Entries for the 2018 APRA Silver Scroll Awards, including the APRA Maioha Award, SOUNZ Contemporary Award, and Best Original Music in a Film or Series Awards are closing on Thursday 31 May.

The awards will be presented at the 2018 APRA Silver Scroll Award Ceremony on Thursday 4 October at Spark Arena in Auckland.

The Silver Scroll Award is New Zealand's most prestigious songwriting award, recognising outstanding achievement in the craft of songwriting.

Past winners include Ray Columbus, Hammond Gamble, Shona Laing, Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Neil Finn, Chris Knox, Brooke Fraser, James Milne & Luke Buda, Aaron Young, Alisa Xayalith & Thom Powers (The Naked And Famous), Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde) & Joel Little and Tami Neilson.

As the only peer voted music award in New Zealand, the APRA Silver Scroll Award provides a unique opportunity for songwriters to recognise outstanding achievement by their peers. A panel of prominent APRA members narrow all entries to the awards down to a Top 20, which are then voted on by APRA's 10,000 members. The votes cast by APRA's wider membership determine the winner of the Silver Scroll Award, as well as the five finalists.

The winner of the award receives a payment of $5,000, and takes the freshly engraved APRA Silver Scroll Award into their care for 11 months.

Head here for conditions of entry and to submit.