Funding Promises For Sounds Australia, Live Music Office

In its Creative Industries, Creative Country policy launched June 4, it announced contemporary live music will get a A$5.4 million ($4.7 million) slice. Music export body Sounds Australia, which in May lost funding from the Government for the next year, will get a reprieve. The ALP’s plan is to combine under the Sounds Australia umbrella, the Live Music Office which works with Governments and councils to find new opportunities for live music, and the Australian Music Centre.

The idea of the amalgamation would see a greater volume of exports to established and emerging music markets, widen Live Music Office’s operation to cover more different styles of acts and a wider range of venues, and to use the Australian Music Centre’s content management system to aggregate and promote Australian artists and music content “Australia is the 6th largest music market in the world and has the potential to become a significant global exporter of contemporary music,” the ALP said. “The talent of contemporary Australian musicians should be shared with the world.” Sounds Australia’s executive producer, Millie Millgate, agreed: “An investment in Sounds Australia is an investment in fast-tracking music export success globally. Australian talent is far too good to not be seen on the world stage.”

The Live Music Office’s policy director, John Wardle, a jazz guitarist, praised an approach of “investing in coordinated domestic and export music industry development.” The ALP also promised to scrap the Government’s new “second funding scheme” Catalyst, which had caused outrage in the music and arts sector when introduced last year because it was based in the Ministry of the Arts and lacked the independence of the major funding body, the Australia Council.

The ALP said it would double the budget of the latter. Its other policies included bolstering the regional touring circuit, introducing more music into school curriculums, more domestic TV drama productions by the government-run ABC network, and funding to ensure the continuation of digital college radio stations in the five major cities.