Music in 2025-26

Demand remained high across our music funding programmes, reflecting both the strength of the local sector and the continued pressure on our artists to cut through in an increasingly crowded global market.

Across the year, NZ On Air funded 214 singles through nine funding rounds, including targeted opportunities through Waiata Takitahi, New Music Kids, New Music Pasifika and New Music Pan-Asian. Of these, NZ On Air supported:

• 149 New Music Singles from 766 applications across five rounds
• 48 first-time recipients, showing our ongoing role in supporting emerging artists
• 49 New Music Projects, including New Music Project Kids.

This was the first year of New Music Project Touring, which provides an important bridge between funded releases and live audience connection. In 2025 we supported 21 tours, helping artists take their music into communities across Aotearoa, from the main centres to regional locations including Whangārei, Raglan, Paekākāriki, Queenstown, Tākaka, Waiheke, Kerikeri, Ashburton, Ōtaki and Gisborne. This support is especially valuable when touring costs are high and live performance plays an important role in building loyal audiences.

New Zealand artists continued to connect with audiences across radio, streaming platforms and live music experiences throughout 2025-26. Local music made up 16.68% of commercial radio airplay and 71.47% of alternative radio programming, while New Zealand songs accounted for 6.41% of streams on major digital platforms (621 million streams).

NZ On Air remains focused on helping local artists find and grow their audiences. Alongside funding music creation, we supported opportunities for artists to strengthen their promotional skills, better understand streaming and audience engagement tools, and build relationships with radio and playlist decision-makers. Together, these initiatives help ensure more New Zealand music can be discovered, shared and enjoyed by audiences across Aotearoa and beyond.

Blending electronic dance influences with their distinctive homegrown alt-pop sound, Balu Brigada have since gone from local cult favourites to global artists, relocating to New York City, making their television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and building an audience of 5 million+ monthly Spotify listeners and over 300,000 social media followers.

The release of Portal has accelerated their international rise, including a sold-out UK and European tour and performances at major events such as Lollapalooza. In recognition of their impact, Balu Brigada received the Te Manu Mātārae Tūī at the Aotearoa Music Awards, honouring artists who have made a significant contribution to New Zealand’s music landscape. As Rolling Stone noted, Balu Brigada is “one of the biggest success stories in modern NZ music”.

Balu Brigada – Portal (album, August 2025), funded through New Music Project.

Borderline

Borderline’s self-titled debut album has marked a major breakthrough for one of Aotearoa’s fastest-rising indie-pop acts, generating more than 6.5 million streams since its release in June 2026 following support through New Music Project 2025.

The Auckland-based band’s journey with NZ On Air began when lead vocalist and guitarist Ben Glanfield won the 2020 Smokefreerockquest Solo/Duo category alongside sister Brody, earning an NZ On Air grant that helped launch his recording career.

After Ben joined Borderline in 2021, the band received New Music Single funding for Heartbeat (2024), which accumulated more than 600,000 streams, and When It’s Raining (2025), which exceeded 3.9 million streams. Their development was further supported through NZ On Air-funded music feature radio programmes, including Uncover Discover on The Edge, Locals Only on ZM and The Hits, and Wired on More FM, helping build a national audience.

As the first New Zealand act signed to US independent powerhouse EMPIRE, Borderline has gone on to receive airplay across ZM, The Edge, More FM, BBC Radio 1, Triple J and US College Radio, while performing at SXSW, The Great Escape, SoundSplash and Rhythm & Vines. The album reached #3 on the Top 20 Aotearoa Albums Chart, while every album single achieved a Top 10 placement on the Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles Chart, led by Watching It Burn, which spent five weeks at #1 following its March 2026 release.

Produced by EDYONTHEBEAT, Talia’s contemporary blend of R&B and soul has resonated with audiences and also received airplay on Mai FM. Achieving this level of audience growth, streaming success and industry recognition within little more than a year of releasing her first music highlights the exceptional pace of her development and positions Talia as an exciting emerging artist.

Talia Perese – Special (New Music Single, September 2025), Mess We Made (feat. Donson PK, New Music Single, April 2026), and Something Stupid (New Music Pasifika, April 2026).

Dick Move

Tāmaki Makaurau party-punk band Dick Move’s album Dream, Believe, Achieve has continued the group’s rise as one of Aotearoa’s most distinctive and critically acclaimed independent rock acts, generating 250,000+ streams and over 130,000 YouTube views since its release in November 2025 following support through New Music Project 2025.

The album’s lead single, Scared Old Men, won the award for Best Music Video Content, while the band was recognised as a finalist for both Best Group and Best Rock/Metal Artist at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards and was named a Top 10 finalist for the 2026 Taite Music Prize. The band's growing profile saw them perform at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards and support Foo Fighters at their Auckland stadium show in January 2026.

Support through New Music Project Touring enable Dick Move to take Dream, Believe, Achieve on a nationwide tour in late 2025, reaching audiences across Aotearoa. The tour comprised 10 performances across eight centres, including four all-ages shows at venues in Tauranga, Wellington, Dunedin and Auckland, and attracted approximately 1,000 attendees. Following the successful New Zealand run, the band extended with an Australian tour.

Together, the album and touring outcomes highlight the value of long-term development support, helping Dick Move translate grassroots success into national recognition, critical acclaim and growing international opportunities.

Dick Move – Dream, Believe, Achieve (album, funded through New Music Project) and Dream, Believe, Achieve Aotearoa Tour (funded through New Music Project Touring).

Singles from the project also charted strongly, with Neon Cowgirl featuring Neil Finn reaching No. 10 on the Official Aotearoa Singles Chart. Single Borrow My Boots peaked at No. 9 and also reached No. 25 on the Americana Singles Chart, with the album climbing to No. 18 on the Americana Album Chart in the US.

In 2026, Neilson was awarded Best Country Music Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards, adding to an unparalleled record of eight Tūī wins in the country category across her career.

Tami Neilson – Neon Cowgirl (album, July 2025), funded through New Music Project 2024.

Yogi

Punjabi artist Yogi (Rai) achieved a breakthrough with the release of Billiyan Akhiyan. Selected as one of just 20 recipients in the May 2025 New Music Pan-Asian funding round, this was his first-ever NZ On Air grant.

Released in October 2025, Billiyan Akhiyan combines Punjabi language and contemporary music influences to connect with audiences in Aotearoa and internationally. The track has generated more than 1.1 million views on YouTube, an exceptional result for a first-time funding recipient, while helping Yogi build a social media following.

His success has also attracted wider media attention, with coverage highlighting how a Punjabi artist living in the rural outskirts of Auckland has quietly reached an audience of more than one million people through a culturally authentic release. The achievement demonstrates the impact of New Music Pan-Asian support in enabling underrepresented voices to reach new audiences and the growing appetite for multilingual music created in Aotearoa.

Yogi – Billiyan Akhiyan (New Music Pan-Asian single, released October 2025)

The album’s standout single Tidying Up received prominent placement on Spotify’s editorial New Kids Music playlist, reaching more than 90,000 streams in its first two weeks and subsequently surpassing 220,000 streams. The track was also recognised in Electric Kids Music’s Top 20 Kindie Songs of 2025.

The album’s success has helped Itty Bitty Beats grow to more than 308,000 monthly Spotify listeners and over 10,000 Spotify followers, demonstrating significant audience demand for locally created children’s music.

Through songs covering themes such as tidying up, washing hands, emotional wellbeing and inclusion, the project continues the duo’s commitment to creating music that is both entertaining and educational. The album also reflects Lucy Hiku’s lived experience of disability and being a wheelchair user, with themes of accessibility, inclusion and diverse ways of moving through the world thoughtfully woven throughout the music, helping children engage with a broader range of experiences and perspectives.

Together, these elements reinforce Itty Bitty Beats’ reputation for creating joyful, meaningful music that supports learning while celebrating diversity and belonging.

Itty Bitty Beats – Songs for Early Learning (album, released January 2026), funded through New Music Project Kids.

Waiata Takitahi 2025-26

We co-funded 15 songs with Te Māngai Paho, spending $120,000 of NZ On Air funding.

Find out more on the Rautaki Māori page.

NZ On Air Music Showcases

NZ On Air's music showcases provide a platform for emerging artists to perform live in front of media, radio and streaming representatives. Held three to four times each year, these events foster connections between artists and industry decision-makers while also helping to raise the profile of new local talent. Through complementary social media promotion, the showcases also support broader public engagement with New Zealand music.

Showcases in 2025/26 included performances by emerging artists - Imani-J, Rosie Teese, Te Wehi , WHO SHOT SCOTT, ELENA, Emerson, Made You Look and Myshaan.