Taite Music Prize 2014 Finalists Announced

The finalists for this years Taite Music Prize have been announced and include Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Beastwars, Sheep Dog & Wolf, The Phoenix Foundation, David Dallas, @peace, Lorde and Jonathan Bree. Now in its fifth year, many of this year's nominees have been up for the award before with UMO having previously won the award in 2012 for his debut album. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Auckland in April, where the Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award will be also be presented. Here are the nominees and their records...

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II
Beastwars - Blood Becomes Fire
Sheep Dog & Wolf - Egospect
The Phoenix Foundation - Fandango
David Dallas - Falling Into Place
@peace - Girl Songs
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Jonathan Bree - The Primrose Path

Press Releases:

The Taite Music Prize: Announcing The Finalists

The finalists for the Taite Music Prize 2014 have now been confirmed. Named after the late Dylan Taite, one of the country's most highly respected music journalists, this will be the fifth year for the award. The Taite Music Prize's purpose is to recognise outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one album.

The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, to be spent as they wish. The cash prize is kindly supplied by Recorded Music NZ. The winner will also receive free recording time at Red Bull Studios and a year's supply of Red Bull Product.

This year's finalists, from a lengthy list of nominations submitted by record labels both independent and major from across the country, are:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - 'II' (Rhythmethod)
Beastwars - 'Blood Becomes Fire' (Destroy Records)
Sheep Dog & Wolf - 'Egospect' (Lil' Chief Records)
The Phoenix Foundation - 'Fandango' (The Phoenix Foundation/Universal)
David Dallas - 'Falling Into Place' (Frequency Media Group/Universal)
@peace - 'Girl Songs' (Frequency Media Group/Universal)
Lorde - 'Pure Heroine' (Universal Music New Zealand)
Jonathan Bree - 'The Primrose Path' (Lil' Chief Records)

The voting panel to determine the finalists was made up of a broad section of music media/industry specialists alongside all current members of Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ). There will be a second round of judging by a selected music panel to decide the overall winner. The judges will make their decision based entirely on the artistic merit of the album(s). Sales, genres, artist recognition or popularity are not contributing factors in their decision-making process.

The selected finalist music panel for 2014 is made up of the following persons:

Finalist Judging Panel for Taite Music Prize 2014
- Gary Steel (Metro writer, free-range journalist)
- T'Nealle Joie (The Darkroom / The Last Word)
- Grant Smithies (Sunday Star Times)
- Pennie Blair (Operations Manager, 95bFM)
- Sandra Hopping (IMNZ member / Ode Records)
- Vicky Blood (Chairperson, NZ Music Commission)
- Jon Bywater (Senior Lecturer, Critical Studies, Elam School of Fine Arts / Auckland University)
- Duncan Greive (freelance journalist)
- Aroha Harawira (DJ, George FM)
- Andre Upston (Producer, Radio New Zealand)
- 11th Man - John Taite (BBC America)

Damian Vaughan, CEO of Recorded Music NZ - Official Partner of the Taite Music Prize said this afternoon, "I'm excited by the phenomenal talent in the shortlist. Once again the Taite Music Prize showcases the depth of quality albums released here in NZ."

Christy Whelan, Chairperson of IMNZ says, "Creating, producing and promoting the Taite Music Prize, a music award that recognises and rewards the artistic value of a great New Zealand album, is at the heart of IMNZ's core values and we are very proud to celebrate all of the album finalists this year. However, only one artist will grasp the trophy with both hands this year and I look forward now to hearing the judges decision." The overall award winner will be announced on Wednesday the 16th of April at an invitation-only event at Galatos Live in Auckland's central city. The ceremony will include live performances from last year's Taite Music Prize winner SJD and another artist who is yet-to-be-announced. Also to be presented at the event is the Independent Music NZ Classic Record award, acknowledging a defining NZ record from our yesteryear. Last year's recipient was the GORDONS - 'GORDONS'.

The Taite Music Prize 2014:

Named after the late Dylan Taite, one of the country's most highly respected music journalists, this will be the fifth year for the award. In a similar vein to several international awards, The Taite Music Prize's purpose is to recognise outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one album. The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, to be spent as they wish. The cash prize is kindly supplied by Recorded Music NZ. The winner will also receive free recording time at Red Bull Studios and a year's supply of Red Bull product.

Acknowledging originality, creativity and musicianship regardless of sales figures or genre, The Taite Music Prize was established to champion the finest release by a New Zealand artist or group - the previous winners have all been excellent albums that demonstrate these criteria well.

The finalist albums will be selected by votes from all IMNZ members and a selected judging group - comprising musicians, record label representatives, music journalists and radio staff. There will be a secondary group of ten music judges that will decide the overall winner.

The judges will make their decision based entirely on the music on the finalist albums. Sales, genres, artist recognition or popularity are not contributing factors in their decision making process. The winner will then be announced at a presentation in Auckland on 16th April 2014.

The event will be live-streamed to the public via NZ Herald Online.

Previous winners are:
2010 - Lawrence Arabia 'Chant Darling' (Honorary Bedouin Records)
2011 - Ladi6 - 'The Liberation Of' (Question? Music)
2012 - Unknown Mortal Orchestra - 'Unknown Mortal Orchestra' (Seeing Records)
2013 - SJD - 'Elastic Wasteland' (Round Trip Mars)