‘Almost Every Australian Band Has Their BIGSOUND Story’

Australia’s BIGSOUND, which launched in 2002 by industry development organization QMusic, is the largest music conference in the southern hemisphere and has played a pivotal role in promoting music acts while bringing Oceania’s music business together with regional and international executives. This year’s confab runs Sept. 3-6 at Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley precinct with 400 events along with 130 showcases. While keynote speakers (see you soon, Kelis!) panelists gather here to provide tips to the next generation of the industry, increasingly global executives are looking here to find their next signings. Pollstar caught up with QMusic CEO Kris Stewart to help break it all down.

Pollstar: Have you actively worked this year at making BIGSOUND an international event, whether it be speakers, showcasing acts or panel topics?

Kris Stewart: We consider reciprocity and exchange an important part of [BIGSOUND]. To that end, we’ve established International House this year and we’ve dramatically increased the footprint of both overseas artists and organizations within BIGSOUND. This is very much centered on how Australia can do business with the world, and there will be folks here from dozens of different countries, all being connected with the best of our new artists and music businesses.

How many acts will showcase and in how many venues?
Marking the first year for our music programmers Katie Rynne and Casey O’Shaugnessy, and the final year for our conference programmer Tom Larkin, BIGSOUND 2024 will feature 400 events over four days, almost 150 speakers and 130 showcasing artists, activating 17 festival showcase venues and 50+ spaces across (Brisbane entertainment precinct) Fortitude Valley.

How do BIGSOUND programmers determine when an act is music ready?
We always make sure that our programmers are connected and experienced within the music industry, so that they can bring a lifetime of personal knowledge to the decisions that are made. There’s also a real diversity to what they’re looking to program — there will be very early-career artists who are still building out their domestic teams, all the way through to already successful and experienced artists who are much more export ready and primed for global success.

How many deals, local and international, have come out of BIGSOUND in the past?
Thousands and thousands — almost every Australian band of the last 20 years will have their BIGSOUND story.

It should be standing-room-only at sessions by Tones & I and Amy Taylor of Amyl and The Sniffers, not least because they have totally different approaches to breaking the international market.
Yes, and Kelis brings a different perspective as well. For the BIGSOUND audience, there’s a real breadth of discussion that they’re looking for at the conference, and a depth of genuine industry understanding. They want to rise-up to the level of possible analysis and discussion.

How many delegates are you expecting, and from how many countries?
There ends up being about 1,500 conference delegates, another 800 or so artists and their teams, plus maybe another 1,500 to 2,000 of early adopter fans, who want to experience the showcase festival.

QMusic’s ambition is to make Brisbane the capital of First Nations music. What was satisfying about BIGSOUND’s First Nations programming in 2023 and how will you expand it in 2024?
We launched GOOLWAL GOOLWAL (which means SOUND, SOUND in Yugarabul language) in 2023, and it was a great priority for us to have a significant First Nations-led programme being elevated within BIGSOUND. It’s grown again in 2024, with a full venue takeover in the middle of the precinct, and a series of performances, discussions, networking events, yarning sessions and meetups that have been programmed. There are also guest First Nations artists from other countries coming in, which will keep expanding the impact.

Has BIGSOUND’s programming necessarily changed in 2024 because of the arrival last year of SXSW Sydney?
No, not really. There’s certainly room for both to exist. Independent of SXSW, we’ve tried to ensure that there are increasing numbers of bands who are truly export ready playing at BIGSOUND. So I’m sure the program slightly changes every year in response to what people are asking for — but I think we’re choosing to stay a deep, authentic and exclusively music conference as that’s what people seem to really want us to be. There’s a place for that and a place for a big tent creative industries conference like SXSW to both exist.