New Music Project

New Music Project (NMP) is funding ranging from $11,000 to $55,000 (including the Artist Creation Fee) that is available for multi-song projects, with a minimum of five songs.

For NMP funding decisions from July 2024, co-investment towards the NZ On Air total funding budget will no longer be required. However, you must show there is co-investment in other aspects of the project release that are not funded by NZ On Air.

This co-investment could include:

• Domestic or international touring
• Showcases
• International release/marketing/promotion costs
• Record label or distributor internal costs
• Branding or creative direction

Since January 2024, the mandatory Artist Creation Fee (ACF), amounting up to 10% of your total NZ On Air funding, has been available. This is applied in addition to your grant and disbursed exclusively in the final drawdown. The ACF covers creative work provided by the artist for the funded project and is ringfenced solely for this purpose. For example: if your funding commitment is $50,000, the addition of the ACF brings the project's total NZ On Air funding to $55,000.

New Music Project funding requires the involvement of a project manager and a third-party Aotearoa-based professional music company in the project. Confirmation of this involvement will be required in writing to go alongside your funding application.

Before making an enquiry about New Music Project funding, you must first ensure you meet the pre-application criteria. Potential applicants that meet these criteria must then prepare an Expression of Interest (EOI) that contains a one-paragraph project overview and details of the project manager and third-party company. This needs to be emailed to project@nzonair.govt.nz at least two weeks before the funding deadline.

NZ On Air has discretion as to who is accepted into the round.

The level of funding granted will depend on the potential for the project to meet NZ On Air’s strategic objectives of increasing the percentage of Aotearoa music on radio, and the potential to achieve high levels of online streaming and engagement.

If you are eligible to apply for New Music Project funding, your full application must contain:

• A project overview, including KPI's
• Recording and production plan
• Release plan for the project
• Marketing and promotional plan
• Budgets outlining costs for recording, production, video content and marketing
• Full project timeline
• Artist track record
• Project manager and third-party company track record on music releases
• Bios on all the key team involved in the project
• Audio of at least two to three demo recordings, provided as MP3 files or as a link to download
• Evidence of co-investment in the other aspects of the album release that are not funded by NZ On Air

Please note that the NZ On Air funding can only be used for activities that occurs from the application open date. Therefore, any costs incurred before this date (i.e. pre-production, recording costs, mixing, mastering etc.) are not eligible for funding. If the activity occurred before the application open date but was not invoiced until after the date, this cost is still not eligible.