Best Māori Artist is an Aotearoa Music Award that honours New Zealand music artists for outstanding recordings which reflect a unique Maori identity and/or are an expression of an artist’s Maori culture.
The nominated work can be in te reo Maori, English or be bilingual.
The award was established in 1992 as Best Maori Album, however it was soon criticised for being too broad.
[2] In 2017 the award was changed to Best Maori Artist with the entry criteria changed to require either an album or a minimum of five single releases in the eligibility period.
In 2015, the presentation of the Best Maori Album award was not shown in the live broadcast, as the network cut to an ad break, resulting in complaints from viewers and musicians.