Joel Little
Joel Little is a Grammy Award-winning, Golden Globe-nominated, multi-platinum certified songwriter, producer, and musician. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand, Little is best known for his work helping craft the sleek, minimalist art-pop songs of Lorde, Taylor Swift, Khalid, Imagine Dragons, Broods, and Jarryd James. Over the past few years, he accumulated over 1 billion streams collectively on tracks he is credited for. In 2013, Little won the APRA Silver Scroll for his work on Lorde’s game-changing single ‘Royals’. The following year ‘Royals’ saw him nominated for ‘Record of the Year’ and win ‘Song of the Year’ at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. He was also awarded the ‘Outstanding International Achievement Award’ at the Australian APRA Awards, and ‘Most Performed Song’ at the ASCAP Pop Awards. That same year ‘Royals’ spent nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In 2015, Little was nominated for ‘Best Original Song’ at the Golden Globe Awards for his work on Lorde’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 soundtrack song ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’. In 2011, Joel established Golden Age Studios. There, he co-wrote and produced Lorde’s debut EP The Love Club and album Pure Heroine. Released by Lava/Republic, Pure Heroine went on to sell over 2.7 million copies worldwide and won Album of the Year at the 2014 New Zealand Music Awards. As Lorde was rising to international prominence, Joel produced sibling duo Broods debut single ‘Bridges’, Self-titled EP, and debut album Evergreen, released by Capital and Polydor Records. Evergreen won Album of the Year at the 2015 New Zealand Music Awards. Now operating out of Los Angeles, of late Joel has been working closely with Shawn Mendes, the Jonas Brother, MARINA, James Bay, Noah Kahan, and Taylor Swift. Recording by recording, he continues to put well-honed songwriting and vocal performance first. Through his commitment to the power of tastefully understated production, he’s providing a refreshing alternative to the conventional sounds of mainstream pop, and making his impact felt through radio waves worldwide in the process.
Sunrise Sessions
What do a world-class music producer and a founder-turned-investor have to learn from each other? More than you might think. In this keynote, Joel Little, the creative force behind songs from global icons like Lorde and Taylor Swift, sits down with Rowan Simpson, co-founder of Trade Me and a trailblazer in the New Zealand startup scene, to explore the fascinating intersection of talent, mindset, and ambition. Together, they’ll tackle key questions: ⇼ On TALENT - what are the qualities that define truly talented people, and how do you help them thrive? From artists to founders, creation is at the heart of it all, what can these creators learn from each other. ⇼ On MINDSET - how does the mindset of New Zealand’s talent differ from those in other countries? Do cultural attitudes towards success hold us back, or propel us forward? ⇼ On AMBITION - what does ambition look like in New Zealand, and how can we foster the kind of ambition that leads to global impact? By the end of this discussion, you’ll see how founders and artists are cut from the same cloth, both hacking away at creation and beauty in their own unique ways. Most importantly, you’ll leave inspired, knowing that New Zealand has all the talent it needs to create something with a global reach.