Australasia News: Promoters Honored; Splendour In The Grass Off Again; NZ Pricing Woes

AUSTRALIA

Promoter CEOs Geoff Jones, Pat Condon In Australia Day Honors List

Two major promoters with global reputations were among those gonged in the Jan 26 Australia Day Honors List. Geoff Jones, Sydney-based group CEO of global touring, ticketing and data analytic company TEG Group, received the medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) “for services to business, and to the entertainment industry.” In Pollstar’s end of the year 2024 report, TEG ranked No. 17 globally (and second highest Australian promoter) with 2,142,238 tickets sold and a gross of $182,323,363.

Pat Condon, CEO of Condon Presents since 1988, became a member of the Order of Australia (AM). His touring slate included Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Sammy Davis Jr. and Elvis Costello, and he took many music productions to China.

Also honoured with AMs were Beeb Birtles (real name: Gerard Bertelkamp) and guitarist David Briggs, of the original Little River Band. Formed in Melbourne in 1975, the band sold 30 million albums worldwide. These included nine albums and nine Top 20 singles in the U.S.

Splendour In The Grass Hiatus Extended

After suddenly canceling in 2024, Byron Bay’s Splendour In The Grass festival is a no-show in 2025 as well.

In an Instagram post, Secret Sounds said it needed “a little more time to recharge… (and) come back even bigger and better when the time is right.” Live Nation, which acquired 51% of Secret Sounds 2016, agreed the SITG team had its “full support to bring back (SITG) when they feel it’s right.”

The one-time rite of passage for young Australians reached an attendance of 50,000 at its peak, but in 2023 it failed to sell out with ticket sales down 30% on the previous year.

Keith Urban Inducted Into Roll Of Renown

The Aussie country music sector acknowledged Keith Urban’s tremendous contribution by inducting him into its Roll Of Renown.

The event took place Jan. 25 at the Golden Guitar awards, at the tail end of the nine-day Tamworth Country Music Festival in New South Wales. Urban first visited the festival as a 9-year-old busking with other young hopefuls like Troy Cassar-Daley. At 22 he took out its talent quest Star Maker, which launched the career of the New Zealand-born, Gold Coast-raised act.

During the induction, country queen Kasey Chambers sang a ballad expressing what Urban had meant to her and her family, while emerging young artist Denvah told him, “Thank you for blazing the trail, thank you for showing that we can dream big and work hard.”

Urban expressed thanks for early support from fans and the industry, noting, “All of us artists know that it takes the early believers seeing something in you.” Moments after accepting the honour, Urban received his 15th Golden Guitar; with his HIGH album, winning top selling album of the year. Meantime, Cassar-Daley swept the awards with five wins including album of the year for Between The Fires and male artist of the year.

NEW ZEALAND

Complaints Over Price Tiers At Waves

Brown Town, a collective dedicated to highlighting the music of indigenous Maori and Pacific Islander communities, ran into trouble with its inaugural Waves: Sunday Sessions showcases on Jan. 26 at Christchurch bar Muy Muy.

To encourage members of these communities to attend, tickets for them were priced at $20, with everyone else paying $30. The Human Rights Commission and funding group Creative New Zealand confirmed receiving a “small number of complaints” and spoke to organisers. The tiers were abandoned and Race Relations commissioner Melissa Derby agreed despite good intentions, “There are alternative, non-discriminatory avenues which could also achieve the same outcome.”