NZ Music Month 2020 - 'Support Local. Stream Local. Follow Local. Buy Local'

Aotearoa music continues to thrive as the twentieth New Zealand Music Month approaches, with a stonkin' roll out of events and initiatives on the cards for May 2020, all catered to the cooped up state we're all in. The theme this year is timeless and simple: "Support local. Stream local. Follow local. Buy local." – an ever important message that deserves extra attention right now.

Online music channel E NOHO will be putting on a live streamed show every Friday night for all of May, showcasing three different artists each week and hosted by musician Ed Waaka. Independent Music NZ’s Going Local seminars and the NZ Music Month Summit will go ahead online, prioritising advice and handy information on how to work as a musician when touring is off the table. As per 2018, the Two Daze compilation returns, recruiting a nationwide dream team of musicians to contribute songs they've written in just 48 hours. And if all that wasn't exciting enough, the cherry on the NZMM cake is Holiday Records' plan to press a 7" record in Aotearoa for the first time since 1987, and early next month they're taking on the task of choosing which artist it'll feature.

There's plenty more where that came from, and as spokesperson Rodney Fisher rightly put it "So much has changed in the past few weeks and this May will be unlike any NZ Music Month we’ve seen before", so watch this space and take in the full stack of facts from the NZ Music Month team below...

• The NZ Music Commission have partnered with E NOHO to deliver a live stream from various regions this May to showcase emerging talent and new discoveries. The weekly stream will be hosted by musician Ed Waaka and will feature three acts per show, every Friday at 8pm during May via E NOHO and NZ Music Month’s Facebook pages. E NOHO is a live stream music show created in response to COVID-19 to help promote mental wellbeing and connection through music and storytelling.

• Online seminars and hui will continue during May, with lots of great advice on building a music career and profile when musicians can’t go on tour. This includes Independent Music NZ’s Going Local seminars and the annual NZ Music MonthSummit, presented in conjunction with the NZ Music Manager’s Forum.

• A host of NZ Music specials are planned with various radio stations across the country, which we are looking forward to highlighting over the month.

• Two Daze are set to release their second compilation, featuring tracks from across Aotearoa that were recorded in just 48 hours.

• Holiday Records are running a campaign during the first half of NZ Music Month to choose the first 7” pressed in NZ since 1987.

• Many events that were in the calendar for May will go ahead online, including the Nook & Cranny Festival in Dunedin and Raglan Roast, which will now be a weekly show, streamed from a coffee shop each Saturday night. There is going to be a bumper crop of online events to enjoy from the comfort of your home, and the NZ Music Month Facebook Event page will have all of the details as they come to hand.