Australia News: Performance Royalties, Ticketek, Cold Chisel & More

Live music performance royalties for Australian and New Zealand songwriter, composer and publisher members of rights association APRA AMCOS exceeded A$30 million (US$20.3 million) for the first time. 

It marked a 19% year-on-year growth, the association revealed in its financial report published Oct. 11. These royalties have had an 81% growth over a decade: they generated $16.6 million ($11.2 million at current rate) in the 2019/10 financial year.

The buoyancy of the international touring market was a factor, APRA AMCOS said. Over this period, The Rubens opened for Pink’s 42-date run, Broods for Taylor Swift, Birds of Tokyo for Bon Jovi and runs by the R’N’B Fridays brand.

A record number of members earned live performance royalties for songs played at multi-size gigs across Australia and New Zealand. $7.1 million was paid to 17,222 members. 44,892 APRA members earned royalties in Australia, with close to one-third earning royalties from their music played or performed overseas. 

Revenue from international sources continue to increase annually, with $45.8 million ($31 million) APRA reported – up 4.8% on the previous year.

APRA AMCOS’ chief executive Dean Ormston commented, “Australian and New Zealand composers, songwriters and artists are pushing new boundaries and kicking goals in a globally competitive environment and at a time when there is more music content than ever before.” 

Over 2018/9, APRA AMCOS made a record $471.8 million ($320.3 million) in total (up 12.3%), with digital up 30.4% to $175.4 million ($119 million), of which audio streaming expanded by 28.2% to $105 million ($71.2 million). 

Ticketing platform Ticketek is scheduled to launch in the UK early 2020, the chief executive of its parent company TEG, Geoff Jones, told Pollstar. 

Founded in 1979, the platform sells 23 million tickets a year to 20,000 events in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. 

Ticketek’s move into the UK follows TEG’s buy-out in August of UK promoter and venue operator MJR Group. Jones says its acquisition led to interest from other UK and European companies flagging interest in future partnerships.

Jones describes the UK as an allocations market, there are no barriers to entry there at all. 

“We will take a careful approach, we’ll go in there cautiously and build a solid base,” he said. 

TEG is also extending its other interests as tour promotion and data analytics to the UK and Europe, and eying further Asian expansion into Hong Kong and India.  It will use its integrated model, with acquisitions as part of the strategy.

In early October, U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake announced plans to acquire TEG; media reports estimated the Sydney-based company at $1.3 billion ($882.5 million).

Cold Chisel – whose 2011 Light The Nitro Tour was the biggest ever by an Australian based act, selling 285,000 tickets across a 36 shows – reconvenes for its first outdoor summer run. 

The 14 shows of “The Blood Moon Tour” (Dec. 31 to Feb. 8) will see them play some of their biggest venues. 

These include inaugural concerts at the new 30,000-seat Bankwest Stadium in Sydney with the Hoodoo Gurus, Birds of Tokyo and Busby Marou and winery brand A Day On The Green’s new 10,000-capaciy site at Heifer Station Wines, in Orange NSW.

Aside from winery stops, the biggest the 22,000 Mt. Duneed Estate, there’ll be park and beach appearances with big name supports. 

The “Blood Moon Tour” lands Cold Chisel in country music capital Tamworth when the 10-day Toyota Country Music Festival is in swing with an aggregated 300,000. 

They play the 11,000-capacity Scully Park with iconic troubadour Paul Kelly and country music’s Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daley and Charlie Collins. 

Co-manager John Watson told Pollstar, “Cold Chisel were big in their early 80’s heyday but they’re bigger now than they’ve ever been. Their quintessentially Australian songs have become anthems for multiple generations and their intense live performances have become the stuff of legends. They’ve always had a no bullshit, take no prisoners approach to everything and that sort of attitude strikes a deep chord with people in this country.”

New Zealand band SIX60 have made history in their home market. They sold out the 50,000-seat Western Springs Stadium in Auckland for the second year in a row. 

No other New Zealand act has achieved the feat. “We’re absolutely blown away,” said Dave Munro of Eccles Entertainment. “This show is still almost five months away making the sell out even more significant. For them to achieve this twice is completely unheard of.” 

Joining the five-time New Zealand Music Award winners are Australia’s Ocean Alley, NZ singer songwriter Mitch James, rap duo Church + AP, DJ Soraya, and newcomers Niko Walters, Paige and Vayne.

The music industry continues to urge the NSW government to convene a roundtable to discuss regulation and safety at music festivals before the summer season. 

Live Performance Australia’s chief executive, Evelyn Richardson, said “It’s imperative the government announce when it will convene the industry roundtable as part of its commitment to working with industry and festival organisers through genuine consultation on measures to improve festival safety.” 

The statement was endorsed by the Australian Festival Association, music rights organization APRA AMCOS, Music NSW, Live Music Office, music licensing body PPCA and the Australian Recording Industry Association.

It was recommended by the NSW parliament’s regulation committee in its report on rushed festival licensing in March. Those festival licensing regulations have since been overturned.