Jesse Mulligan, Sharyn Casey and Jayden King to host rebranded Aotearoa Music Awards 2020

Vodafone Peoples Choice Award Winners Six60 back in 2015. Photo / File

Jesse Mulligan alongside The Edge radio station's Sharyn Casey and Jayden King have been announced as host of the inaugural Aotearoa Music Awards.

The awards replace the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards and aim to "reinterpret what it means to be a Kiwi musician".

In addition to the new name and identity, the format of this year's event will be different. In previous years the ceremony was a fast-moving two-and-a-half-hour presentation including eight musical performances.

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The New Zealand Music Awards, now the Aotearoa Music Awards, is back for 2020 and this year it’s a little bit special as Sharyn & Jayden will be hosting it live on Edge TV. Plus, listen all next week for your chance to win VIP tickets, flights and accom and rub shoulders with the biggest stars in NZ music. Aotearoa Music Awards live on Edge TV and Three, Sunday November 15, more info at theedge.co.nz

A post shared by The Edge (@theedgenz) on Sep 23, 2020 at 11:00pm PDT

This year's show will be extended to three and a half hours and will include an impressive 18 performances, which organisers are promising will be "intimate".

Twenty awards will be presented on the night and multiple inductees will be welcomed into the NZ Music Hall of Fame.

Jesse Mulligan has been announced as one of three AMA hosts. Photo / File

After a rough year for the music industry due to Covid-19, the awards' charity partners will be a key focus of the ceremony. Partners include MusicHelps, Crescendo Trust, Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre, and Girls Rock Camp.

The Aotearoa Music Awards are organised by industry body Recorded Music NZ, which represents record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand.

Its manager Sarah Owen says, "The decision to rebrand the awards aligns with continued efforts to recognise Aotearoa's tangata whenua and te reo Māori as the first language of New Zealand, as well as the importance of Te Ao Māori in our lives.

"With the renaming to Aotearoa Music Awards and the kaupapa behind that, we are taking another step in bringing the awards back to the core of what they're for: to celebrate, support and encourage the creative journeys of all our recording artists."

-RNZ