Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

Location	Auckland, New Zealand
Key people	Adam Holt, President; Campbell Smith, CEO
Website	rianz.org.nz

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand. Membership of RIANZ is open to any record label operating in New Zealand, and is dominated by the American and UK owned "Big Four" (EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner Music) who have four of the five full memberships to the RIANZ.^[1]

Piracy

The RIANZ was instrumental in attempting to introduce a possible version of Section 92A Copyright Act. The amendment would have required ISPs in New Zealand to disconnect users accused but not convicted of downloading copyrighted material - the first law of its type in the world.^[2] The amendment and consequently the RIANZ's actions have been widely criticised. ISPs described the law as "a deeply flawed law that undermines the fundamental rights and simply will not work",^[3] while thousands of artists have joined the Campaign for Fair Copyright voicing their "disappointment"^[4] at the RIANZ stance. However, the version was ultimately dropped, and a new s92A has subsequently been proposed.

Awards

The New Zealand Music Awards are conferred annually by RIANZ for outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording field. The awards are one of the biggest awards that a group or artist can receive in music in New Zealand. The awards have been presented every year since 1965 and a precise history of the event can be found here.^[5]

Sales charts

RIANZ releases the official New Zealand singles and album charts. The Top 40 Singles Chart consists of data from both singles sales figures and radio play (airplay) information gathered by radio data collection agency Radioscope; sales (including downloads) take up 75%, with airplay taking up the other 25%.

Prior to 2004, RIANZ also published an annual ranking chart of singles and albums released in New Zealand. Position is awarded by a simple scoring system whereby a number one in one week gets 50 points, a number two gets 49 points and so on, then all weeks are added together. From 2004 onwards, however, the annual charts have songs positioned based on the number of sales for that year.

From April 2007 to October 2011, the charts were displayed and archived at the website radioscope.net.nz which lists 13 different charts, most notably RadioScope100 and NZ40 Airplay Chart.^[6] In October 2011 the radioscope.net.nz site began returning HTTP 404 error codes for all pages; a message on the default page said, "The RadioScope website is currently down following an intrusion by hackers. A replacement site will be available shortly."^[7]

In November 2011, RIANZ revised their websites, adding pages for NZ Singles and NZ Albums, which are similar to the official singles and albums charts, but which do not include international acts, showing only domestic artists.^[8][9]

RIANZ certifications

A music single or album qualifies for a platinum certification if it exceeds 15,000 copies shipped to retailers and a gold certification for 7,500 copies shipped.

For music DVDs (formerly videos), a gold accreditation originally represented 2,500 copies shipped, with a platinum accreditation representing 5,000 units shipped.^[10]

Shipping thresholds for RIANZ accreditations, by format

Format / product	Gold	Platinum
Albums and singles	7,500	15,000
Music DVDs	2,500	5,000

Performance rights

The public performance and broadcast rights of RIANZ members (which are restricted rights under New Zealand law) is administered on those members' behalf by the not-for-profit licensing company PPNZ. PPNZ administers the rights of local and international record labels, recording artists and sound recording distributors within the New Zealand territory.

PPNZ is responsible for licensing and collecting income from the broadcasting and public performance of sound and video recordings, and distributing this income back to rights owners (including, but not limited to, RIANZ members). PPNZ can grant licences to any individual or business playing or using recorded music in the public arena (i.e. non domestic) such as bars, cafes, retail shops, salons, telephone "on-hold" systems, sports grounds, broadcasters, gyms, function centres and many other premises where performance of recorded music takes place.

Other activities

RIANZ is the New Zealand International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) national agency, and allocates the Country and First Owner Codes to members for encoding on all audio and audio-visual recordings, as a method of identification.

RIANZ is a member of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and is affiliated with, other national recording industry groups like the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

RIANZ works closely with the NZ Federation Against Copyright Theft (NZFACT) which represents film producers. NZFACT is affiliated with the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Chart records

Artists with the most number-one hits

1. The Beatles (15)

2. Michael Jackson (10)

3. U2 (8)

4. Akon (7) (tie)

4. Bee Gees (7) (tie)

4. Eminem (7) (tie)

4. Mariah Carey (7) (tie)

8. ABBA (6) (tie)

8. The Black Eyed Peas (6) (tie)

8. Chris Brown (6) (tie)

8. Elton John (6) (tie)

8. Katy Perry (6) (tie)

8. Rihanna (6) (tie)

Number-one debuts

• Screaming Meemees - "See Me Go" (3 August 1981)
• Mo Thugs - "Thug Devotion" (22 December 1996)
• R Kelly - "I Believe I Can Fly" (2 February 1997)
• U2 - "Discotheque" (23 February 1997)
• The Cardigans - "Lovefool" (2 March 1997)
• Unique II - "Break My Stride" (16 March 1997)
• Warren G - "I Shot the Sheriff" (13 April 1997)
• Hanson - "MMMBop" (22 June 1997)
• Puff Daddy and Faith Evans - "I'll Be Missing You" (6 July 1997)
• Aqua - "Barbie Girl" (14 September 1997)
• Elton John - "Candle in the Wind 1997" (5 October 1997)
• All Saints - "Never Ever" (18 January 1998)
• K-Ci and JoJo - "All My Life" (12 April 1998)
• B*Witched - "C'est la Vie" (28 June 1998)
• Spice Girls - "Viva Forever" (23 August 1998)
• Pras Michel (feat. ODB and Mýa) - "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" (6 September 1998)
• Boyzone - "No Matter What" (18 October 1998)
• Five - "Everybody Get Up" (15 November 1998)
• Spice Girls - "Goodbye"
• Cher - "Believe" (10 January 1999)
• Boyzone - "I Love the Way You Love Me" (4 April 1999)
• Shania Twain - "That Don't Impress Me Much" (2 May 1999)
• TrueBliss - "Tonight" (16 May 1999)
• Geri Halliwell - "Look at Me" (30 May 1999)
• Jennifer Lopez - "If You Had My Love" (1 August 1999)
• Vengaboys - "Boom Boom Boom Boom" (8 August 1999)
• Shania Twain - "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" (15 August 1999)
• 5ive - "If Ya Gettin' Down" (22 August 1999)
• Ronan Keating - "When You Say Nothing at All" (5 September 1999)
• Lou Bega - "Mambo No. 5" (12 September 1999)
• Neil Finn - "Can You Hear Us?" (3 October 1999)
• S Club 7 - "Two in a Million" (26 March 2000)
• Vengaboys - "Shalala Lala" (16 April 2000)
• Bardot - "Poison" (7 May 2000)
• Wolverines - "65 Roses" (26 May 2002)
• 50 Cent - "In da Club" (6 April 2003)
• Clay Aiken - "Bridge over Troubled Water" (29 June 2003)
• Guy Sebastian - "Angels Brought Me Here" (7 December 2003)
• Ben Lummis - "They Can't Take That Away" (17 May 2004)
• Michael Murphy - "So Damn Beautiful" (13 September 2004)
• P-Money (feat. Scribe) - "Stop the Music" (25 October 2004)
• Eminem - "Just Lose It" (15 November 2004)
• Savage (feat. Akon) - "Moonshine" (4 April 2005)
• Crazy Frog - "Axel F" (18 July 2005)
• Pussycat Dolls - "Don't Cha" (22 August 2005)
• Rosita Vai - "All I Ask" (24 October 2005)
• Black Eyed Peas - "My Humps" (28 November 2005)
• Busta Rhymes - "Touch It" (15 May 2006)
• Fergie - "London Bridge" (2 October 2006)
• Boyband - "You Really Got Me" (9 October 2006)
• Matt Saunoa - "Hold Out" (6 November 2006)
• Gwen Stefani (feat. Akon) - "The Sweet Escape" (5 March 2007)
• Beyoncé and Shakira - "Beautiful Liar" (23 April 2007)
• Sean Kingston - "Beautiful Girls" (30 July 2007)
• The Naked and Famous - "Young Blood" (14 June 2010)
• Rihanna - "Only Girl (In the World)" (27 September 2010)
• Britney Spears - "Hold It Against Me" (17 January 2011)
• Lady Gaga - "Born This Way" (14 February 2011)
• Jessie J (feat. B.o.B) - "Price Tag" (28 February 2011)
• Avalanche City - "Love Love Love" (14 March 2011)
• Cobra Starship (feat. Sabi) - "You Make Me Feel..." (5 July 2011)

Singles with most weeks at #1

14 weeks

• Boney M. - "Rivers of Babylon", 1978

12 weeks

• Freddy Fender - "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights", 1975
• Scribe - "Stand Up", 2003

11 weeks

• Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You", 1992
• Crazy Frog - "Axel F", 2005
• Smashproof featuring Gin Wigmore - "Brother", 2009
• LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock - "Party Rock Anthem", 2011^[11]

10 weeks

• Tony Orlando & Dawn - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", 1973
• Pussycat - "Mississippi", 1976
• UB40 - "Can't Help Falling in Love", 1993
• Lady Gaga - "Poker Face", 2008
• Stan Walker - "Black Box", 2009/10

9 weeks

• ABBA - "Fernando", 1976
• Elton John and Kiki Dee - "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", 1976
• All of Us - "Sailing Away", 1986
• Avril Lavigne - "Complicated", 2002
• The Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling", 2009

References

1. ^ RIANZ official site
2. ^ "New Zealand First to Adopt 3-Strikes Law for Pirates". Torrent Freak. 17 October 2008.
3. ^ "ICT industry moves to address copyright confusion"^{[dead link]}. Internet NZ. 19 September 2008.
4. ^ "Thousands of Artists Against Guilt Upon Accusation Laws". Creative Freedom.
5. ^ http://rianz.org.nz/awards2008/history.asp
6. ^ "Charts - RadioScope New Zealand". radioscope.net.nz. http://www.radioscope.net.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=3&Itemid=32. Retrieved 28 August 2011. 
7. ^ "RadioScope". radioscope.net.nz. http://www.radioscope.net.nz/. Retrieved 11 November 2011. 
8. ^ "NZ Singles". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. RIANZ. http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/nzsingles. Retrieved 11 November 2011. 
9. ^ "NZ Albums". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. RIANZ. http://nztop40.co.nz/chart/nzalbums. Retrieved 11 November 2011. 
10. ^ Chart Facts, RIANZ
11. ^ "charts.org.nz - LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock - Party Rock Anthem". charts.org.nz. http://www.charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=LMFAO+feat%2E+Lauren+Bennett+%26+GoonRock&titel=Party+Rock+Anthem&cat=s. Retrieved 7 June 2011. 

External links

• Official RIANZ Website
• Official PPNZ Website
• Love Music - RIANZ education website
• Official music awards website
• International Federation of Phonographic Industries website
• New Zealand Charts with archive and search (unofficial site)