After Joel Little claimed two Music Awards at the inaugural event in 2016, the Artisan Awards return on 25 October to celebrate New Zealand’s best behind-the-scenes music talent.

There is an impressive set of finalists set to be honoured at this year’s event with Tuis presented for Massey University Best Producer, Best Engineer, Best Album Cover and NZ On Air Best Music Video.

Recorded Music New Zealand CEO Damian Vaughan says he’s delighted to bring the Artisan Awards back for its second year. “The Artisan Awards are all about recognising the incredible behind-the-scenes talent. Producers and engineers ensure the world-class and technical sound quality of New Zealand music while album covers and music videos help to contextualise songs in our heads, long after the music stops playing.”

The Massey University Best Producer finalists are Ben Edwards for his work on Nadia Reid’s album Preservation, SmokeyGotBeatz for producing Stoneyhunga for his band SWIDT, and LEISURE who produced their own self-titled album.

Ben Edwards gets another nod for Best Engineer also for his work on Nadia Reid’s album Preservation, joining Clint Murphy for Devilskin’s Be Like The River, and Chris Chetland for A Place to Stand by REI.

Recognisingthe top music video creators of the past year, they are Sam Kristofski for his Fazerdaze creation Lucky Girl, Dan Watkins (Reel Factory) for Shapeshifter’s Her, and rounding out the NZ on Air Best Music Video finalists is Joel Kefali for Got It Bad by LEISURE.

Henrietta Harris was previously a finalist for Best Album Cover in 2014 and she returns this year for her work on Grayson Gilmour’s Otherness. Joining Henrietta is Dean Poole and Tyrone Ohia (Alt Group) for Shapeshifter’s Stars and Jamie Robertson for String Theory by Fly My Pretties.

Artisan finalists list:

Best Album Cover

Dean Poole & Tyrone Ohia (Alt Group) for Stars (Shapeshifter)

Henrietta Harris for Otherness (Grayson Gilmour)

Jamie Robertson for String Theory (Fly My Pretties)

Massey University Best Producer

Ben Edwards for Preservation (Nadia Reid)

LEISURE for LEISURE (LEISURE)

SmokeyGotBeatz for Stoneyhunga (SWIDT)

Best Engineer

Ben Edwards for Preservation (Nadia Reid)

Chris Chetland for A Place to Stand (REI)

Clint Murphy for Be Like The River (Devilskin)

NZ On Air Best Music Video

Dan Watkins (Reel Factory) for Her (Shapeshifter)

Joel Kefali for Got It Bad (LEISURE)

Sam Kristofski for Lucky Girl (Fazerdaze)

The Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards will be broadcast live on Three on November 16th from 8.30pm. Tickets go on sale 5 October, $25 general admission + booking fee, available from Ticketmaster.