What is New Zealand Music Month?

According to the NZ history website …

New Zealand Music Month began in 2001. Each May, New Zealand music is showcased on radio and television and in live performances.

New Zealand Music Month aims to boost the visibility and success of New Zealand music. It was developed to support the New Zealand music industry by creating a commercially successful platform for local performers. In 2000 airtime for New Zealand music on commercial radio stations made up around 10% of programming. By 2005 this figure had increased to nearly 23%. The amount of New Zealand music sold increased from 5.45% of the total market in 2000 to over 10% by 2004.

Us NZers are lucky to have a whole month in celebration of NZ music! It’s not just about going out and buying a CD by a NZ musician though… Get out and go to gigs, learn an instrument, start a band or get your mates over for a jam. Tell your friends about your favorite NZ bands. Support, celebrate and enjoy NZ music.

My 5 favorite New Zealand bands/artists this May are…

1. Matt Thomas – I heard Matt’s song “Come back round” late one night on a drive home and just couldn’t get it out of my head for the rest of the trip. Love it

2. Battle Circus These guys are cool. I always seem to have their song “Send in the Clones” floating about in my MP3 player. I love the way they muck about with odd time signatures.

3. Plum Green I heard about Plum Green through a friend of mine, the production/recording on some of the songs is a little rough but the songs themselves are beautiful. My fav is “Below the Water”.

4. Infinite Flying Kick I love to see IFK play live! They’re fantastic My fav IFK song is “Sad Robot”.

5. Crash Test for Favorite Things I don’t believe I’ve been to one of their gigs yet, but I somehow ended up on their mailing list and after spending half a year deleting their spam I finally gave in and checked out there website – and there’s some really great music on it

There are heaps of great NZ bands, but I’ve just listed 5 for today so as not to overwhelm readers with a spectacular Spaghetti of links. I will list another 5 next week.