New Zealand
Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan Announces Resignation
After nine years leading Recorded Music NZ, Damian Vaughan is ready to the leave the job. Vaughan has served as CEO of New Zealand’s labels association since June 2013, following a years-long stint as NZ Licensing Manager at APRA, the Australasian PRO. In a statement distributed Thursday (Feb. 17) to the local music industry, Vaughan admits it’s time to “move on and find my next challenge.” The past decade, he notes, has been a transformative one for the domestic industry and music fans, one that finds itself in a much better place. Vaughan’s recruitment to NZ’s labels body coincided with the dawn of the streaming age. In 2013, he explains, wholesale industry revenues were NZ$67.4 million and were comprised predominantly of physical sales and digital downloads. Fast forward to 2022, and “t...
‘Dawn Raid’: Film On New Zealand Hip-Hop Pioneers Gets U.S. Digital Premiere
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Universal Pictures / Universal Hip-Hop culture is immensely global, and a new documentary that highlights the first-ever Hip-Hop label in New Zealand will make its U.S. debut online next week. Source: Universal Pictures / Universal Dawn Raid is the remarkable story of the duo of Andy Murnane and Tanielu Leaosavai’i aka Brotha D, who were students at the Manukau Polytechnic school who started out selling t-shirts together in the streets of South Auckland in addition to running a Hip-Hop night at a local bar. From that origin point, they built the Dawn Raid Entertainment record label, the name coming from the police raids conducted by New Zealand’s government in the 1970s & 1980s that zeroed in on Pacific Islanders who were overstayers, deporting them s...
Radio Station Calls On DJs to Remix Gaffe From New Zealand COVID-19 Response Minister
An unintentional slip of the tongue from New Zealand’s COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins could be a catalyst for the career of one local music producer. At a press conference over the weekend, Hipkins was addressing the notion that Kiwis living in high-density areas face the struggle of being unable to get outside without posing a risk to public health. However, in the moment he used some awkward phrasing, leading to a blunder in which he said Kiwis were looking to get out and “spread their legs” instead of “stretch their legs.” The gaffe wasn’t lost on anybody, including local dance music radio station George FM, who are now calling on music producers and DJs to give their best attempt at remixing the humorous audio clip. The station is off...
Olympic Games 2020 Football Squads: A complete list of all 16 men’s football teams
The men’s football tournament at this summer’s Olympic Games is set to kick-off on July 22, with 16 participating nations allowed to select 22 players. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants can use 22 players instead of the usual 18. Players on the teams must be born on or after January 1, 1997, with the addition of three overage players. Let’s see the list of the confirmed squads. Suggested Article: Olympic Football 2020: Schedule, Odds & Live Streaming. Group A France Goalkeepers: Paul Bernardoni (Angers), Stefan Bajic (Saint-Etienne), Dimitry Bertaud (Montpellier). Defenders: Melvin Bard (Lyon), Anthony Caci (Strasbourg), Ismael Doukoure (Valenciennes), Pierre Kalulu (AC Milan), Clement Michelin (Lens), Timothee Pembele (Paris Saint-Germ...
10 most (seemingly) dangerous things we’ve done
Seven years after we quit our jobs to travel around the world, we revisit some of the riskiest things we’ve done on the road Peter and I have a long-running joke that I have fallen off my bike in the most beautiful places in the world – among them Bora Bora in French Polynesia and Isabela in the Galápagos. I only learnt to ride at the age of 28 and my lack of experience has led to numerous falls. What’s interesting is that no one ever calls me ‘brave’ or ‘daring’ for riding a bicycle or indeed a horse even though statistically (and in personal experience), these activities are some of the most dangerous I’ve done. Instead, it’s things like skydiving and bungy jumping that impress others most. Below, I share 10 seemingly dangerous things we’ve done – some of which posed a real risk, b...
How New Zealand’s Six60 Became the World’s Biggest Live Act This Year
Eden Park capped a string of major open-air shows in New Zealand, Six60’s second lap in support of their 2019 self-titled album. The band grossed $13.7 million and sold 168,761 tickets across seven shows in New Zealand in 2021, according to Billboard Boxscore. (Six60 played to another 10,000 fans at Cardrona Valley in Wanaka on Jan. 1; The pre-bought tickets were not included in official box office reports.) Having conquered their homeland, Six60 are now planning to take their touring juggernaut to audiences in Australia, the U.K. and Europe. “Every month we have a sit-down and try to figure out how to do something really big, to make a difference,” frontman Walters tells Billboard. “We’re continually trying to challenge ourselves.” A travel “bubble” connecting the lands Down Under op...
Robert Whittaker’s Saturday victory brightens rematch with Nigeria’s Israel Adesanya
In the main event of Saturday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Vegas 24, Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker, the New Zealand-born Australian professional mixed martial artist, scored a convincing 50-45 win on all three judges’ scorecards against Kelvin Gastelum, American professional mixed martial artist in the Middleweight division at the Apex facility in Las Vegas. In the early exchanges, Gastelum was aggressive and took control of the center of the Octagon. It was not what Whittaker wanted, so he quickly countered Gastelum, sending a message with a strong head kick that landed squarely. From then on, Whittaker established some of his dominance in the clash. Not long after, he showed he actually held the wrestling advantage as he took down the former collegiate wrestler and held him dow...
FIFA announces appointment of chief operating officers for Women’s World Cup 2023
On Tuesday, world football governing body, FIFA, announced the appointment of two Chief Operating Officers (COOs) in Australia and New Zealand respectively for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 that will be jointly hosted by both countries. Last year, the pair took up the initial appointment to lead the FIFA Women’s World Cup office in their respective host countries. Now, Jane Fernandez has officially been named as the COO for Australia, with the New Zealand COO position going to Jane Patterson, officially too. The Australian Fernandez led Football Australia’s successful joint bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. Upon a successful bidding, she was appointed Head of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Office for Australia. Her vast background in organising successful competitions include...
US Democrat Senate wins push stocks higher despite Capitol chaos
Clean sweep by Democrats allows them to enact big-spending policies likely to benefit the economy, investors say. Global stock markets rose and bonds nursed losses on Thursday in anticipation of a big-borrowing and big-spending Democratic administration driving growth, following runoff elections that gave the party control of both houses of the United States Congress. On Wednesday, US Treasury bonds had suffered their steepest selloff in months after Democratic Party victories in two races in the state of Georgia handed them narrow control of the Senate and the power to pass their agenda. US S&P 500 futures rose 0.6 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9 percent as markets seemed to shake off a late fade that pulled Wall Street indexes back from fresh record peaks when chaotic protest...
FIFA increases Africa’s women’s world cup slot to 6
FIFA has increased Africa’s slots at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand from three to six. The decision was one of the major decisions the Bureau of FIFA Council took on Thursday, December 24, when it met to discuss the fate of upcoming FIFA competitions. Africa in time past had three direct slots, which were given to the top three performing teams at the Africa Women’s Championship. The new decision, which is due to the expansion of the competing teams from 24 to 32 teams, will mean that Africa will have four direct slots and two others fighting in play-offs. The two host countries, Australia and New Zealand, will automatically qualify for the 2023 World Cup and their slots have been taken directly from the quotas allocated to their confederations, nam...
Qatar to host FIFA Club World Cup 2020 across three venues
Qatar will host the FIFA Club World Cup 2020 from February 1 to 11, 2021, after it was postponed earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six continental confederations, as well as the host nation’s league champions, will compete in the tournament, which will be held across three FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums — Ahmad Bin Ali, Khalifa International and Education City. The Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, inaugurated just last week on December 18, will stage the opening match between Qatari champions Al Duhail and Auckland City of New Zealand on February 1, and the final will be played at Education City Stadium on February 11. Joining the two teams will be European champions and German side FC Bayern Munich, CONCACAF champions Tigres UANL from Mexico, Al Ahly SC, Egyptian side and winners ...
UFC star Israel Adesanya tenders apology after ‘rape’ comment
UFC star Israel Adesanya has apologized to fellow fighter Kevin Holland after he came under attack for his rape comment. Isreal Adesanya made the “rape comment” while trash-talking Holland in a since-deleted video. “Bro, I will fuckin’ rape you,” Adesanya said in an Instagram video directed at Kevin Holland, who had targeted him with a series of insulting remarks. However, in a statement on Friday morning, the Nigerian-born New Zealand MMA fighter said he “crossed the line” and he understands the gravity of what he said. The statement on Adesanya’s official Twitter account reads: “Last week fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line. I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was never my intentio...