Music month hits sour note

Look at the bullseye on your New Zealand Music Month T-shirt -- do government organisations designed to help artists really hit the mark? VICKI ANDERSON argues they don't . . . oh, and how come the South Island misses out?

Welcome to May, New Zealand Music Month. How can you tell it's New Zealand Music Month? Easy really. Hallensteins is unloading crateloads of the familiar target T-shirts into its stores, staff at the Warehouse are plastering New Zealand Music Month posters everywhere and stickering CDs by Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Brooke Fraser and the Finn brothers.

Commercial radio stations have added the above artists to their playlists on extra rotation, ready to pat themselves on the back afterwards for "supporting local music" -- something non-commercial stations do daily.

New Zealand music has developed to become an essential part of our national identity. In all genres of music in New Zealand, we have musicians who have achieved national and, occasionally international, recognition and I believe it is time to question the usefulness of New Zealand Music Month.

While it has undoubtedly achieved its goal of increasing mainstream awareness of local artists since its inception in 2001, the negative effect is that it has managed to turn New Zealand music into a genre.

Go into any record store and you'll find that New Zealand has its own segregated stand. Why? We don't have sections proclaiming United Kingdom or United States.

This year, New Zealand Music Month could also more appropriately be called North Island Music Month, if the fanfare of launches in Wellington and Auckland is anything to go by.

Steve Newall, NZMM manager and executive co-ordinator for the New Zealand Music Industry Commission is hesitant when I ask him why the South Island has no launch party showcasing the talents of South Island musicians this year.

"That's a bit of a toughy, really. Our plans fell over very close to the event. What I will say is that a sponsor pulled out due to a global marketing budget cut which meant there was a) not enough time to find a replacement and b) with our budget being small we are relying on partnerships to carry things off."

Whispers had reached my ears that the Christchurch launch was cancelled because of a lack of televised media coverage.

"Well, it can be hard to get national media coverage for an event out of Auckland," Newall says.

For the benefit of the South Island -- the birthplace of such musicians as The Chills, The Clean, the Bats, Shapeshifter, The Gordons, Salmonella Dub, The Exponents, the Verlaines and many more -- launches in the North Island included Thursday's event at Wellington's Mattherhorn Bar which, Newall tells me, was "geared towards attendance from MPs and key industry people" and at which Chris Knox performed.

Later on Thursday night, in Auckland, a VIP launch took place -- a "suit and tie affair", which, Newall says, was "geared towards an exclusive audience".

There was also an industry party which, he says, was "a showcase of 10 of the top bands in the country for industry and media".

I guess that would be North Island-based industry and media.

Newall says the musical month that is May has changed quite a bit since the campaign started.

"The focus has shifted. Initially it was a spur to increase airplay and now we're just trying to get as much exposure for our artists as possible. It's evolved in that people are aware of New Zealand music all year around so we've succeeded in that aspect."

Newall says that Auckland group Collapsing Cities' recent rise in popularity is due to their performance at the "exclusive" NZMM Auckland launch last year.

"A lot of key people saw them at the launch last year and this year they have their debut album out and they're overseas. They're a good example of the sort of opportunities available at this show."

New Zealand Music Week was organised in 1997 by the Kiwi Music Action, a group which was a collaboration between NZ On Air, Australasian Performing Rights Association, the Radio Broadcasters' Association and the Recording Industry Association. It ran for two years and focused exclusively on commercial radio but it did not have official support from television or retailers.

New Zealand Music Month (NZMM) was established in 2001 by the New Zealand Music Industry Commission (NZMC), a charitable trust. The Government established the NZMC in 2000 to foster New Zealand popular music composition, performance, recording and marketing, and to promote New Zealand music here and overseas.

It's about having New Zealand music "everywhere" in the month of May "every year" -- but what is it actually achieving?

Crowded House's album Don't Dream It's Over, released in 1986, is still one of the biggest global hits by a New Zealand artist (OK, mostly New Zealand artists) and another top hit is, bizarrely, How Bizarre by OMC, released in 1995.

After that there are just minor blips on the global radar. Even well-established musicians like Hayley Westenra and Bic Runga, with multiple platinum sales at home, make barely a ripple in the worldwide market.

Newall is quick to rattle off the figures which he says proves the success of music month.

"When NZ Music Month started, New Zealand music accounted for less than 5 per cent of total album sales and 12% of airplay. During May last year one-in-every-five records sold was by a local artist, so that shows the effort is not just made by radio stations, but that people dip into their pockets to support it as well."

The Music Industry Commission receives $1,156,000 from the Government, $110,000 from sponsorship and $100,000 from the Education Ministry, which relates to musician mentoring and the Smokefree Rockquest -- which, it must be noted, does not feature any South Island musicians in its advertising campaign.

In 2007, the Music Industry Commission devoted $500,000 to helping artists market their products overseas through its Outward Sound scheme. The Government also allocated $2.15 million of taxpayer funds to NZ On Air to help musicians make videos and recordings.

So where does all this money go?

NZ On Air music manager Brendan Smyth explained the selection processes for funding applications. "We get about 750 applications a year for the music-video funding and we do it six times a year, so in any one funding round we get around 100-130 applications. We have a budget to do around 170 videos a year.

"We send all the songs to the music television programmers and get them to tell us which songs they are most likely to play. It's no use to us and no use to the band if we fund the video and it never gets played. MTV, C4 and Juice are the main people we ask.

"Using the video is a means to an end and the end is to get more songs played on the radio. Ultimately, the NZ On Air board makes the final decision."

The most recent funding announcements for April lacked acts from the South Island. Of the 27 New Zealand acts to receive $5000 music-video funding, two were based in Christchurch. None of the five acts who received $5000 to make a "radio hit" was from the South Island and the same applies to the five artists chosen to receive $10,000 for new recordings.

This means, that from a total April funding pool of $210,000, $10,000 went to artists in the South Island.

To put this figure in context with other mediums, earlier this year NZ On Air allocated $434,894 to make seven one-hour television episodes about Wayne Anderson: Singer of Songs.

Only in New Zealand could a TV series about a fake musician trying to be a musician actually get more money than a real musician.

Another funding concern is what those in the industry call "double dipping". This is where established artists such as Brooke Fraser, The Feelers etc, who already have financial backing from a record company, are granted $50,000 from NZ On Air to make an album with the understanding that the record company will equal that figure.

Shouldn't such funds go towards helping talented unsigned artists? Isn't it New Zealand On Air's job to actively seek out such talent rather than waiting for the record companies to bring musicians to their in-trays? Why is a Government-run agency giving such large funds to artists already backed by record companies?

Smyth: "We fund on the basis of the airplay potential so we're not judging an artist by whether they're signed or unsigned. With the album funding, we do 20 albums a year by artists who have got radio airplay track records and we put out so many thousands there to match $50,000 from whoever the applicant is. The record company or the band or the band's management match that. We do 20 of those a year so that's $1 million."

Christchurch entertainer Lindon Puffin has strong views on double dipping. In an interview last year, after his single Beyond the Breakers was turned down for video funding and the May Hit Disc, he said: "They led me to believe it would be on there, and that's the only way to get to commercial radio -- to go via the gatekeepers. To me, it's bizarre that 10 of the 15 acts on that Hit Disc are major label artists like Brooke Fraser, Evermore, the Feelers. It's just double dipping. Their singles are already on the radio.

"I think those Hit Discs should be for people like myself, the relative unknowns. To me it means everything to have something on there. I'm sure Brooke Fraser's not sitting at home thinking `fingers crossed, hope I get my single on the NZ On Air Hit Disc'."

Puffin was told his song wasn't selected because it lacked a marketing strategy.

"I thought it just mattered whether the song was any good. Apparently the problem was that I didn't have a profile in Auckland. The insinuation was that if I'm going to take this seriously I'll have to move to Auckland."

Puffin is currently overseas on a self-funded world tour.

Musicians shouldn't be given funding simply because they want it. But it seems that the funding processes -- designed by the Government to foster talent -- are failing the very musicians they are supposed to be helping. By the time a musician gets to the stage of applying for funding they've done all the work themselves and these agencies merely add a NZ On Air logo to their video and congratulate themselves for supporting local musicians.

So just what can the Mainland look forward to this music month?

Locally, venue owners, promoters, the Christchurch Music Trust (Chart, which counts Cath Anderson, the general manager of the NZ Music Industry Commission, as a member) and the Christchurch City Council -- through city libraries and the Christchurch Art Gallery -- through their own initiatives are staging events showcasing largely unknown local talent.

Although the Mainland hasn't had a launch party for New Zealand Music Month, Newall doesn't want us all to feel too left out -- he believes we should all be excited about the closing event for NZMM, the Telecom-sponsored Opshop Little Town, Big Gig.

"Do you know Opshop?" Newall asks.

You mean the Christchurch band, Opshop, who have had a single in the charts for 48 weeks? Er, yes.

"This year is different from last year in that we're not starting the month with a big public show but what we've offered to do instead is finish off with a big show, that's a promotion we can build and offer something for people to be aware of and get excited about and that seemed like a logical thing to do -- we want to tap into that heartland Kiwi music fan," Newall says.

"You'll have to wait and see where the gig will be -- it'll be in a small centre like, say, Invercargill, a small place somewhere around the country. It's something for heartland music lovers to get excited about," Newall says.

Touching, isn't it?

Vicki Anderson is music editor of The Press and a trustee of the Christchurch Music Trust, Chart. www.christchurch music.org.nz

 

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