The eighth annual Taite Music Prize, along with two other New Zealand music industry awards, was presented on 18 April 2017 at a ceremony in Auckland, organised by Independent Music New Zealand (IMNZ). The winner of the main award was Street Chant for their album Hauora. The inaugural Best Debut Record award went to Merk for Swordfish, and Dunedin Sound pioneers The Clean received the IMNZ Classic Record Award for Boodle Boodle Boodle.
The ceremony and its main award share the "Taite Music Prize" name. Sometimes called the Taite Main, this award recognises New Zealand's best album of the previous year (2016). The winner, was Hauora by Street Chant.
Criteria for the award include artistic merit, creativity, innovation and excellence. A new requirement for 2017 added that artists needed to be able to attend the ceremony in person. The winners received $10,000 from Recorded Music NZ, recording time at Red Bull Studios, and prizes described as a "year's supply" of both Red Bull products and Corona.
Hauora was Street Chant's second album following Means, which was a finalist for the 2011 Taite Music Prize. The prize was accepted by bassist Billie Rogers and drummer Chris Varnham, although the latter didn't actually play on the recording. Band leader Emily Edrosa (also known as Emily Littler) was in Los Angeles and learned about the win on Twitter.
In a review for North & South written a year earlier when the album was released, Henry Oliver - who would become a member of the Taite Music Prize judging panel - said, "Hauora is a portrait of the lives of a certain breed of the twenty-something, creative middle/under-class; over-read and under-employed, drinking too much and earning too little, bussing from an existential crisis to a house party, walking from breakup to hangover."
While most years' Taite Music Prize nominations are open to any New Zealand musicians to have released an original album in the previous year, a rule change in 2017 eliminated artists who were unlikely to be able to attend the Auckland ceremony. This rule was lifted again for the 2018 Taite Music Prize, when Aldous Harding accepted the award from London.
A nomination period ran for two weeks from January 25, with self-nominations explicitly encouraged by IMNZ. A total of 70 albums were entered. This list went to a vote of all IMNZ members, which found eight finalists. The overall winner was selected by a panel of judges who were never officially named. Journalist Henry Oliver was disclosed as a judge by RNZ.
This went to Boodle Boodle Boodle, a 5-track 12" EP by The Clean, first released on Flying Nun Records in November 1981. It was announced ahead of the award ceremony on 30 March 2017. There was no public nomination process or vote. The award was presented by Doug Hood, who was a recording engineer on the EP, assisting Chris Knox.
Boodle Boodle Boodle was the third recording in Flying Nun Records's catalogue. It was made over two days with a total budget of $750. Despite receiving no commercial radio play, it spent 26 weeks in the national charts and was the highest-selling local single in 1982.
The award for the best debut album of 2017 went to Merk (Mark Perkins), for Swordfish. It was presented by IMNZ chairperson Matthew Davis. The award was new for 2018, with Auckland Live joining the Taites as a new sponsor. They funded a $2,000 cash prize and offered the winner a performance slot at the next Summer in the Square, held over 2017-2018. There was an open call for nominations early in 2017 but unlike subsequent years, no other finalists were announced.
The Taite Music Prize ceremony was held on 18 April 2017 and livestreamed on 95bFM's YouTube channel. For the first time the venue was the Civic Theatre's Wintergarden. A "new red carpet" was announced ahead of the ceremony.
Performers on the night were drawn from record label Lil' Chief, forming a one-off group to play songs by Classic Record Award winners The Clean, as well as the 2016 Taite Music Prize winner Silicon (Kody Nielson). MCs were Wallace Chapman & Geneva Alexander