Putting New Zealand music on the map

Womad's rrogramme director Emere Wano. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Taking New Zealand's rich and diverse music scene to the world is the aim of Womad's Emere Wano, who has launched the music expo Sounds Aotearoa to provide an opportunity for NZ artists to be heard overseas.

Scheduled for the week the music festival Womad attracts hundreds of musicians from around the globe to Taranaki, the New Plymouth event wants to bring together local and international artists and music businesses.

In her quest to push open doors for New Zealand music, Womad artistic director Wano has enlisted knowledgeable help, from the likes of British musician, DJ and artist Don Letts and Australian festival director Peter Noble.

Wano has been involved in organising festivals and live performances for more than 15 years.

"I thought it is wonderful that we program all these artists and get them to perform, but what happens after that? Where is the support mechanism for them to make a career, a living out of this?" she tells NZPA.

Five years ago she went to visit the world music expo Womex in Seville. "It is a business expo where the music industry comes together to buy, sell and promote music from around the world, and New Zealand didn't have a presence there," she remembers.

What she found missing was a platform to promote New Zealand music. As nobody in NZ could afford to fly a whole bunch of artists overseas, she decided to bring the action here.

Sound Aotearoa attempts to create a marketplace under one roof and links this to a range of events that attract international talent, like the Pasifika Festival, the Auckland Arts Festival and Womad.

"We do a conference, where international presenters come into play, they share their knowledge and their experience, there is also an expo, where people can promote their organisation or their business and then there are evening showcases with local bands," she says.

To be internationally successful Wano thinks New Zealand artists have to hone some special skills.

"I think we need to be more collaborative, because we don't have a lot of resources," she says.

"We've got to be able to share with each other. Somebody always knows somebody and helps out."

International success requires relationship-building "because it is far easier to make the connection with somebody you know, than call cold and try and sell or promote yourself," she says.

Among her impressions of last year's inaugural Sounds Aotearoa were that overseas artists and business people wanted to know what makes New Zealand music special

"There is the Maori and Pacific look and sound but there's also a very Kiwi sound - our laid back nature and attitudes that come through our music is something they see as distinct and different.

"But because there are not a lot of opportunities to hear our music on a regular basis, they don't know a lot about New Zealand music," she says.

Most of the speakers at the conference were recruited by Wano on her travels at different expos and showcases overseas.

"If they go away and they had a great experience that's the best investment we could ever have made, because they start talking New Zealand music, the time they had out here, what the music is like and on that we can't put a value."

- NZPA