Australasia News: Women In Music Nods To Live; Andrew Scally Dies; EVANZ Program Unveiled

AUSTRALIA

Women’s Awards Recognize Live Sector

Live sector identities were among those recognized at the Australian Women in Music awards (AWMAs), at The Tivoli in Brisbane Sept. 27 as part of a two-day conference.

They covered singers, performers, technicians, leaders, elders, songwriters, producers, engineers, filmmakers, photographers and journalists.

The inaugural executive leader game changer went to Emily Collins, head of Music NSW and now at new government agency Sound NSW, and Frontier Touring’s late road warrior Oana Gilbert landed the special impact gong.

The live production touring win was handed to Jenny Moon, who founded the entertainment and sports Moon Mother Productions; while singer Naomi Price, who founded the little red company to create original cabaret shows, took home the live creative production trophy.

Among singers spotlighted were Tones And I, Vanessa Amorosi, Emmy Mack of Redhook, Kate Ceberano, Vika & Linda, Sarah McLeod of Superjesus and the late Renee Geyer.

The conference discussed if the industry was paying lip service to diversity, and the changing significance of voices in First Nations, artists with disabilities and heavy metal performers.

“In 2023, female artists and musicians are still having to prove themselves,” noted executive producer and program director Vicki Gordon.

“Just last month, two well-known music promoters announced new festival lineups where women were a glaring minority and in one case were virtually non-existent. Let’s call it out for what it is: blatant sexism.”

EDM Promoter Andrew Scally Dies

Andrew Scally, a pioneer of the EDM movement, died at 57 in Perth in violent circumstances. Police called to a property on Pitt Street found him dying, and charged a 39-year-old man.

From 2000 until 2020, Scally ran nightlife company Limelite Events, co-founded the Stereosonic festival and booked at Darwin’s Discovery nightclub and Fremantle’s Metropolis.

Tributes on social media saluted his mentoring of generations of young DJs.
Push For Global Live Inroads For Acts

Ways for the Australian government to support musicians seeking to develop international fanbases was a dominant topic at the first meeting of the government’s new Music Australia Council.

The purpose of the council is to get direct input from artists and executives on challenges facing contemporary music.

Adrian Collette, chair of the nine-person council that includes prominent promoter and artist manager Michael Chugg, said, “The rules and models of exporting music have completely changed. We have to see which ones work.

“The big dynamic here is having a dedicated investment stream, not a grant-making stream.”

Solutions looked at included funding tours, artist collaborations, overseas fellowships,
skills training for artist managers to be more export-ready, partnering with streaming services to increase the discoverability of Australian music, and more support networks for emerging talent.

NEW ZEALAND

EVANZ Unveils Conference Program

The Entertainment Venues Association NZ (EVANZ) has unveiled the program for its end-of-year conference Nov. 28-30 in Dunedin, at Forsyth Barr Stadium and Dunedin Centre.

Sessions for members, which include 120 venues, cover updates on alcohol licensing, ticketing, risk management and the polycrisis, safer cities and global venue developments.
Of importance are lessons learned from coping during the FIFA’s Women’s World Cup, which broke all sports attendance records in the country in August.

It drew 700,000 fans over four weeks (100,000 from America), generating NZ$200 million ($119.9 million) in economic benefits, and NZ$110 million ($65.9 million) in overseas tourism.

Categories for the Nov. 29 EVANZ Awards cover best small, medium and large venues, technology’s rising star, and most effective team leader and industry supplier.