Williams (Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) won the APRA Silver Scroll Award for the song, 'Aua Atu Rā', co-written by KOMMI (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa). He won in 2018 for 'Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore'.
Inspired by 1960s Māori showbands, ‘Aua Atu Rā’ comes from the album Te Whare Tīwekaweka, which was written entirely in te reo Māori with guidance from close friend and artist KOMMI (Kommi Tamati-Elliffe).
Williams encouraged fellow musicians to embrace songwriting when he accepted the award on Wednesday night.
"Any Māori songwriters out there, just get into it, man. The reo's there, I still don't know how to speak te reo Māori proficiently, but with a bit of help songs are simple.
"Music is both very complicated and very complicated at the same time. You can assert your taha Māori through singing, there's a lot there for you."
Williams urged Māori musicians to "flood the zone" with their music.
"Flood the zone with waiata maori, with your beautiful mahi toi, te reo is yours, be bold, kia mau ki te reo, whaea te mauri a roto, he kai kei au ringa (there’s food at the end of your fingers)."
Music reviewer Nick Bollinger previously described Williams' album, released earlier this year, as "the deepest, most personal work of his career".
"I’m reminded of what an inherently musical language te reo Māori is, especially when sung in a voice as exquisite as Williams," Bollinger wrote for RNZ.
".....In ‘Au Atu Ra’ he slips into the classic Māori strum, giving the song a musical ancestry that goes back to Prince Tui Teka or the Howard Morrison Quartet."
Williams' Silver Scroll double adds him to a list of multi-winners including Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan, and Lorde.
As part of the finalist performances at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Ōtautahi, Christchurch on Wednesday night ‘Aua Atu Rā’ was performed by folk/country sister duo The Mitchell Twins.
Christchurch five-piece duo Dillistrate were presented with the Maioha Award for ‘Kei Whati Te Marama’. The peer-voted award was presented to Henare Kaa and Tim Driver, alongside co-writers Hemi Hoskins and Rory Noble, for the drum’n’bass love song, “a tribute to our wāhine who go through so much”.
Dunedin composer Ihlara McIndoe won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for her composition 'of coral and foam'.
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper, a double finalist across the Silver Scroll screen categories, was awarded Best Original Music in a Series for NZ/Irish co-production The Gone (season 2). Bridgman-Cooper previously won the Feature Film Award alongside Tama Waipara for Mahana in 2016.
Arli Liberman and Tiki Taane won the Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award for Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End. Liberman won the same award in 2021 for Savage and Taane has won the Tohu Maioha.
Alt-country band The Warratahs were welcomed into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame (Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa). They were recognised for their impact on the songwriting community and for influencing a distinctly Kiwi style of country music at a time when the genre was still finding its place in Aotearoa.
Last year, powerhouse Anna Coddington's bilingual waiata 'Kātuarehe' won the Silver Scroll while Jordyn with a Why's 'He Rei Niho' took home the Maioha Award.
Silver Scrolls 2025 winners
APRA Silver Scroll Award (Kaitito Kaiaka)
Aua Atu Rā written by Marlon Williams and Te Pononga Tamati-Elliffe (KOMMI), performed by Marlon Williams
APRA Maioha Award (Tohu Maioha winner)
Kei Whati Te Marama written by Henare Kaa, Tim Driver, Hemi Hoskins and Rory Matao Noble, performed by Dillastrate.
SOUNZ Contemporary Award (Te Tohu Auaha winner)
of coral and foam by Ihlara McIndoe, with text by Katherine Mansfield
APRA Best Original Music In A Series Award (Tohu Paerangi winner)
Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper for The Gone Season 2
APRA Best Original Music In A Film Award | Tohu Pūmanawa winner
Arli Liberman and Tiki Taane for Ka Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End
NZ Music Hall of Fame (Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa inductee)
The Warratahs
