twins, Trip Change, Pretty Stooked, French for Rabbits, Turkey the Bird, Kendall Elise, Wallace, Julia Deans, The Warratahs & Ebony Lamb, Jon Toogood and more to be announced!
Phantom Billstickers are celebrating their 40th birthday – by giving a gift to local artists. For any local artists undertaking a poster campaign during TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA, Phantom will give them their first 40 posters for free.
NZ On Screen and AudioCulture join forces to launch the landmark popular music documentary series Give It A Whirl, which showcases the first five decades of rock & roll history in Aotearoa. The six-part series, plus 12 full-length interviews recorded for the series, will launch on Wednesday 27th April.
The Children’s Music Awards 2022 have been confirmed for Sunday 15th May to celebrate the writers and performers who make music for the tamariki of Aotearoa.
The NZ Music Month MusicHelps Quiz is confirmed for Wednesday 25th May at the Tuning Fork in Auckland. This will be followed by a TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA 2022 Showcase on Thursday 26th May in Auckland, with a focus on celebrating emerging Māori musicians.
Dunedin will be hosting Monocle - Musical Furniture, an interactive foray into synthesised music. Throughout TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA, this project will transform a handful of vacant spaces within the George Street precinct into immersive, interactive sound installations.
TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA 2022 have partnered with the New Zealand Herald for a special Time Out print edition, featuring 100% local music. This issue will appear on shelves on Monday 2nd May.

Auckland Live will once again be celebrating TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA with a host of events and activations set to be announced on Wednesday 27th April at aucklandlive.co.nz
New Zealand’s longest-running music photography exhibition FromThePit returns to various venues from Monday 2nd May to celebrate creative works from some of Aotearoa’s best music photographers. 2022 sees 50 photographers from around the country sharing epic memories of local talent.
In exciting news just announced, the Taite Music Prize is moving to May! An in-person ceremony will be held to celebrate extraordinary records and name the winner of the coveted Taite Music Prize for 2022 on Sunday 29th May. A fitting way to close a month of saluting excellent music from all across Aotearoa.

TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA is run by the NZ Music Commission, with support from APRA AMCOS, Independent Music NZ, the Music Managers Forum, NZ On Air, Recorded Music NZ, SOUNZ and Te Māngai Pāho. The purpose of TE MARAMA PUORO O AOTEAROA is to celebrate music from New Zealand, and the people who make it.

NZ Music Month: ‘Level Up our Local Talent’