Professional Development Awards
The PDAs are for New Zealand songwriters who can demonstrate that they possess outstanding potential in their field. There are three PDAs awarded each round, each receiving $12,000 cash towards development activities such as: overseas travel to enable recipients to attend music education classes; particpating in co-writing activities; song writing workshops, composer seminars and/ or other relevant opportunities.
The APRA Professional Development Awards (PDAs) are presented biennially by APRA to the ‘shining lights’ within our songwriting industry.
The APRA Professional Development Awards (PDAs) were first awarded in Australia in 2001 to mark APRA's 75th Anniversary. New Zealand presented its first PDA in 2005. The awards were received so enthusiastically by the music industry that the APRA board decided to make the PDAs a permanent fixture on the APRA cultural calendar. As a result, APRA now offers eleven PDAs across Australasia to promising emerging music writers in the early stages of their careers.