Editorial: NZ music talent worth celebrating

As the official New Zealand Music Month draws to a close, we should all be reminded New Zealand is home to some amazing and talented musicians.
But, is the awareness month held every May - marked as a time to celebrate our musical talents - still necessary?
The 2011 New Zealand Music Month doesn't seem to have had the buzz around it that it has had in the past. It seems to have gone by without the bang it usually gets.
Maybe that's because Kiwi music in general is pretty awesome today and we are reminded of that every day because not only the American pop stars get airplay on the radio.
Although there will always be those international artists like Lady Gaga who our artists will have to battle with for airplay, we have our own pop stars who are making good music without the cringe factor - music we want and choose to listen to; musicians who sell records.
But it's not only pop music. We have some amazing musicians and genres like electronica provide artists like Kids of 88 to dominate.
A music hui/workshop was held in Rotorua last week that provided Rotorua's aspiring musicians with a forum to learn about the industry from industry professionals such as guest speakers Te Awanui Reeder from Nesian Mystik, Taisha from the Lady Killers and Brian Ruawai from Cornerstone Roots.
Organisers of the event described Rotorua as "bubbling with amazing performance talent", which we are.
With amazing performers to lay claim to such as Sir Howard Morrison, Elizabeth Marvelly and Seth Haapu to name a few, we should be nurturing our up-and-coming talent so strong New Zealand music continues well into the future.