“As a manager of acts who have over the years received wonderful support from Air New Zealand in-flight programming, the extra money in their accounts has always been a huge help.”
Historically, having a track in the runway playlist of the carrier has always led to a peak in searches and streams for featured artists, she said.
“From my point of view, support from our national carrier to local artists is of huge importance - financially and in helping to grow their audience.”
This week, Yeoman took to Twitter to call out the airline, saying, “I’m sure Harry Styles is grateful but our local songwriters miss the $$$ and the support.”
Harry Styles is one of the many international artists on heavy rotation for the airline. The ex-One Direction singer may have completed the NZ Census during a recent tour, but royalties for playing the artist do not stay in the country.
Musicians and their representatives are surprised not to hear more local music played by the national carrier.
The airline, which also publishes its playlists to Spotify, shows around a third of its current Runway Music playlist is from Kiwi artists. This is down from just over half of tracks for the previous quarter.
This is far above representation on commercial radio, which sits around 20 per cent Kiwi recording artists.
However, the tracklists do not show the share of play which each song receives on planes.
Airlines in New Zealand must submit playlist data to music rights body Apra for allocating royalty payments every quarter.
Around 4 per cent of an airline’s Music Licence fee goes to artists used as background music, used while on the ground. Music featured on the passenger entertainment systems accounts for around 20 per cent.
While Apra NZ/Te Tautāwhinga cannot disclose the dollar amount paid by airlines for licensing rights, it is a significant contribution to the royalties distribution pool.
“It is something we’ve all noticed,” said Mike Hall, director for Apra member services.
Airlines are currently preparing to submit royalty details for January to March, but representation for New Zealand artists was a conversation Apra said it was already having with stakeholders.
“We are constantly advocating for New Zealand music. Background music is an important stream of revenue that makes up part of artists’ income.”
When asked if a quota should be introduced for New Zealand music, Hall said he hoped one would not be necessary.
“Ideally, we don’t need to have a quota, because the talent quality of content in this country is just as good as found anywhere else. As a national airline, we’d hope that Air New Zealand feels an obligation to supporting our artists, telling our stories, and playing our music.”
Hall says Apra has a good relationship with Air New Zealand and he looked forward to discussing the issue with them.
Air New Zealand’s IFE (inflight and future aircraft cabin experience) product manager Aisling Dougherty says the airline uses every opportunity to “rock out to the sounds of our homegrown musicians”.
“We’re super proud supporters of Aotearoa New Zealand music – on and off our aircraft. We’re all about spreading the love for our incredible Kiwi artists and giving them the spotlight they deserve,” said Dougherty.
The airline says it has a long record of forming partnerships with New Zealand artists to spread Kiwi music across its network, including inviting Six60 to perform at the launch of its flagship New York operation.
“Onboard we regularly showcase Kiwi artists – including in our safety videos and in our departure and arrival music. We do include some international artists in the mix, working to a 70/30 ratio.”
Air New Zealand said they would be upping the Kiwi content for onboard playlists ahead of New Zealand Music Month, in May.
Music played on airlines can make a difference to writers, said Apra. Music used during taxiing and airline safety videos (which also attract royalty fees) is a way of getting in the ears of a captive audience. Although choosing music that will set the mood but not annoy is tricky.
