Funding rounds & dates

Māori music

Te Māngai Pāho provides contestable funding to artists and producers who make music for airplay and streaming. Waiata Reo Māori; Waiata Takitahi Funding is also available for initiatives that widely promote and celebrate waiata reo Māori. Music Industry & Artist Support. Please enquire before applying.

Waiata Reo Māori

Waiata Reo Māori has been allocated an annual pūtea of $1,000,000 in 2021-22.

What gets funded

Funding is available for the recording and promotion (including aligned video assets) of waiata containing more than 50% Te Reo Māori, that are original and have not been released before.

Eligible costs: Mātanga Reo/Te Reo Consultant, studio time, studio engineer, music producer, music director, session musicians, mixing, mastering, video asset creation, publicist, campaign services. Other reasonable costs may be considered.

The funding round dates below are indicative only.

Waiata Takitahi

Waiata Takitahi is a co-fund launched in 2020 as a collaboration between Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air. It was the first time the two funding agencies have officially joined forces on a waiata funding initiative. The ambition for the fund is to enable the creation of brand new songs incorporating Te Reo Māori to target big audience platforms.

We are seeking applications from New Zealand artists who are interested in recording and releasing a bilingual single with potential general audience appeal and a minimum of 25% te reo Māori in the song lyrics. We are looking for songs that will target online and broadcast audiences and have the potential to find a home on mainstream playlists.

Artists can come from any background but the use of te reo Māori in the song will be expected to be overseen by a te reo Māori language consultant to ensure quality control and contextual relevance in the song. For applicants who are not in a position to confirm a language consultant before the application deadline, there will be an opportunity to be matched with a range of consultants via Te Māngai Pāho.

Funding of up to $14,000 (plus GST if registered) is available to put towards the costs of recording a single song, creating video content and other visual collateral, and putting resources towards promotion, publicity, and marketing for the single release. Funds can also be used to pay for the services of a te reo Māori language consultant.

The next round will open on Monday, 18 October 2021, and close on Thursday 11 November via the NZ on Air New Music Singles portal.

More information on the Waiata Takitahi round is provided in the links below:

Waiata Takitahi Application Guidelines
Waiata Takitahi Criteria
FAQ Waiata Takitahi PDF

Register for the Waiata Takitahi webinar at 7:00pm, Monday 1 November. This kōrero will focus on your project and application - how to make sure it hits the mark, and more.

Music Industry & Artist Support

The funding round dates below are indicative only, with more information to be posted in the next few weeks.