2022 Taite Music Prize Honours Anthonie Tonnon & Inaugural Music Journalist Award Winner
Kiwi singer-songwriter Anthonie Tonnon has taken out the coveted Taite Music Prize for his third album Leave Love Out Of This at a ceremony at Q Theatre last night.
Tonnon receives a NZ$12,500 cash prize thanks to founding partners Recorded Music NZ and the NZ Music Commission.
“The album is the pinnacle of what I’ve aimed for as a musician. It’s the novel to us musicians,” he said.
Watch Anthonie Tonnon speak to RNZ on winning the Taite Music Prize:
The finalist judges, made up of both artists and industry players alike, made their decision based entirely on the artistic merit of the album. Sales, genres, artist recognition or popularity are not contributing factors in the Taite Music Prize decision-making process.
RNZ Music journalist Tony Stamp won the inaugural NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award for his long-form music documentaries and features, and his celebration and critique on his music review show The Sampler.
Watch Tony Stamp talk to RNZ about winning the inaugural NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award:
During her presentation of the Music Journalism Award, Rolling Stone AU/NZ’s Poppy Reid communicated the judge’s special commendation to Alison Mau.
“Before we go into the nominees, the judges would like to give a special commendation to Alison Mau for her launch of the #MeTooNZ project for Stuff.co.nz, which uncovered sexual harassment and exploitation in the NZ music industry,” Reid said.
“Alison’s work, especially given how difficult the defamation laws are to navigate, is an outstanding contribution to this industry.”
The Prize — named after the late Dylan Taite, one of Aotearoa’s most respected music journalists — also saw Karyn Hay win the Independent Spirit Award for TV series Radio With Pictures in the 1980s.
Additionally the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut went to Jazmine Mary for her debut album The Licking of a Tangerine, while the NZ Classic Record award was presented to producer Alan Jansson.
Dylan Pellett, General Manager Independent Music New Zealand said: “This has been a special celebration this evening in so many ways, and I wish all of the winners my hearty congratulations. What a privilege to present this event on behalf of our membership and the wider music community. Top work everyone!”
2022 Taite Music Prize winner;
Anthonie Tonnon – Leave Love Out Of This
Auckland Live Best Independent Debut winner;
Jazmine Mary – The Licking of a Tangerine
Independent Spirit Award
presented to Karyn Hay
NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism Award
to Tony Stamp
Independent Music NZ Classic Record Award
presented for Proud – An Urban-Pacific Streetsoul Compilation
2022 Taite Music Prize Judges:
Annabel Kean – Sports Team, undertheradar.co.nz
Damon Newton – Auckland Live
Harrison Pali – Tahi
Jasmin Ziedan – BaseFM
Jess Fu – 95bFM
Karl Lock – JB Hi Fi
Lisa Jones – muzic.net.nz
Mathew Crawley – Flying Out
Nadia Marsh – Te Māngai Pāho
Sandra Hopping – Marbecks / Ode Records
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.