Matawhānui / Vision
A bilingual music industry is a vibrant, creative, and cultural environment where songwriters and audiences, explore and experience waiata reo Māori and waiata reo rua. The power of music is harnessed to confidently develop our national identity, and to revitalise, promote and share our heritage language and culture with Aotearoa and the world.
Whakahaumanu / Revitalise
We want to encourage and ignite creation and performance of waiata reo Māori by providing inspirational opportunities, quality resources, and expert guidance to songwriters – fostering confidence and excellence in puoro Māori for the benefit of all New Zealanders.
Whakatuarā / Promote
We want to make te reo Māori visible and accessible by creating sustainable development pathways for Māori music creators, advocating for both the traditional and evolving interests of puoro Māori, and supporting the development of kaupapa Māori music industry infrastructure and leadership.
Tohatoha / Share
We want to share te reo Māori by partnering with organisations and government to connect waiata Māori with audiences in Aotearoa, championing the creation of a new Māori led system of guardianship for legacy waiata, and forging strong industry and export pathways to send waiata reo Māori into the world.
Reo Māori SongHubs – Collaborative Writing
An annual songwriting workshop that pairs kaitito waiata with language and music experts – fostering creative, collaborative, and linguistic excellence, industry networks, and new original waiata.
Pokapū – Translation Support
Create support networks and resource for artists wanting to produce reo remixes of existing songs originally written in English. Pokapū provides fully funded mātanga reo to help and support artists with translation and pronunciation as they record tracks and perform in te reo Māori.
Waiata/Anthems – Embracing and Celebrating our Cultural Imperative
Establish an annual week-long celebration of new waiata reorua during Mahuru Māori (September) acknowledging the work of the pioneers and Māori language champions of the past through to artists today, giving greater access to our heritage language and culture. A significant media and digital marketing campaign will help publicise all Māori music, and the emergence of a bilingual music industry.
The Tānerore Project – Data Integrity for Waiata Reo Māori
Conduct a review of data collation for the origins of legacy waiata. We will seek out the whakapapa of unknown works, correctly attribute works to living and deceased songwriters and their whānau, update our systems to hold accurate data information that acknowledges collective ownership, and variations among iwi, for the use of traditional works and information for Māori music.
Whanaungatanga – Music Industry Partnerships
Foster relationships with music industry entities and funders such as Recorded Music NZ, Māori Music Industry Coalition, Creative NZ, Independent Music NZ, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, NZ Music Commission, Music Managers Forum, NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho, record labels, and publishers, to deliver a shared approach for language revitalisation, creative excellence and kaupapa Māori representation in the music industry. Building strong cross-organisational relationships and a unified, strategic, and practical approach, will foster the creativity, production, sharing and celebration of bilingual music.
Kapa Haka & Taonga Puoro
Engage with the kapa haka community and taonga puoro practitioners to support them in the development and recognition of traditional and contemporary works, as well as the acknowledgement of collective group member and tribal songwriting contributions.