The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand, (RIANZ), inaugurated what is now the Vodafone Music Awards, the major music industry awards in New Zealand. The most coveted awards are the 'Tui'. UCA won two Tui awards for Best Children's Album; one for Nga Pihi 1 & 2, in 1995, and a second Tui for Animal Songs, Waiata Kararehe the following year.
A Tui, named after the country's most vocal songbird, is granted for each of many categories, including best pop album, best female/male vocalist etc. The Children's Music category encouraged excellence in recordings for young ears. When Vodafone became the sponsor of the awards, the children's Tui were scrapped, along with all the other non mainstream pop music sections ...
Thanks to a dedicated following in those genres, each category has kept its award process alive, hosting its own award ceremony each year, supported by APRA and Recorded Music New Zealand.