New Zealand musicians are calling on the next government to treat music as a serious growth and export industry, warning world-class talent is increasingly competing against rising costs, shrinking live music infrastructure and an ever-growing flood of content online.
The music industry has launched a seven-point election manifesto calling for changes spanning copyright and artificial intelligence regulation, music education, venues and touring, Māori music, exports and greater exposure for local artists.
It argues New Zealand music contributed $928 million to GDP in 2024 and has the potential to capture a greater share of the global music market.
Recorded Music NZ chief executive Jo Oliver said the contradiction was already visible in the domestic market.
“What we're seeing is that the total market revenues are growing, so we are a growth industry, but New Zealand artists are finding it difficult to grab their share of that value,” she said.
Oliver said the industry wanted music recognised alongside sectors such as screen and gaming, with support spanning the entire development pipeline.
“We want government to look at the levers that it has and bring those together to really help us to help ourselves.”
That could begin with music education, she said, continue through an artist developing a career in New Zealand, and ultimately help them become ready to export.
“We've really got something great to offer to the world.”
'Essentially a small business'
For stellar* guitarist and independent label owner Chris Van de Geer, the environment facing emerging musicians today was markedly different from the one his band broke through in the 1990s.
Van de Geer said artists once had a relatively small number of major television channels and newspapers through which to reach audiences.
Today, those audiences were dispersed across platforms, and streaming had opened musicians up to enormous global competition.
"There’s 150,000 tracks a day getting ingested onto streaming services. To compete with that is kind of harder," he said.
Van de Geer said government support should be viewed as a strategic investment in artists.
“They’re essentially a small business. At times they need some support to help them get to certain points."
That could include assistance with touring offshore, recording an album or marketing at critical points in an artist's development.
Artificial intelligence also formed a significant part of the industry's pitch.
The manifesto opposed new copyright exceptions allowing AI companies to train systems on music without permission, and wanted companies to keep records of material used for training.
The industry was not opposed to musicians using AI as a creative tool, Van de Geer said, but drew the line at systems using copyrighted material to generate new work.
"There’s a real difference from that aspect to actually just prompting something and taking already copyrighted material and spinning you out a track.
"That’s illegal. We don’t want that."
'The difference between being able to do it or not'
The manifesto also called on support for music venues, changes to noise control and liquor licensing, and $2 million annually to support artists touring regional New Zealand.
The Beths guitarist Jonathan Pearce said playing live had been fundamental to his Auckland band's success.
“The way we've done it has always been driven by us going to a territory, going to a new market, going to a new country and playing on stage,” he said.
That made the pressure facing independent venues particularly concerning.
"If we lose those spaces, there'll be nowhere for you as an artist to conduct your enterprise."
Pearce questioned why music was not treated with the same strategic approach as other successful New Zealand exports.
“We give that support to sport, we give that support to kiwifruit, we give it to lamb and beef. The New Zealand music business, it's not kiwifruit, but it's not far off."
Country music star Kaylee Bell said the financial pressure was particularly obvious on tour.
Bell, who travelled with a team of at least 20 Kiwis, said her overheads had roughly doubled after three years on the road.
“It's so expensive out on the road,” she said.
Bell said existing government support played a large role in making her career possible.
“Without that government support, I think it'll be impossible for the next artist to come through. It's the difference between being able to do it or not."
She said young New Zealanders should be able to see music as a viable career, adding that her time in Nashville changed her perspective.
“In Nashville, songwriting is a 9-5 job. I never knew that until I spent time over there and saw the way that music had so much respect around it,” she said.
“I wish I'd come through school knowing that I could be a songwriter full time. It was never ever fed to me. It was always treated as a hobby here growing up.”
Māori music ‘our important point of difference’
Another of the manifesto's seven pillars focused on Māori music, calling for it to be recognised as a globally significant cultural export.
Sarah Owen from Māori Music Industry Collective Ka Korikī Ka Māranga said Māori artists worked across genres and languages, but what they offered internationally was distinctly Aotearoa.
“Māori music is an important cultural export. It is what makes Aotearoa unique,” she said.
“Our language exists only here. So it is our important point of difference.”
The manifesto also wanted greater adherence to commercial radio's voluntary 20% New Zealand music code and at least one local support act on international tours here, alongside greater promotion of local music through streaming platforms and publicly funded screen productions.
Bell said radio play and opening for international artists could have a major impact on a musician, saying her chance to open for Ed Sheeran "changed my career".
“Anytime an international is here at a level of a stadium, I think a Kiwi should be on that support,” Bell said.
For the industry, the argument was that New Zealand had already produced artists capable of finding audiences around the world, but a stronger pathway was needed for those trying to follow them.
As Van de Geer put it: "We have something to offer the world."
SHARE ME