Australasia News: Lucy Dickins, Susan Heymann Join SXSW Sydney; Executive Hires; NZ: Ticketmaster Extends Deals

AUSTRALIA

WME’s Dickins, Frontier Touring’s Heymann Join SXSW Sessions

WME’s global head of contemporary music and touring Lucy Dickins and Frontier Touring COO Susan Heymann joined the speaker list of SXSW Sydney, produced by TEG Oct. 14-20. They will share a stage in an “In Conversation” session.

Dickins’ clients Adele, Mumford & Sons, Olivia Rodrigo and James Blake have a major presence Down Under. Heymann was in 2023 named Live Legend in the National Live Music Awards.

Also announced was Will Page, former chief economist at Spotify, to unveil new research into Australian music and streaming sponsored by Spotify Music and UNIFIED Music Group.

International showcasers include UK’s Jorja Smith and Submerge, Canada’s Aysanabee and Thailand’s PYRA.

International talent buyers and bookers attending include Amy Davidman (TBA Agency, USA), Anuj Gupta (BookMyShow/Lollapalooza India), Don Nguyen (Hot Panda, Vietnam), Skully Sullivan (ATC, UK) and Sarah Deshita (Ismaya Group, Indonesia).

Topics span opportunities in India, marketing to the next generation of music fans, breaking Asia, new trends in global marketing and live A&R workshops.

The first SXSW Sydney, introduced last year as the first outside Austin, Texas, was attended by 287,014 with 97,462 “unique attendees,” TEG said.

Changes At QMusic, MusicNSW

Two influential music associations underwent executive changes. Vivienne Mellish, co-founder of digital music distribution and artist services company GYROstream is president of QMusic which lobbies for Queensland, while The Triffid and Fortitude Music Hall operator John Collins is vice president.

They respectively replace Natalie Strijland who was president for four years, and left to focus on her law practice and D-J Wendt, who also left after four years and will focus on his classical-pop Ten Tenors’ 30th anniversary world tour.

Under Strijland, QMusic fostered a close relationship with the state government, which led to A$10 million ($6.67 million) worth of survival initiatives for grassroots music venues, a promise in June to set up a nighttime commissioner, and greater programming of First Nations and regional content for its BIGSOUND conference and export-ready showcases.

MusicNSW tapped hip-hop manager and promoter Ricky Simandjuntak as its new program manager, staging development workshops and mentoring.

Joining its board are publicist Mardi Caught, festival promoter and arts administrator Rhoda Roberts, Michael Hutchings of Sydney Opera House and Beau Neilson of arts venue Phoenix Central Park.

NEW ZEALAND

TM Extends Deals With Auckland Live, Stadiums

Ticketmaster NZ extended its ticketing partnership with Auckland Live and Auckland Stadiums in a multi-year deal.

Auckland Live runs venues with capacity between 1,000-2,000 such as The Civic, Bruce Mason Centre, Aotea Square, Shed 10, Auckland Town Hall and Aeota Centre.

Auckland Stadiums’ portfolio includes the 55,000-cap Western Springs, best known for festivals and international acts, while the Go Media Stadium /Western Springs and North Harbour Stadium are both with 25,000 capacity.

In addition, Ticketmaster was appointed to the panel of ticketing agents for Western Springs Stadium.