Growing the music industry through exports

New Zealand's vibrant music industry is garnering international interest as it matures, with artists across a number of genres gaining overseas media exposure and recording releases in major overseas markets such as the US, UK/Europe and Australia.

Today the New Zealand music industry is a $146 million dollar industry with growing exports of around $5 million annually. It is one of a number of creative sectors recognised by the Government as an important future export earner with the ability to help change New Zealand’s reputation overseas towards being an innovative, new economy nation.

A number of Government agencies are working with artists and companies in the music sector to help grow their businesses, including the NZ Music Industry Commission, Creative New Zealand, NZ On Air and NZTE. Several overseas promotions have been held this year including at SXSW in Austin, Texas and Midem in Cannes.

In further recognition of the sector’s potential, in late 2003 the New Zealand Government asked a group of 17 key music industry representatives, facilitated by NZTE, to develop a strategic plan that outlined what the industry and Government, in partnership, needed to do to realise the export potential of the New Zealand music industry. The report of the Music Industry Export Development group was presented to Government on 7 July 2004.