26 May 2022
The Waiata Reo Māori music showcase kicked off last week celebrating some of Aotearoa’s top waiata reo Māori songwriters and performers.
Since the launch of Waiata Anthems Week last year and other industry-wide initiatives, Māori music has been dominating charts here in Aotearoa and sparking conversations around the world.
Paul Kennedy from Radioscope/Recorded Music NZ says 2021 saw an unprecedented increase in waiata reo Māori plays on Aotearoa commercial radio, up by 113% over the number of plays recorded in 2019. He put that surge down primarily to Waiata Anthems Week.
And the good news is the trend seems to be continuing, with latest quarter 1 figures for 2022 showing 9447 plays over 3264 for the same period last year, an increase of 189%.
The Waiata Reo Māori music showcase – jointly supported by NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho, APRA AMCOS NZ and NZ Music Commission – was live streamed on the Waiata Anthems YouTube channel.
Nine outstanding artists performed: Kings, Mohi Allen, Rei, Anna Coddington, Louis Baker, Hāni Dread, Chad Chambers, Georgia Lines, Hina and Huia.
Check out this interview with Jase from Tahu FM who gets up close and personal with some of the artists who performed on the night.
Check out the recorded YouTube live stream above (live until 18 June 2022).
Image credit: Dalong Ye-Lee