Dulciana featuring Little Lapin - "Above the Clouds"

Here in New Zealand we don't have, and never have had, a local music quota for radio. However, there was a voluntary code of 20% introduced in 2006 but by then radio was close to that target anyway... a huge step forward from the less than 2% played in 1995. The university stations were always playing a minimum of 20% Kiwi music anyway, so to most alternative music fans it was in their blood. I was jealous of the Australians who introduced a quota way back and the dividends were eventually paid out... but once we got over our cultural cringe, we eventually caught up. Obviously the quality improved as our confidence grew. Part of the success without a quota was the introduction of NZ Music Month and the Kiwi Hit Disc. The NZ Music Month was something university radio promoted and it grew into a national campaign that the commercial stations supported. In fact, it's not just the cool people wearing the NZ music month T-shirts any more. The Kiwi Hit Disc is part of NZ On Air, a government funded scheme to support locally produced music and television (formerly the broadcasting license most people didn't pay). It is a monthly CD (now double) sent out to radio stations with current NZ songs to encourage them to play. All genres are covered, with a good selection of alternative music that Bitter FM has received with much appreciation.... but we aren't satisfied with just that, we go out of our way to find all the good stuff from all corners of the two islands. The latest edition of the Kiwi Hit Disc is #156 and the current fave from it, on Bitter FM, is "Above the Clouds" by Dulciana featuring Little Lapin. NZ On Air/Irirangi Te Motu.