Music Commission News

Today is the anniversary of the inaugural Pacific Music Awards, which were held in 2005 at Auckland’s Pasifika Festival. This date is even more special, as it affirms that the 2024 Pacific Music Awards will be the 20th awards ceremony held. The Pacific Music Awards Trust are proud to have reached the 20th anniversary and to have been celebrating Pacific music and honouring Pacific artists for two decades. The Trust acknowledges this is a significant milestone for the Pacific music community and are planning a very special awards ceremony, which will be held on Thursday 29 August, at the Due Drop Events Centre, Manukau, Auckland.

Reaching the 20th anniversary signals the importance and growth of the Pacific music community. To honour the 20th year the Pacific Music Awards Trust through their Tautua Programme, will host events throughout the year in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, to celebrate and connect with communities around Aotearoa. The Trust began the year supporting performances by Pacific artists at the Waitangi ki Manukau, Waitangi Day ki Tamaki and Portage Crossing events in Auckland. Collaborating with these community events and supporting Pacific artists was a great way to begin the 20th anniversary celebrations. The Trust also has plans for a signature music project, supporting new original songs in Pacific languages.

At the 2005 Pacific Music Awards, seven awards were presented to Tha Feelstyle (winning 3 awards), Adeaze, Ardijah, Sarah Jane Auva’a and Phillip Fuemana who was posthumously recognised with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Performers on the night included Nesian Mystik, Adeaze, Tha Feelstyle, Alphrisk and Sela Mahe. Held as part of the opening night for Pasifika, the next year the awards moved to the Telstra Clear Events Centre (as it was named then) in Manukau, where it has been held ever since. First in the theatre and then moving to the arena, the now named Due Drop Events Centre has been the home for the Pacific Music Awards. The Trust acknowledges the organising committee and Recorded Music NZ who organised the awards; and also the group of sponsors that supported the inaugural awards and who have continued their support every year: APRA, 531PI, Niu FM, NZ Music Commission and Recorded Music NZ. C4 was also a sponsor and provided support to broadcast the highlights of the awards.

In 2005, a number of artists/sculptors were invited to submit concept designs for the awards trophy. Colin Faleafata’s design was chosen, which has remained till this day as the trophy design for the Pacific Music Awards. A key theme of the design was ‘a sail riding on a favourable wave’, to celebrate the journey of Pacific musicians and artists being honoured.

Entries for the 2024 Pacific Music Awards will open on 15 March and this is for the 13 entered categories. There are a further 8 awards presented, making the total number of awards as 21, that will be confirmed at the 2024 awards. The Trust will share more information about the awards ceremony in the coming months.

The Trust are encouraging everyone to celebrate and honour Pacific music this year – past, present and future. The Trust looks forward to sharing the 20th anniversary celebration of Pacific music and the 2024 Pacific Music Awards with the Pacific music community, family, friends and the music industry.

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