Australasia News: BIGSOUND Speakers; Strip Search Suit; Cry For Spilt Milk; NZ: Lorde, L.A.B Make Spotify List

AUSTRALIA

Tones & I Joins BIGSOUND Keynote List

Australian singer-songwriter Tones & I was the latest addition to the keynote speaker list for BIGSOUND. The conference and export-ready showcase runs Sept. 3-6 in Brisbane.

She will discuss her rise from Byron Bay busker living in her van to global breakthrough with “Dance Monkey”, which went sextuple platinum in the United States, and becoming first female artist to hit 3 billion streams on Spotify this year.

Among international speakers at BIGSOUND are CAA’s Ben Buchanan, Pollstar’s Brij Gosai, The Great Escape’s Adam Ryan, AEG’s Elliott Lefko, TBA’s Chris Danis, Download Festival’s Kamran Haq, VibeLab’s Lutz Leichsenring,Music Venue Trust’s Mark Davyd, London DJ Elijah, Planetary Group’s Adam Lewis and Good Company’s Adam Kreeft.

Class Action Against Strip Searches

A class action by 100,000 patrons against New South Wales cops who strip-searched them at music festivals, goes to trial May 2025.

The action by Slater & Gordon Lawyers and Redfern Legal Centre contends NSW Police “carried out unlawful acts including assault, battery and false imprisonment” by strip-searching festivalgoers to find illicit substances between 2016 and 2022.

These included 100 children, some as young as 13. Redfern Legal Centre contended 18% of these were indigenous, and that First Nations members were heavily targeted and humiliated.

Spilt Milk No-Show For 2024

Another major festival is a no-show for 2024.

Organisers of four-city Spilt Milk festival posted a cryptic note on Instagram: “Sorry pookies, we couldn’t get you the Spilt Milk you deserve this year. Sooo imma dip for a bit and come back when I can make all ur dreams come true.”

It is expected problems getting A-list headliners was the issue. Last year, with Post Malone and Dom Dolla topping the bill, the four shows pulled a total of 136,000.

Started in Canberra by Kicks Entertainment to crowds of 20,000, the festival brought in Secret Sounds and Live Nation as it expanded.

NEW ZEALAND

Lorde, L.A.B On Inaugural Spotify List

Singer-songwriter Lorde and reggae band L.A.B, who are both major live draws, won two spots each in the Top 10 of Spotify’s inaugural Global Impact NZ list of Kiwi acts with most global streams.

Lorde, who took second and third place, recently worked on a remix with Charli XCX and teases her fourth album is coming this year. At seventh and eighth place, L.A.B’s numerous visits to the U.S. and UK are turning into headliner sellouts.

The most streamed NZ track was “Somebody 2024,” a current remix of Grammy-winner Kimbra’s 2011 hit collaboration with Australia’s Gotye, “Somebody That I Used To Know.”