$25K Levi's® Music Prize Extends To New Zealand

The Levi’s® Music Prize has witnessed a huge 12 months of Australian music, awarding $125,000 to Australian artists since its inception in 2017.

The largest music prize in Australian history, is about to step it up a notch, announcing that as of today, New Zealand artists will be eligible for a stake in the annual $100K prize pool.

Levi’s® Marketing Manager for Australia & New Zealand Nicky Rowsell is proud to see the continued development of the sought after prize.

“It’s been a big year for Australian music. The depth of talent in this country is stronger than ever and we’re proud to be a part of it in some small way by being able to provide funding via the Levi’s® Music Prize to assist emerging artists reach a few of their international career goals. In order to keep the prize evolving and growing; we’d like to extend the opportunity to New Zealand artists that have played BIGSOUND dating back to 2014". 

"Hopefully this encourages more New Zealand artists to participate in BIGSOUND and I look forward to seeing the healthy competition created from our close neighbours.”

Nicky Rowsell - Levi’s® Marketing Manager for Australia

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#Extra $5K in Travel

Earlier this year, Levi’s® welcomed the support of BIGSOUND’s official travel partner, Stage & Screen who contribute an additional $5,000 to each winning artist in travel, as of September 2018.

So far, Stella Donnelly, Alex Lahey, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Hatchie & Emerson Snowe have been awarded $25,000 each, to help them achieve their export goals. The prize provides funding towards recording or touring equipment, video production, touring & promotion or a new album or EP, supporting artists that have built significant initial career momentum via their BIGSOUND experience, but who need a financial leg-up to keep moving forward on the international stage

"It's impossible to overstate how the generosity of the Levi's® Music Prize has impacted the lives of our winners so far. Every year we welcome a number of New Zealand acts to BIGSOUND and it's great that they can now also benefit from the possibility of winning this career-changing prize."

Joel Edmondson - BIGSOUND Executive Producer

Applications are now open for Round 2, 2018/19 and will close December 9, 2018. Australian and New Zealand artists who have performed on the official BIGSOUND line up in the past 5 years - between 2014 – 2018 - are invited to apply.

Showcase applications for BIGSOUND 2019 will open in April 2019. Subscribe to our mailing list to find out first.