Aotearoa Music People's Choice Award Explained

The Aotearoa Music People's Choice Award is an Aotearoa Music Award that honours New Zealand music artists, as chosen by public vote.^[1] The five finalists are determined by the Music Awards Committee, based on overall performance during the eligibility period. It is the only New Zealand Music Award decided by public vote.^[2]

In 2008, the award attracted controversy, after unknown Dunedin pop-rock band The DFender made the nominations shortlist. The band, who did not have any chart material, had extensively lobbied their fans on MySpace and gained the most votes in the initial nominations round. This prompted the call for the nominations to be chosen by Recorded Music NZ, a change that was eventually made.^[3]

The People's Choice Award was first awarded in 2004 to Scribe. Fat Freddy's Drop has won the award twice and been nominated two further times, while Stan Walker has won the award twice, with Walker having been nominated every year from 2010 to 2015. Lorde and Brooke Fraser have each won the award and been nominated a further two times.

Recipients

Year	Winner	Other finalists	Ref.
2004	Scribe	Brooke Fraser Goodshirt Elemeno P Steriogram Zed	^[4]
2005	Fat Freddy's Drop	The Feelers P-Money Savage Shihad	^[5]
2006	Fat Freddy's Drop	Frontline Elemeno P Goodnight Nurse Pluto Bic Runga	^[6]
2007	Opshop	The Black Seeds Evermore Brooke Fraser	^[7]
2008	Parachute Band	Antiform The DFenders Horsemen Family Nesian Mystik	^[8]
2009	Smashproof	The Black Seeds Fat Freddy's Drop Ladyhawke Midnight Youth	^[9]
2010		Gin Wigmore Dane Rumble Kids of 88 Shapeshifter	^[10]
2011		Ladi6 The Naked and Famous Six60 Stan Walker	^[11]
2012	Six60	Gin Wigmore Kimbra Home Brew Stan Walker	^[12]
2013	Lorde	Aaradhna Shapeshifter Stan Walker Titanium	^[13]
2014	Stan Walker	Lorde Sol3 Mio David Dallas Broods	^[14]
2015	Six60	Broods Lorde Sol3 Mio Stan Walker	^[15]
2016	Broods	Fat Freddy's Drop Kings Maala Sol3 Mio	^[16]
2017		Lorde Kings Maala SWIDT Theia	^[17]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The 2013 People's Choice Award . Four (MediaWorks New Zealand) . 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131110011718/http://www.four.co.nz/TV/Home/VodafoneNZMusicAwards/PeoplesChoice.aspx . dead . 10 November 2013.
2. Web site: JUDGING. NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. 21 October 2016.
3. News: Student band upset system . Joanna . Hunkin . . . 30 August 2008 . 10 November 2013.
4. Web site: 2004 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
5. Web site: 2005 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
6. Web site: 2006 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013 . 8 August 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110808170415/http://www.nzmusicawards.co.nz/2009/10/29/2006-winners/ . dead .
7. Web site: 2007 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
8. Web site: 2008 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
9. Web site: 2009 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013 . 8 August 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110808170750/http://www.nzmusicawards.co.nz/2010/03/29/2009-winners/ . dead .
10. Web site: 2010 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
11. Web site: VNZMA 2011 Winners . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
12. Web site: VNZMA Winners 2012 . New Zealand Music Awards . 10 November 2013.
13. News: Lorde wins big at 2013 NZ Music Awards. 21 November 2013. 3 News. 21 November 2013.
14. News: Jenkin. Lydia. This year's NZ Music Award contenders revealed. 16 October 2014. NZ Herald. APN. 16 October 2014.
15. Web site: PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD 2015. NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. 21 October 2016.
16. Web site: PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD 2016. NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. 21 October 2016.
17. Web site: Lorde to perform at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Radio NZ. Radio NZ. 5 October 2017.