RNZ Music's most binge-worthy content

Aotearoa remains at level 4. Entertain yourself with some of our most binge-worthy content! 

• Covid updates here

NZ Hip-Hop Stand Up 

Our award-winning series unearthing the stories behind some of the most influential tracks in Aotearoa hip hop.

From Upper Hutt Posse to Scribe and beyond, your favourite hip-hop artists share the stories behind the music. 

Made possible by the RNZ/NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

Check out the full series here 

• NZ Hip-Hop Stand Up

Inside Splore - Mini Music Films 

These Mini Music Documentaries showcase five iconic acts as they take centre stage at Splore Festival. They reflect on what they love about Tāmaki Makaurau and performing beachside at Tāpapakanga Regional Park.

Follow The Topp Twins, Deva Mahal, BLKCITY, MC Tali, and Lou'ana as they explore and perform at Splore Festival.

Directed by Serena Stevenson and made with support from Auckland Unlimited to celebrate Auckland UNESCO City of Music.

Check out the full series here

• Inside Splore - Mini Music Films

Live Music Galore! 

Get amongst our huge catalog of live music, featuring big names like SIX60 and L.A.B, as well as local and emerging artists from around Aotearoa. 

Check out our Youtube channel to enjoy an extensive collection of filmed live sessions, or follow any of the links below to get started on your live music journey. 

• 2PM LIVE- Music 101's weekly live sessions 
• NZ LIVE - Weekly music sessions from New Zealand performers 
• RNZ Music Live Sessions- New Zealand artists perform in a range of locations 
• 2020 Live Music Highlights 

Deep Dives

Long-from investigations and deep dives to extend your musical knowledge. Perfect for impressing your mates after lockdown is over! 

How are cassettes still a thing?

Do you still listen to cassette tapes? Have you bought one recently? Tony Stamp was intrigued by recent stories on the rise in cassette sales, so he talked to music retailers, label owners, and visited a tape duplication facility, to find out: how are cassettes still a thing?

The Secret Life of Video Game Composers

The gaming industry makes more money worldwide than movies and music combined. And many game developers are popping up around NZ - which means opportunities for musicians hoping to get into the business.

Intrigued by this, Tony Stamp seeks out some of these company's in-house composers to learn more about how they got started, the gear they use, and how they approach creating epic scores.

The history of Autotune with Tony Stamp

RNZ's Tony Stamp again joins Jesse in the studio to talk about the history of autotune in music.

He explains that during his radio career so far, nothing has drawn more complaints than autotune, which was invented in 1996 by Antares Technology.

The Oral History of Sailing Away 

The singers, the sailors, the creatives and the crew tell the story of Aotearoa’s most successful sporting anthem.

The John Campbell Playlist Hour 

Breakfast presenter and former Checkpoint host John Campbell shares his life-affirming playlist with Music 101. Prepare for lots of hip hop and reasons why you should still embrace new music.

The Collective 

The Collective is an eight-part video series following a group of six young musicians as they work towards the biggest performance of their lives.

It’s a powerful journey of self-discovery guided by Crescendo Studio - a commercial recording facility that runs free and funded youth music production and radio programmes based in West Auckland. Run by Blindspott’s Marcus Powell and Nesian Mystic’s David Atai, Crescendo helps rangatahi build a future in music.

The programme is a lifeline to the young musicians who star in this uplifting video series. They’ve all experienced the darker side of life and are working to heal the emotional wounds of homelessness, drug addiction, sexual assault, loneliness, gang life... everyone is welcome in the Crescendo whānau.

Mentors Marcus and David are joined by Riccardo Ball (Just One Fix) and Cat Percy. Together they call upon friends in the music industry to help mentor and guide the young musicians, as they plan the gig of a lifetime at Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

The series features appearances from award-winning and internationally renowned artists, including MC Tali, Melodownz, Laughton Kora, Emma Dilemma and No Comply.

The six up-and-coming artists are:

• Mahima aka EMCEA
• Iris aka Iris G
• Mataio aka Ace Swamii
• Amelia aka Lesboss
• Trey & Jay, aka 2Trae & Yhung Jae

The Collective is made by an award winning international production team, including Rachale Davies (Producer), Alexis Smith (Director) and Hunter Crouchley (Director of Photography).

Made with the support of NZ On Air.

Watch the full series here 

• The Collective

The Mixtape

A range of guests from writers, directors, comedians, musicians, and actors compile a C60 and talk us through their selections. 

Check out all episodes here

• The Mixtape

Latest episode- The Mixtape: Roger Shepherd 

The Sampler 

Get the verdict on the world's latest albums from Tony Stamp.

Check out all episodes here 

The Sampler

Latest episode - The Sampler: Joan Armatrading, Tkay Maidza, Phoebe Rings

Tony Stamp has a lockdown listen to UK music legend Joan Armatrading’s twentieth album, the third EP in a series by Zimbabwe-born, Australia-raised, LA-based hip hop musician Tkay Maidza, and the debut EP from Auckland indie supergroup Phoebe Rings.