Parachute Music


Parachute Music is a not-for-profit music organisation from New Zealand. It was formed in 1989 and runs a hub of studio facilities and an artist development programme in Kingsland, Auckland. From 1992 to 2014, the organisation ran the annual Parachute Festival, which grew to become a staple of the Kiwi summer, regularly attracting an audience of 25,000+ to the four-day festival. It also previously provided Artist Management services including: Parachute Records, Parachute Publishing, and bookings services. Discontinuing the festival in 2014, the organisation now runs a hub of seven recording studios in their Kingsland HQ, as well as a year-long artist development programme.

Background

Parachute Music was originally formed as Parachute Productions 21 years ago. Today, Parachute Music is the trading name Parachute Arts Trust, a charitable trust registered in New Zealand since 1990.
The organisation was founded by Mark de Jong, and is overseen by a board.

Studio Facilities

Parachute Studios provide a one-stop shop for musicians, with a hub of studios and songwriting spaces.
Their main studio features the latest ProTools HDX system with Apogee converters, API 1608 console, Genelec monitoring and an extensive selection of the latest plugins. It can be used for anything from full recording projects to live sessions and videoshoots. Each of their six project studios have basic recording setups and are used for writing and light recording sessions.
As a charitable trust, Parachute's studios are community-supported facilities. Their main studio was built after a fundraising effort from the artist community in 2012. Their studios are offered at a subsidised rate, with many of them tenanted by notable New Zealand producers and songwriters.
The main studio was refurbished in 2018.

Artist Development

Since 2013, Parachute Music run a year-long development course for six young artists. The development programme is tailor-made for each artist and requires a 20-hour per week commitment. Open to New Zealand artists between the ages of 18-25, the programme offers:


Alumni from the programme include X-Factor NZ's Stevie Tonks, The Soorleys, Nakita, Little Oceans, Airports, Indyah Madsen, Daily J, and many more.