- A Woman’s Pain, written and performed by Tami Neilson
- Alright, written by Sam de Jong and Cynthia Nabozny, performed by Cyn
- Aztechknowledgey, written and performed by Troy Kingi
- Black Crow, written by Louis Baker and Steve Rusch, performed by Louis Baker
- Conquer written by Isaiah Libeau, Daniel Latu, and Amon McGoram, performed by SWIDT
- December, written by Joshua Burgess, Charles Ryder, Christie Simpson, and Samuel Perry, performed by Yumi Zouma
- Future Me Hates Me, written by Elizabeth Stokes, performed by The Beths
- Hours, written by Julien Dyne , Brandon Haru , and Karoline Tamati, performed by Julien Dyne featuring Ladi6
- Hunnybee, written by Ruban Nielson, Kody Nielson, and Jacob Portrait, performed by Unknown Mortal Orchestra
- Kalega, written by Rob Ruha and Taina Keelan, performed by Rob Ruha & The Witch Doctor
- Laugh It Off, written by Chelsea Jade Metcalf and Bradley Hale performed by Chelsea Jade
- New Wave, written and performed by Seth Haapu
- Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore, written and performed by Marlon Williams
- Nothing To Regret, written by Anna Robinson, Allison Crystal, and Larzz Principato, performed by Robinson
- Slow Train Creek, written and performed by Holly Arrowsmith
- Temporary Me, written by Kingdon Chapple-Wilson, performed by Kings
- Two Free Hands, written and performed by Anthonie Tonnon
- Wallace Line, written by Michael Cathro, performed by Ha The Unclear
- We Light Fire, written and performed by Julia Deans
- You Got Me, written and performed by Lisa Crawley
This Top 20 list was chosen from over 200 entries by a judging panel of 9 fellow songwriters, who have each made wonderful contributions to the NZ music community themselves.
The jury for 2018 was: Anji Sami (She’s So Rad/Sami Sisters), Anna Coddington, Cherie Mathieson (Sola Rosa), Jane de Jong (Ruby Frost), Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins), Nadia Reid, Phil Bell (DJ Sir-vere), Rodney Fisher (Goodshirt), and Simon Gooding (The Map Room).
Widely considered the most prestigious accolade in New Zealand music, the APRA Silver Scroll Award recognises outstanding achievement in the craft of songwriting, and the responsibility now falls to APRA’s almost 10,000 New Zealand members to choose the best song of 2018.
All APRA members are now invited to vote for their top five songs from this list of 20.
These votes from the APRA membership will determine the five finalists and winner of the 2018 APRA Silver Scroll Award.
“These songs show the diversity of song writing in New Zealand right now– from long-established luminaries to fresh faces, ballads to beats, rhymes to folk stories, and many inventive diversions in between” says APRA’s Anthony Healey.
“Of course, as is always the case, there were easily at least 20 more songs also in contention, and our experts had a hard job to select these. But it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate the incredible work of New Zealand songwriters over the past year, and draw attention to some excellent music.”
Past recipients of the esteemed award include a long list of iconic Kiwi music stalwarts - from Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan and Shona Laing to Neil Finn, Bic Runga, and Ray Columbus. They’re joined by a younger generation of music makers that include James Milne & Luke Buda, Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde) & Joel Little, Tami Neilson, and Ruban & Kody Nielson.
The APRA Silver Scroll Award will be presented at Spark Arena in Auckland on Thursday 4th October. The other awards presented on the night are:
- APRA Maioha Award, celebrating exceptional waiata featuring te reo
- SOUNZ Contemporary Award, celebrating excellence in contemporary composition
- APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award
- APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award
As a part of the celebrations APRA will also be inducting a songwriter/s into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.