As a result of the organisation-wide review Recorded Music undertook in 2022, we are making some changes to the usual timeline for the Aotearoa Music Awards. The next event will take place in the first half of 2024, nominations will open November 2023, and the eligibility period for AMA 2024 will be 1 August 2022-31 December 2023 (17 months). For more about the feedback from the review and reasons for the change, read on below.

2022 Review and Your Feedback

Last year we made the tough decision to pause our annual awards show to give us time to review and reflect on the awards and their purpose. Instead of our traditional large-scale show, we hosted an intimate awards event honouring the 2022 Tūī finalists and winners.

It was important to us to hear from artists about what the Awards mean to them, so we reached out to artists and the wider music community via an online survey and a series of interviews. We heard from over 350 people, the majority of whom were artists or artist managers.

The message from the community was clear: the Aotearoa Music Awards is seen as essential. Respondents told us that:

  • The Awards are seen as aspirational for emerging artists
  • Winning an award, being a finalist, and having the opportunity to perform live all bring tangible promotional benefits for artists that can raise their profile and contribute to commercial success
  • The event itself serves to bring the community together to acknowledge, recognise and validate the work of recording artists doing their mahi in an increasingly complex and challenging environment

We heard widespread support for our 2020 rebrand to Aotearoa Music Awards, and its reflection of the place, the people, the artists, the music, the fans and the overall mana of making music here in Aotearoa. We also heard the importance of the Awards reflecting Māori as tangata whenua, as well as the promotion of diversity, inclusion, and the provision of a safe and respectful environment for all participants in the awards.

We also received important feedback that we need to address, including concerns about the judging process, a lack of understanding or clarity about the criteria for judging each of the awards and questions about the make-up and diversity of the judging academies.

With respect to the event itself, we heard a wide range of views. We heard that artists want to feel a sense of community when attending the event, and many people acknowledged the tension between the in-room experience and the key role of the Awards to serve as a platform for artists to reach fans and media and to drive engagement with music from Aotearoa.

Looking ahead

While we know that we can’t please everyone, we acknowledge what we’ve heard through the review and will be making some changes. We have moved the event to a new time of year and have started work to:

  • Reassess each of the current award categories, including a review of the criteria, how they are communicated and whether they are still reflective of our modern industry
  • Take steps to ensure that voting/judging academies are gender balanced with suitable Māori and diverse representation
  • Assess the judging process – making sure both the way of voting and the weighting system is robust, based on best practice and communicated well to those involved
  • Look at the overall awards event format with a focus on creating a great live in-room experience and celebrating our diverse music community, while still providing artists with unique promotional opportunities and ways to connect with fans, including by enabling content creation and facilitating and enhancing audience reach via social and digital platforms, as well as traditional media
  • Further develop collaborative industry, commercial, media and digital platform partnerships with the shared purpose to support and celebrate our music community and to help drive audience reach and engagement with music and artists from Aotearoa

This work will take some time and as a result the next Aotearoa Music Awards event will take place in the first half of 2024, with a launch event in November 2023. This will mean a 17-month eligibility period and a new timeline for the Awards, with nominations opening in November 2023.

Further event details will be announced at a later date. Please stay tuned and keep an eye on the Recorded Music NZ and Aotearoa Music Awards socials for further updates.

In the meantime, we always welcome your views and feedback. You can either contact AMA Kaiwhakahaere Sarah Owen personally, or submit feedback via feedback@recordedmusic.co.nz