Aotearoa Music Awards 2024 Winners Announced

Fresh off a seventeen month hiatus, a rejigged voting process and a new wooden trophy to boot — the Aotearoa Music Awards returned last night, hitting the Viaduct Events Centre in Tāmaki Makaurau with the glitz and glamour of pre-covid ceremonies in full swing.

While previous years have largely seen singular artists / bands sweep the top awards, this year saw the breadth of trophies spread across various different acts, styles and scenes of Aotearoa, hosted by Kara Rickard and Jesse Mulligan. The Beths took home awards for Te Tino Kāhui Manu Taki o te Tau - Best Group and Te Tino Pukaemi o te Tau - Album of the Year for 2022s Expert In A Dying Field, crowning them amongst the night's biggest winners.

Meanwhile, Tom Scott saw awards for both of his projects — Avantdale Bowling Club receiving Te Tino Waiata o te Tau - Single Of The Year for ‘Friday Night @ The Liquor Store’, and Home Brew earning Te Manu Taki Ātete o te Tau - Best Hip Hop Artist and Te Taumata o te Kaiwhakaputa - Best Producer for Haz Beats' mahi on Run It Back.

Marlon Williams took home Te Tino Reo o te Tau - Best Solo Artist and had engineers for his track ‘My Boy’, Tom Healy and Alexandra Corbett win Te Taumata o te Pūkenga Oro - Best Engineer. In double award winners, TAWAZ was bestowed Manu Taki Māori o te Tau Best Māori Artist, and earned the Mana Reo award for his waiata ‘He Aho’.

A variety of the top artists from around Aotearoa took to the stage throughout the night, starting off with kapa haka, waiata and mihi whakatau to welcome everyone to the venue. The first, non-broadcast opening ceremony of the night saw performances from Jordyn With A Why and Mohi, alongside a performance from the night's winner of Te Manu Taki Arotini o te Tau - Best Pop Artist Georgia Lines.

After a break was taken and the cameras were set up, the official AMA Showcase began - beginning with a performance from Stan Walker who won the new Te Manu Mātārae for major impact in the Aotearoa Music Community. He shared the award with Te Manu Taki Tuawhenua o te Tau - Best Country Artist winner Kaylee Bell, who also performed later in the night.

Alongside these artists, the night saw performances from Corrella who won Te Manu Taki Taketake o te Tau - Best Roots Artist, Te Iti Rearea o te Tau - Breakthrough Artist of the Year Coterie, and Te Manu Taki Whanokē o te Tau - Best Alternative Artist Princess Chelsea. The event concluded with a tribute to Dame Hinewehi Mohi, for her induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

Playing at tonight's 20th Anniversary of The Wine Cellar, Amamelia was the winner of e Manu Taki Tāhiko o te Tau - Best Electronic Artist, and admitted she was mildly shocked by that fact. She pointed out how it’s reflected on the changes of the ceremony this year; “I was really excited just reading through the nominees for this year's awards. There’s so much cool shit that's getting shown off tonight that I think you wouldn’t have expected to get an AMA when the last major ceremony was held.”

Princess Chelsea was incredibly grateful to win Te Manu Taki Whanokē o te Tau - Best Alternative Artist, saying this was her first AMA and she was in incredible company alongside Grecco Romank and Mermaidens as nominees.

Speaking of whom, Mermaidens’ bassist Lily Paris-West took home the award for Te Taumata o te Toi - Best Album Artwork for her mahi on their self titled record. Bandmate Abe Hollingsworth accepted the award on her behalf — “We spent several weeks going back and forth every night, going through iterations discussing and changing stuff. But Lily does so much hard work, and she’s such an amazing designer. You can see her impact across the music scene, from Wellington to the entire country.”

Marlon Williams was pleasantly surprised as he won Te Tino Reo o te Tau - Best Solo Artist. “If I was a betting man — which I am — I would’ve bet against myself. And I would’ve lost!” He was incredibly appreciative that everyone was able to properly gather again in such a big venue to catch up with each other. “There’s so many people that I regrettably only ever see here. It’s a bizarre fact of the music biz, since everyone is off doing their thing and then we get to meet up at places like this and talk about what we’ve been up to.”

Lastly, I had a chat to Tristan Deck and Ben Sinclair from The Beths, shortly after they received the award for Te Tino Pukaemi o te Tau - Album of the Year for 2022's Expert In A Dying Field and Te Tino Kāhui Manu Taki o te Tau - Best Group earlier in the night. They were over the moon, with Tristan saying “The way the albums worked its way out in the world, and we’ve gotten to play it to so many people — it’s had a really strong lifespan.”

The quartet has been back and forth across the world since the album was released, soon touring with Alvvays in North America before bringing Princess Chelsea on the road for their headline tour. The Beths will be doing one last hurrah for the album in Aotearoa, taking it to the Hollywood Cinema in Tāmaki Makaurau, the Church Pub in Ōtautahi, and Meow Nui in Te Whanganui-a-Tara this September.

2024 Aotearoa Music Award winners:

Spotify Te Tino Pukaemi o te Tau | Album of the Year
The Beths – Expert In A Dying Field

Spotify Te Tino Waiata o te Tau | Single of the Year
Avantdale Bowling Club – Friday Night @ The Liquor Store

Te Tino Kāhui Manu Taki o te Tau | Best Group
The Beths

Te Tino Reo o te Tau | Best Solo Artist
Marlon Williams

Te Taumata o te Pūkenga Oro | Best Engineer
Tom Healy & Alexandra Corbett – My Boy (Marlon Williams)

Te Māngai Pāho Te Manu Taki Māori o te Tau | Best Māori Artist
TAWAZ

Te Māngai Pāho Mana Reo
TAWAZ – He Aho

JD Sports Tā te Iwi | People's Choice
Hori Shaw

Radio Burgerfuel Te Iti Rearea o te Tau | Breakthrough Artist of the Year
COTERIE

Te Tino Waiata ā-Iti Rearea o te Tau | Breakthrough Single of the Year
Corrella – Blue Eyed Māori

Te Manu Taki Taketake o te Tau | Best Roots Artist
Corrella

Te Manu Taki Tuawhenua o te Tau | Best Country Artist
Kaylee Bell

Te Manu Taki Manako o te Tau | Best Soul/RnB Artist
Aaradhna

NZ On Air Te Taumata o te Ataata | Best Music Video Content
Anahera Parata – SHE (Aaradhna)

Te Manu Taki Whanokē o te Tau | Best Alternative Artist
Princess Chelsea

Te Manu Taki Ātete o te Tau | Best Hip Hop Artist
Home Brew

Te Taumata o te Kaiwhakaputa | Best Producer, presented by Massey University
Haz Beats – Run It Back (Home Brew)

Te Manu Taki Arotini o te Tau | Best Pop Artist
Georgia Lines

Te Manu Taki Tāhiko o te Tau | Best Electronic Artist
Amamelia

Te Manu Taki Ahurea o te Tau | Best Folk Artist
Adam McGrath

Te Manu Taki Rakapioi o te Tau | Best Rock Artist
Racing

Te Taumata o te Toi | Best Album Artwork
Lily Paris West – Mermaidens (Mermaidens)

Te Manu Taki Tautito o te Tau | Best Jazz Artist
Myele Manzanza

Te Manu Taki Tuauki o te Tau | Best Classical Artist
New Zealand String Quartet

NZ On Air Te Taumata o te Hokona | Highest Selling Artist
Six60

NZ On Air Te Taumata o te Horapa | Radio Airplay Record of the Year
L.A.B – Take It Away

Te Manu Mātārae
Kaylee Bell
Stan Walker

Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa | New Zealand Music Hall of Fame
Dame Hinewehi Mohi

If you missed last night's livestream, you can watch the 2024 Aotearoa Music Awards ceremony via tvnz.co.nz from today.