Some fresh faces and some familiar faces are in the line up of finalists for the Vodafone NZ Music Awards (Tuis) - NZ On Air congratulates them all.
In particular we congratulate the winners of the Technical Tuis announced tonight. Lee Prebble and Brett Stanton, along with The Phoenix Foundation picked up two awards for Best Producer and Best Engineer on The Phoenix Foundation's Fandango, and Gina Kiel and Harry A'Court got the Tui for Best Album Cover for Fat Freddy's Drop's Blackbird.
NZ On Air is delighted to again be associated with the awards, sponsoring two categories - The NZ On Air Radio Airplay award and the NZ On Air Best Music Video award. The finalists have been announced this evening.
"All of the artists who have made the finalist list should be proud of their achievement," said NZ On Air Music Manager Brendan Smyth.
In total, of the 70 finalists named in 25 categories, 53 have received support from NZ On Air through the Making Tracks scheme.
"76 per cent of the finalists have been supported by NZ On Air. Not only does this show how key this funding is to the vitality of the music sector, but also that the music our Making Tracks panel select for funding is award-worthy," said Mr Smyth.
Earlier in the year three NZ On Air funded artists scooped the Tuis for Best Folk Album (Great North), Best Country Album (Delaney Davidson & Marlon Williams) and Best Pacific Album (Aaradhna).
"We think these awards are an excellent way to celebrate the huge variety and excellent quality of New Zealand music."
The full list of finalists can be found at www.nzmusicawards.co.nz