![\"Stan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/family-tree-performed-by-stan-walker-on-breakfast-this-morni-33SNF6LX35DF3NNRZ6NUGXIRSQ.png\")
<\/p>\nDean Ormston had good news and bad news for Australian and New Zealand songwriters this week.<\/p>\n
APRA AMCOS, the music rights organisation he heads, reported record group revenue of $857.4 million in 2025-26, up nearly 9% on the previous year.<\/p>\n
But buried among the big numbers was a much more sobering one for New Zealand music: just 4% of the music streamed in Aotearoa in ersh loves streaming: ‘We’re going to end up with a musically literate populace’<\/p>\n
Things aren\u2019t much better on User Generated Content (UGC) platforms like TikTok. Consumption grew, but New Zealand members\u2019 share fell to just 1.7%.<\/p>\n
As Anthony Healey, APRA\u2019s head of NZ operations, told RNZ\u2019s Checkpoint: \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is revenues growing across the board but New Zealand\u2019s share, here in New Zealand at least, is declining.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan Hellriegel, an experienced New Zealand singer-songwriter with multiple top 40 albums to her name, isn\u2019t surprised.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor APRA to be celebrating growth in income while musicians\u2019 earnings are being depleted feels incredibly out of whack,\u201d she says. \u201cThe contrast is stark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Digital now accounts for 53% of APRA AMCOS\u2019 revenue, far outweighing revenue from radio, public performance and TV. But the issue isn’t just whether streaming pays musicians enough. <\/p>\n
Now that streaming has become central to how people listen to and learn about music, a different question has emerged: how easy is it for New Zealanders to discover New Zealand music in the first place?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stan Walker performs in New Zealand. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t ever want to take my music off Spotify\u2019<\/p>\n
By streaming metrics alone, songwriter and producer Lontalius, aka Eddie Benjamin, is one of New Zealand\u2019s most successful artists of the past 15 years. He has 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify; his biggest song on the platform, \u2018Sleep Thru Ur Alarms\u2019, has been streamed more than 144 million times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have one song that sort of went viral in its own way and that has paid my bills the last few years,\u201d he says. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s definitely diminishing, but I\u2019ve been one of the lucky ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cStreaming\u2019s a fascinating beast. It has pros and cons. I\u2019m generally of the opinion that I don\u2019t ever want to take my music off Spotify because that is where people listen to music, and I want to be wherever people are listening to music. If someone\u2019s listening to music on the bus, on the way to work, I want to be part of that, even if it is only 4%.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benjamin\u2019s experience also reveals the distinction between getting streams and building an audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my songs from my album got put in some sort of acoustic playlist on Apple Music that has been getting lots of plays, which is great, but none of those people listening know who I am,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re not getting driven to go follow my Instagram, or to go to my shows.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, a playlist placement can produce plays without necessarily producing fans.<\/p>\n
That points to a broader issue for artists in English-speaking markets such as New Zealand. A 2025 report by former Spotify chief economist Will Page argued that streaming algorithms can recognise language but struggle with geography, leaving local artists competing with the vast US catalogue.<\/p>\n
Follow-up research commissioned by the Victorian Music Development Office found AI-generated Australian playlists relied heavily on global listening patterns and were less likely than human-curated playlists to surface diverse or regionally specific music.<\/p>\n
![\"Spotify](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/spotify-music-app-file-image-RNEDIOUDVRFMJFXSB4OCT7MMLY.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Spotify music app (file image). (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n
\u2018Social media is queen for me\u2019<\/p>\n
Auckland pop artist Jason Parker offers another view of what reaching an audience now requires. His new single \u2018One Week Sober\u2019 has achieved chart success, but he doesn’t credit Spotify for driving it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe the chart performance is largely thanks to my fans purchasing digital copies of the single on Bandcamp and iTunes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
For Parker, building that audience requires a direct relationship with listeners.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial media is queen for me, especially during a release campaign. My debut album, \u2018What Makes A Man\u2019, comes out on November 13, so I\u2019m posting almost daily across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to reach potential listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parker\u2019s approach relies on turning listeners into fans willing to seek out, follow and financially support him.<\/p>\n
He believes considerably more could be done to support local musicians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese streaming companies should also be contributing their fair share through tax, with that revenue going back to the artists by helping fund musicians to tour, perform and create more music. Streaming is a powerful tool, but we need to make sure it supports a thriving local music industry, not just the platforms themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hellriegel has also found value away from streaming. She says her main sources of income include sync licensing, where songs feature in films, television and advertising, and physical sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cA single book sale, which includes my album, earns me considerably more than I make from streaming. I really see streaming platforms as a marketing tool rather than a viable source of income. But I live in hope\u2026 maybe my next album!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/old-woman-listens-to-music-4ICM45MU4FHOBPB72RG5FPREM4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
(Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n
Are the big names forcing Kiwis out?<\/p>\n
Dr Jesse Austin-Stewart, a music lecturer and researcher in Massey University\u2019s Creative Futures research cluster, has seen the warning signs before.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrends across the sector have shown a consistent decline in New Zealand\u2019s engagement with local music and APRA\u2019s recent streaming news is in line with these numbers,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAPRA\u2019s report is another piece of evidence demonstrating the dominance and power that gigantic international artists have over our local sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin-Stewart says streaming services have become the main mode of music discovery for New Zealanders since 2020, while the last decade has seen \u201cbig drops\u201d in the impact of radio airplay and live performance. At the same time, UGC platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have increased in prominence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn short, global tech companies have had a growing impact on the way Kiwis discover new music relative to the local industry,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese global tech companies have no incentive to promote New Zealand music, and it means that gigantic international artists with global marketing strategies are enabled to outcompete Aotearoa artists at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that New Zealanders don\u2019t support local music, it\u2019s that the market doesn\u2019t allow them to discover it in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n