Dylan Taite

Dylan Taite was a passionate music fan first and foremost with a unique take on NZ music journalism. He produced stories that had the finger on the pulse and always applauded the artistic merit of the music itself.

Dylan was known for his unique critical review and was a NZ broadcasting icon. His enthusiasm for talented musicians and their work helped pave the way for some of the success that NZ music now enjoys.

Tragically he died in 2003 after a short illness. In honouring Dylan's work we have established the Taite music prize as an award that champions the most creative NZ album released annually.

Background

The concept for the Taite music prize has taken inspiration from successful international music prize formats such as the Mercury Prize in the U.K., the AMP in Australia, The Prix Constantin in France and the Polaris Music Prize in Canada.

Previous winners of these awards are often outside chances and have not necessarily had top 10 releases, however their creative output was deemed extraordinary, including acts such as Roni Size, Portishead, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, PJ Harvey, Augie March, Dizee Rascal...

In addition to the cash prize for the winning album, both the winner and the nominated artists experience huge surges in sales and media exposure immediately preceding the announcements and for sometime afterwards.

The Taite Music prize aims to support the growth and increasing sustainability of the local NZ music industry in drawing attention to the creative output of NZ artists.