Announcing The Finalists For 2021 Artisan Awards

Recognising the success of Aotearoa’s behind-the-scenes music talent

For the sixth year running, Recorded Music NZ and Massey University will celebrate the unsung heroes of Aotearoa’s music industry at the AMA Artisan Awards.

The 2021 Artisan Award finalists and winners will be celebrated in a pre-recorded showcase made at Massey University and released on TVNZ OnDemand.

The show will feature performances from Jaedyn Randell and Dream Chambers, The Nudge V Troy Kingi, and Ka Hao.

The five Tūi presented are:

• Massey University Te Kaiwhakaputa Toa | Best Producer
• NZ On Air Te Kiko Puoro Ataata Toa | Best Music Video Content
• Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Album Artwork
• Te Kaipukaha Toa | Best Engineer
• Kaiārahi Puoro o te Tau | Music Teacher of the Year

Alongside these five the Music Managers Forum Aotearoa will also be presenting the Recorded Music NZ Kaiwhakahaere Puoro o te Tau | Manager of the Year.

Recorded Music New Zealand Kaiwhakahaere o Ngā Tohu Puoro o Aotearoa Sarah Owen says it’s been another challenging year for the creative industries, with COVID-19 impacting all aspects of Aotearoa’s hapori puoro.

“While this year has certainly had its challenges, it’s also been filled with success stories from Aotearoa’s music community. Everything comes together behind the scenes and we’re lucky to have some of the world’s best producers, engineers, designers, directors, teachers, managers and artists,” says Owen.

The Best Album Artwork finalists for 2021 are Amanda Cheng for her work on Wax Chattel’s Clot, Jaime Robertson, Matthias Heidrich and Andrew Spraggon for their work on Sola Rosa’s Chasing the Sun, and Frances Carter for TEEKS’ Something to Feel. All three album covers can be found here.

The finalists for Massey University Best Producer are Delaney Davidson and Jol Mulholland for Troy Kingi’s fifth studio album Black Sea Golden Ladder, Harry Huavi for his work on Team Dynamite’s Respect The Process.

Joel Little is the third finalist for Best Producer for his work on Noah Kahan’s ‘Part of Me’, Jarryd James’ ‘Miracles’, Tate McRae and Khalid’s ‘Working’, Imagine Dragons’ ‘Follow You’ and Vance Joy’s ‘Missing Piece’.

Jol Mulholland sees his second 2021 Artisan nod for Troy Kingi’s Black Sea Golden Ladder in the Best Engineer category, alongside Lee Prebble and Ara Adams-Tamatea on L.A.B.’s fourth album L.A.B. IV and Simon Gooding on TEEKS’ Something to Feel.

The finalists for this year’s NZ On Air Best Music Video Content are Alexander Gander for Georgia Lines’ ‘No One Knows’, Anahera Parata for Louis Baker’s powerful tribute to his late grandfather ‘Brighter Day’ and Connor Pritchard for MELODOWNZ’s ‘Money’.

Andre Ktori, Head of School, School of Music and Creative Media Production at Massey University says: “As always Massey University is proud to be hosting the Artisan Awards. Like so many in our sector, we have been challenged again with producing a live event this year but are pleased that our students, staff and industry whānau have all come together to create a show that acknowledges and celebrates the awesome talent here in Aotearoa”

This year, we will again be recognising the enormous impact music teachers have on the beginning of our homegrown talents’ musical careers and the foundation of their understanding.

The nominees for Music Teacher of the Year are Papakura High School’s Andrea Rabin, Hobsonville Point Secondary School’s Jeni Little, while Gisborne Girls High School’s Jane Egan receives her third nomination for the award.

Finally, the three nominees for Recorded Music NZ Manager of the Year celebrates the strong wāhine paving the way for their artists, with Cushla Aston, Lorraine Barry and NicNak Media’s Nicole Thomas and Paula Yeoman.

MMF Aotearoa chair Teresa Patterson says: “We’re so honoured to be presenting the 2021 Music Manager of the Year award with the Artisan Awards again. Our industry has taken such a massive hit this year, and music managers have been critical in helping our nation’s artists continue to create and their business to survive. This award allows us to recognise and appreciate all that hard work.”

The 2021 Artisan Awards are being pre-recorded at Massey University’s flagship recording studios in Wellington and will be available on TVNZ OnDemand at a later date.

2021 Artisan Award Finalists

Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Album Artwork

• Amanda Cheng – Clot (Wax Chattels)
• Jaime Robertson/Matthias Heidrich/Andrew Spraggon – Chasing The Sun (Sola Rosa)
• Frances Carter – Something To Feel (TEEKS)

Massey University Te Kaiwhakaputa Toa | Best Producer

• Delaney Davidson & Jol Mulholland - Black Sea, Golden Ladder (Troy Kingi)
• Harry Huavi – Respect The Process (Team Dynamite)
• Joel Little – ‘Part of Me’ (Noah Kahan), ‘Miracles’ (Jarryd James), ‘Working’ (Tate McRae & Khalid), ‘Follow You’ (Imagine Dragons), ‘Missing Piece’ (Vance Joy)

Te Kaipukaha Toa | Best Engineer

• Jol Mulholland - Black Sea, Golden Ladder (Troy Kingi)
• Lee Prebble & Ara Adams-Tamatea – L.A.B IV (L.A.B)
• Simon Gooding – Something To Feel (TEEKS)

NZ On Air Te Kiko Puoro Ataata Toa | Best Music Video Content

• Alexander Gander – ‘No One Knows’ (Georgia Lines)
• Anahera Parata – ‘Brighter Day’ (Louis Baker)
• Connor Pritchard – ‘Money’ (MELODOWNZ)

Kaiārahi Puoro o te Tau | Music Teacher of the Year

• Andrea Rabin (Papakura High School)
• Jane Egan (Gisborne Girls High School)
• Jeni Little (Hobsonville Point Secondary School)

Recorded Music NZ Kaiwhakahaere Puoro o te Tau | Manager of the Year (presented by the Music Managers Forum Aotearoa

• Cushla Aston (Aston Road)
  • Louis Baker
• Lorraine Barry (Lorraine Barry Management)
  • Sir Dave Dobbyn, Tom Scott, Team Dynamite, Aaradhna and VGB
• Nicole Thomas & Paula Yeoman (NicNak Media Ltd)
  • Theia, Chores, Paige, Abby Wolfe, & Nganeko

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