News release web - 1
18 December, 2003
NZ music industry tunes in online
Following 10 months of design and development, The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) has revamped
its website - making it a key resource for those needing information on matters musical.
Visitors to the site at www.rianz.org.nz are able to click through to see who's topping the week's album, single and
compilation charts as well as checking out which albums and singles are the year's best sellers.
There is comprehensive information about RIANZ activities including the BRN anti-piracy campaign.
Details on the role of the Recording Artists and Producers (RAP) Fund, a distribution vehicle for licence fees
collected, and the Phonographic Performances (NZ) Ltd, which collects payments for music rights, are included on the
site.
New features include online licence applications for playing or using recorded music in public and New Zealand artists
can now register online to be part of the RAP fund.
RIANZ chief executive Terence O'Neill-Joyce says the new site makes information more accessible for those who need to
find out about New Zealand's music industry.
"RIANZ's job is to inform and educate people about the music industry," he says. "So it's important that our shop-front
is contemporary and user-friendly."
"Everyone is a lot more computer literate these days and with Internet piracy rife we feel we should be delivering our
messages in a way our audiences are used to receiving them.
The RIANZ web site was designed by Front End which also designed the popular 2003 New Zealand Music Awards site.
About RIANZ: The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Inc (RIANZ) is a non-profit organisation representing
major and independent record producers, distributors and recording artists throughout New Zealand. RIANZ works to
protect the rights and interests of creative people involved in the New Zealand recording industry. It administers the
anti-piracy brand BRN designed to educate New Zealanders about the damage piracy does to the livelihoods of those who work in the music
industry.. Currently RIANZ has 47 full and affiliate members.
RIANZ is the New Zealand International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) national agency for encoding on all audio and
audio-visual recordings and ensures copyright owners of sound recordings and recording artists are properly paid. RIANZ
also administers the RAP fund - a scheme designed to support New Zealand artists and producers by ensuring licence fees
collected are pass on to Rap fund participants. Over 300 artists and producers participate in the scheme. RIANZ is also
responsible for producing the annual New Zealand Music Awards - The Tuis, The weekly Top 50 Albums and Singles Charts
and the production and distribution of Music credit vouchers for retail stores nation-wide.
ends
Issued for the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand by Pead PR