Been out of the loop with everything that’s been going on in the music industry recently? We don’t blame you. Here’s a wrap-up of all the biggest Aussie music industry news stories from the past fortnight.
Keep up to date with the latest industry news here.
Spotify for artists’ second Fan Study shows how it’s never been easier for acts to create a global fanbase.
However having said that, Spotify data suggests that an Australian act should focus on the Australian market with their first release.
Over half of new followers will hail from Australia. But after 12 months, 57 per cent of them will be from outside the border.
There are still road humps but the Australian live sector is returning with great(er) confidence.
Over March and April, over one thousand acts played in more than 500 venues as part of the NSW government/ ARIA initiative Great Southern Nights.
Early figures didn’t indicate how many punters attended (the last round drew 75,000) , or break down how much work it generated for booking agents, venues, and production crew.
Missy Higgins said: “It’s just so good to finally have opportunities to play live music again.
“Great Southern Nights is a much-needed injection of life into an industry that’s suffered badly lately.
“Not only do they put on big headline shows but more importantly they support hundreds of smaller venues and artists who are trying to grow their fan base from the ground up.
“Those venues are their lifeline. Hopefully there’ll be more initiatives like it in the future.”
George Sheppard of Sheppard who played in the flood ravaged Northern Rivers region commented: “Thanks to Great Southern Nights, we were thrilled to play our first NSW headline show in years at The Kingscliff Beach Hotel.
“Because of this, we were able to provide some much-needed music and positivity to a region which has recently been decimated by the floods.”
The floods and community were uppermost in the thoughts when two major festivals over Easter finally returned after repeated delays.
Bluesfest, which drew 25 thousand each day and is set to inject 100 thousand dollars into the local economy, gave free entry for volunteers helping flood victims.
“They are heroes and should be honoured,” said festival director Peter Noble.
The National Folk Festival in Canberra, also back after a hiatus (38,291 came in 2019), had its opening show themed around the Archie Roach song ‘Let Love Rule’.
Roach sang his song, joined by 13-year old Queenslander Layla Barnett. A thousand artists applied to get the 200 spots.
It wasn’t all love. Fake YouTube and Facebook pages sold streaming tickets to opening and closing concerts, where proceeds went to the Ukraine Emergency Appeal.
Festivals continue to return. Tasmania’s Unconformity, forced to close down in October after a NSW patron escaped hotel quarantine, and losing the local economy 600 thousand dollars, is confirmed to return to Queenstown in October 2023.
The inaugural Winter Sounds, after two trip-ups, is on in Daylesford in Victoria this July.
The national hip hop/EDM Listen Out festival and Listen In return in September and October after a two year hiatus, with international acts.
Artist managers get their own awards, with the Association of Artist Managers (AAM) holding its inaugural event on Tuesday May 3. It’s held at lunchtime on the same day as the APRA awards when most of the industry is in Melbourne.
Presented by Oztix, there are four categories – breakthrough manager (success in last 12 months), manager of the year (outstanding achievement), community engagement, and legacy award for someone in the game for over 10 years. Find more information here.
Byron Bay DJ Daniel Webber, 37, was found dead days after going missing.
Starting out at the age of 17, the one-time champion swimmer was regarded as an influential figure and mentor in the Northern Rivers underground EDM scene.
DJs Brad King and Louis Emile posted how he promoted their early gigs, with King calling him a “super humble dude and the life of the party”.
At a time when the music industry has wellbeing high on the priority list, mental health music charity has been forced to turn to crowd-funding.
Two years ago the charity’s funds were in a strong place, co-founder Ali Taylor explains that “now with design, development, promotion, staffing, travel, accommodation, that we cannot recover, the well has almost run out.”
The charity was to run 10 regional iterations of its Songwriting Prize semi finals and two grand finals, and years one, two, and three of Torch Fest.
“The reality is that we had 11 postponements and 16 venue changes across that period, and of the events that we were able to put on (roughly 40 per cent), they were severely restricted, changed or cancelled entirely.”
In the past weeks, three of the four planned Torch Fest shows were held “but in restricted times and low consumer confidence.
“Attendances were below expectations across the board and, in spite of some incredible shows, we don’t know what the future holds.”
Work will start soon at Monash University in Melbourne on a three-year study to map and assess the economic and sociocultural impact of community music radio and its relationship with the wider music industry.
The Australian Research Council approved the project, Community Music Radio: Building the Music-Media Ecosystem, in collaboration with the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, Community Broadcasting Foundation, and APRA AMCOS.
Andrew Khedoori, CBAA’s Amrap manager, said, “we know community radio plays a fundamental role in the success of our local artists and this will help us to place a value on that role.”
Find out more here.
