Latest news with #APRAAMCOS
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
SONGHUBS: A Story On Collaboration
APRA AMCOS' flagship collaborative songwriting program, SongHubs, has unveiled a brand-new documentary, SongHubs: A Story on Collaboration, celebrating the stories and experiences of leading songwriters and producers across Aotearoa and Australia. Filmed as part of the program's 100th SongHubs celebrations, the documentary provides a rare glimpse inside some of its most pivotal songwriting pairings of the past eleven years, featuring songwriters and producers from Auckland, London, Melbourne and Sydney including Bic Runga, Chris Tamwoy, Jordan Rakei, Josh Fountain, Alice Ivy, AR/CO, and Telenova. Ivor Novello nominated singer/songwriter and producer, Jordan Rakei, was inspired to write acclaimed album The Loop after attending a 2022 SongHubs event in London and curating their own SongHubs in Tāmaki Makaurau in 2023. 'The Loop was a massive collaboration album,' Tokoroa-born Rakei explains. "That was actually inspired by my time with the cross-collaboration with APRA AMCOS and SongHubs. I can't really do a solo album anymore, I just love collaborating.' Since its inception in 2013, SongHubs has provided opportunities for over 2,000 emerging and established songwriters across over 30 locations worldwide, pairing them with local, national and global creatives in a collaborative, professional studio setting and cementing its position as one of the region's most exciting and innovative programs for music creators. SongHubs has evolved from a straight-forward writing camp to a highly sought-after collaborative writing program, providing participants with new skills and connections to help build their career and produce commercially successful music, with over 200 songs released and approx. NZD$7 million in royalties earned. To date, more than 6,000 tracks have been co-written in languages including te reo Māori, Indian, Korean, Portuguese and First Nations languages from collaborators including CHAII, Courtney Barnett, Stan Walker, JessB, and Troye Sivan. Bic Runga, award-winning singer/songwriter/producer and APRA Writer Board Representative, explains: 'I wasn't a natural co-writer. I always wrote by myself. And so SongHubs got me out of my really insular sort of songwriting style. And if you're lucky enough to have any SongHubs away from your home base, you really connect with people and the relationships just go on and it's really, really something." "From a Māori worldview perspective, you know, music has nothing to do with 'industry' - it's pure magic. And that's the essence of what I think we need to keep remembering. It's sort of spiritual, you know? And I think, sometimes, when you get too 'industried out', it's good to remember what the purpose of music actually is. It's a really human experience."
Scoop
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Finalists Announced For 2025 Apra Best Country Music Song
Celebrating the best in Aotearoa country music APRA AMCOS NZ are pleased to announce the 2025 APRA Best Country Music Song award finalists, with the winner to be presented at the Country Music Honours in Gore on Friday 23 May. ' 5432 ' written and performed by Mel Parsons ' Blue Dreams ' written and performed by Holly Arrowsmith ' Borrow My Boots ' written and performed by Tami Neilson, Ashley McBryde, and Shelly Fairchild, featuring Grace Bowers Multi award-winning Mel Parsons is one of New Zealand's most established songwriting stars with a dedicated fan base across six records and countless tours. Having won the MLT Songwriting Award in 2024 with ' Hardest Thing ', Parsons returns to Gore with ' 5432 ', an expression of love and quiet hope above gnawing self-doubt. With a soaring Crosby-Stills-Nash style vocal harmony in the chorus, the song explores the common experience of artists – the inner battle between anxiety and being able to produce work. Having toured with Crowded House in 2024, her latest album Sabotage saw her a finalist for the prestigious Taite Music Prize and 2025 Aotearoa Music Award finalist for Album of the Year and Best Folk Artist. Mel celebrates her latest single and video ' Post High Slide ' with a run of shows through Aotearoa and Australia in June. 2024 APRA Best Country Song Award winner for ' Desert Dove ', Holly Arrowsmith returns to the finalist with the title track from the album ' Blue Dreams '. A leader in New Zealand's contemporary Folk, Alt-Country and Americana movement, Arrowsmith was a finalist for the coveted Taite Music Prize while the album also sees her with a finalist nod at the upcoming Aotearoa Music Awards for Best Folk Artist. The moving title track ' Blue Dreams ' delves into life as a first-time parent, surviving those early days of chronic exhaustion while managing the huge burden of responsibility, bringing life into such a turbulent world. Showing a real domestic scene, not a glorified one; the often-invisible work of Mothers, especially. Those messy, imperfect, sometimes lonely, tender and mundane days with your beautiful baby, time in suspension – for a time. Tami Neilson is no stranger to awards, having won this award five times since 2014, alongside multiple Aotearoa Music Awards, an APRA Silver Scroll and chart-topping success. Fresh off the back of a tour with Willie Nelson, her next studio album ' Neon Cowgirl ' will be released 11th July, followed by US tour supports for Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. Nominated track ' Borrow My Boots ', out 15 May, was co-written long-distance with US country stars Ashley McBryce and powerhouse songwriter Shelly Fairchild after Neilson's experiences of being lifted up and encouraged by her musical peers in the US; in Tami's words that's how you say, 'Hey Sister, you can borrow my boots'. Ant Healey of APRA AMCOS says 'These songs speak with honesty, power, and heart—capturing the stories that connect us all. Each songwriter offers a perspective that is both deeply personal and reminds us of the strength found in community. It's an honour to recognise such exceptional songwriting talent.'
