The Winners of 2016 APRA Silver Scroll Awards Have Been Announced

Wellington singer-songwriter Thomas Oliver has won the 2016 APRA Silver Scroll Award with, "a light-hearted song about taking someone to Mars and lying in the dirt, drinking Cognac and listening to records."

The love song 'If I Move To Mars' beat out brilliant tracks from The Phoenix Foundation, Street Chant, Lydia Cole and Tami Neilson to scoop the award and a cash injection of $10,000.

Presented by royalty collection agency APRA, the award is New Zealand's most prestigious songwriting award, recognising creative excellence in the craft of songwriting, regardless of sales figures and chart success. Since its inception in 1965, the Scroll has passed through the hands of the country's songwriting elite: Ray Columbus, Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Neil Finn, Chris Knox and many more.

In addition to the Silver Scroll, several more awards were presented at the annual ceremony.

East Coast songwriter Rob Ruha took out the APRA Maioha Award for the second time with his battle anthem 'Kariri'; Wellington composer Salina Fisher won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for her composition 'Rainphase', inspired by the beauty and chaos of rain in the Capital; the APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award was won by Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and Tama Waipara for their work on the film Mahana, while Karl Steven received the APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award for the drama 800 Words.

Rounding off the evening was the induction of Moana Maniapoto into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. As one of the most recognisable and important voices in Aotearoa and Maori music, Maniapoto was honoured for the significant impact she has had on the New Zealand life and culture through her music.

The full list of winners are:

APRA Silver Scroll Award: Thomas Oliver – 'If I Move to Mars'
APRA Maioha Award: Rob Ruha – 'Kariri'
SOUNZ Contemporary Award: Salina Fisher – 'Rainphase'
APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award: Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and Tama Waipara – Mahana
APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award: Karl Steven – 800 Words
NZ Music Hall of Fame: Moana Maniapoto