Recorded Music NZ facts for kids

Recorded Music NZ is a non-profit group in New Zealand. It helps people who make, share, and sell recorded music. This includes record producers, music distributors, and artists.

Anyone who owns the rights to recorded music in New Zealand can join. This means big music companies like Sony and Universal, smaller independent labels, and even artists who release their own music. Recorded Music NZ has over 2,000 members.

Before June 2013, this group was called the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). It joined with another group called PPNZ Music Licensing. Together, they became Recorded Music NZ.

Recorded Music NZ works in three main ways:

• Helping Members: They organize the New Zealand Music Awards and the Official New Zealand Music Chart. They also offer grants and direct support to artists and music labels.
• Music Licensing: They help people get permission to use music. Often, they do this through a joint project called OneMusic, which they run with another group called APRA.
• Protecting Music: They work to protect the rights of music creators, especially when it comes to copyright.

Recorded Music NZ also helps manage the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. They do this together with APRA.

History of Recorded Music NZ

The first group, called the New Zealand Federation of Phonographic Industry (NZFPI), started in 1957. Its job was to manage music rights for owners. Later, it changed its name to Phonographic Performances New Zealand (PPNZ), and then PPNZ Music Licensing.

In 1972, a new group called the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) began. RIANZ worked to represent the music industry to the government. They also ran the NZ Music Awards. In 1975, RIANZ started creating The Official NZ Music Charts.

To work more efficiently, RIANZ and PPNZ Music Licensing joined together in 2013. This new combined group was named Recorded Music NZ.

Aotearoa Music Awards

The Aotearoa Music Awards (AMA) are a big event each year. Recorded Music NZ gives these awards for amazing musical and technical achievements. Winning an AMA is one of the highest honors for a New Zealand musician or group. These awards have been given out every year since 1965.

Official New Zealand Music Chart

The Official New Zealand Music Chart is a weekly list of the top forty singles and albums in New Zealand. Recorded Music NZ creates this chart every week. Before, it was made by RIANZ.

The chart also shows the Top 20 New Zealand singles and albums. Plus, it lists the Top 10 compilation albums. All the charts are made using information from both physical and digital music sales in New Zealand.

Heatseekers Chart Details

A special "Heatseekers" chart started on October 5, 2015. This chart showed the top ten songs that were not yet in the main Top 40 chart. It had the same rules as the Top 40 Singles Chart. If a song ever made it into the Top 40, it could no longer be on the Heatseekers chart.

Hot Singles Chart Details

After the Heatseekers chart ended, Recorded Music NZ started the Hot Singles Chart in July 2018. This chart tracks the "40 fastest-moving songs" based on sales, streams, and radio plays. Songs can appear on both the main NZ Top 40 and the NZ Hot Singles charts at the same time. The Hot Singles chart aims to show which songs are growing most quickly each week.

Te Reo Māori Singles Chart

In mid-June 2021, Recorded Music NZ launched the Te Reo Māori O Te Rārangi 10 O Runga chart. This is also known as the Top 10 Te Reo Māori Singles. It tracks songs that are at least 70% sung in Te Reo Māori. It uses data from sales, streaming, and radio plays.

Protecting Music Rights

In the past, when it was RIANZ, Recorded Music NZ worked to protect music from being shared illegally. They supported a change to the copyright law. This change aimed to stop people from illegally downloading copyrighted music.

The law was changed in 2011. It is now called Section 122A of the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011. This law helps protect the rights of music creators in New Zealand.

See also

In Spanish: Recorded Music NZ para niños

• List of best-selling albums in New Zealand
• Music of New Zealand