Australian music industry launches a 3-point plan before the Federal Election

CONTENT COURTESY APRA AMCOS

Sixteen Australian music industry bodies representing an industry worth $16 billion a year to the digital, entertainment, hospitality, and tourism economies have come together to outline a three-point plan in the lead-up to the 2022 Federal Election.

The three priorities centre around direct investment in the creation of great new Australian music, skills development and global exports, incentivising the use of local content on streaming and broadcast platforms, insurance to provide certainty for local audiences and programs to build industry sustainability through strong intellectual property and national mentorship programs.

Australian music provides the soundtrack to people’s lives, travelling around the globe as one of the country’s great cultural exports. It projects our continent’s vibrant, diverse, and ancient First Nations cultures to the four corners of the world. Whether it is at a concert, stadium, festival, or gig, in a film, interactive game, broadcast or streamed, it is local music that brings communities together, lifting the spirit of the nation regardless of age, background, or location.

Australian music already supports everything from aged care, mental health, and education. It is already the backbone of a healthy and vibrant visitor and night-time economy, fuelling national GDP and providing jobs through tourism and hospitality supply chains. As part of a strong Australian creative industry, music attracts the brightest minds and supports the development of associated sectors including tech, screen, and interactive games.

Just before COVID-19, Australian music was on a trajectory of extraordinary growth as one of the country’s great success stories. With a pipeline of talent coming from across the nation and with the advent of the next digital revolution, Australia has been fostering the development of an artform in an industry capturing the hearts and minds of millions at home and around the globe.

The 2022 Federal Election provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Australian music to pick up from where it left off. It is an opportunity to learn from the pandemic and build a better, more sustainable, innovative, and successful cultural asset at the forefront of community building and the next digital revolution, supporting the artists of today while fostering new waves of talent and driving the changes to global music consumption. [These industry bodies] urge the Federal Government and Federal Opposition to partner with the Australian music industry on the next chapter of our national story.

A partnership approach with the Australian music industry will foster the future of jobs and build the skills in one of the fastest growing global industries at the forefront of community, innovation and economic growth.

The Australian music industry has come together to put forward a three-point plan to promote during the 2022 Federal Election campaign

1. Support rebuild – skills, music creation & export

Provide traineeships and skills retraining programs to address critical skills shortages in metro and regional areas
Wage support and additional funding to Support Act for ongoing crisis relief and to help the industry create sustainable cultural and behavioural change around mental health and wellbeing for artists and industry workers
Expand the Australian Music Industry program to foster the growth of First Nations led music, Sounds Australia and music export, women in music mentors, touring and new programs for young people and diversity initiatives
Invest in new Australian music through an annual Commonwealth Fellowship Program through living wage support of artists, songwriters & composers
Establish a national mentorship and industry development program to help develop the skills of artists, songwriters, producers, managers, sound engineers and music industry workers

2. Drive investment – local content & certainty for local audiences

Incentivise the visibility, use and discoverability of local content across all screen and audio digital platforms as well as commercial and community broadcasters
Provide a tax offset for live music to encourage new investment in activity across the country
Establish a Commonwealth-backed insurance scheme to increase industry confidence to invest in the creation and presentation of music across the nation

3. Ensure sustainability – strengthen intellectual property & policy review

Enhance tech innovation by strengthening intellectual property protection for music in the digital economy to ensure artists get a return on their creations
Partner with industry to support the recommendations of the Music Industry Review into sexual harm, sexual harassment and systemic discrimination
Undertake a ‘Green Paper’ Review of the policy settings supporting the creation, investment and pathways to market for Australian music

Three-point policy detail

1. Industry rebuild – skills, music creation & export

New investment in traineeships and skills development to rebuild capacity across the live music industry in metropolitan and regional areas

Provide traineeships to address critical skills shortages across the broader Australian arts and entertainment industry technicians, managers, event and festival managers, administration, programming, and production, stage managers and security. Establish a grants program for venues and companies to access short courses for retraining and re-skilling established technicians. This will serve to encourage a diversity of new entrants to the industry as well as enticing skilled workers back to the industry.

COVID relief package with additional support for Support Act for ongoing crisis relief and to help the industry create sustainable cultural and behavioural change in relation to mental health and wellbeing for artists and music industry workers

Given the long lead-times to plan and deliver live music concerts, festivals, tours and events there will be a significant lag-time for the music industry to recover and rebuild. Direct support to the artists, sole traders and small to medium businesses through a COVID-19 recovery wage subsidy program together with micro-business grants. Investment in Support Act for ongoing crisis relief and a range of innovative mental health and wellbeing programs to support the music community to build back better and stronger throughout the recovery phase of the pandemic and beyond. The coming years are a “once in a generation opportunity” to help create more mentally healthy workplaces through access to industry specific wellbeing and psychological services, education and training programs that include a strong focus on sexual health and safety and the creation of First Nations designed and implemented programs, plus ongoing mental health promotion and sector development.

Expand the Australian Music Industry program to boost funding for First Nations led programs, Sounds Australia, Women in Music Mentorship, Live Music Touring and Venues and develop new youth music and diversity initiatives.

Increased investment for First Nations led programs, Sounds Australia, Women in Music Mentorship and Live Music Australia as well as the development of new youth music and music diversity programs will ensure that capacity building reaches across the entire music industry ecosystem and help develop a new wave of Australian music.

Invest in great Australian music through an annual Commonwealth Fellowship Program for emerging and established artists

A national fellowship scheme for emerging and established artists across genres and across regions providing a living wage to artists, songwriters and composers for a period of three years to create the next wave of great Australian music to be recorded and presented live as well as broadcast across platforms, on screen and through interactive games both at home and around the globe.

A national mentorship and development program to build the capacity of the industry with a national hub and spoke program fostering the professional development of artists, songwriters, managers, music creators and industry workers across the country

A capacity building program for the music industry with a national hub and spoke program fostering the professional development of artists, songwriters, managers, music creators and music industry workers across metropolitan, regional and remote Australia. This would help establish Australia as a centre of excellence for the global music industry, provide clear and sustainable career pathways for the sector and increase international collaborations and reach new markets.

2. Drive incentives – local content & certainty for local audiences

Incentivise the visibility, use and discoverability of local content across screen and music broadcast and digital streaming platforms

Incentivising the visibility and discoverability of local music content to ensure established and emerging creators are supported and celebrated across broadcast, streaming and emerging platforms will not only foster more sustainable careers and music industry innovation, but it will also give all Australians and new global audiences easier access to great Australian music. Leverage existing offset arrangements, particularly around the use of music on screen and interactive games as part of a ‘cultural uplift’ in local music. Renewed investment in community radio will also enhance the development of more diverse music and provide crucial exposure to more diverse audiences.

A tax offset for live music to encourage investment in cultural and economic activity across metropolitan, regional, and remote Australia

The venue-based live music sector is critical to the development of both artist and audiences throughout Australia and is a key driver of economic activity for the hospitality sector in cities, regions and towns across the country. Implement a new tax offset program to encourage investment in live music venues and activity across Australia to drive investment in cultural and economic activity to support local artists and the associated industries of hospitality, tourism and night-time economies. Regulatory barriers and limited venue expertise have impeded the viability and health of the sector.

A Commonwealth-backed insurance scheme to increase industry confidence and navigate further closures brought on by pandemic health orders and natural disasters

In partnership with state and territory governments to increase industry confidence and navigate further closures brought on by pandemic health orders and natural disasters. The fund would do this by providing indemnification for costs if, due to COVID-19 related issues, a live event in Australia is cancelled, postponed or negatively affected by the re-introduction of government restrictions. Industry would contribute a percentage of cost exposure to the BIF and the government would provide underwriting. A government backed insurance scheme would also complement existing RISE funding.

3. Ensure sustainability – strengthen intellectual property & policy review

Enhance tech innovation by strengthening intellectual property protection, particularly across current and emerging digital platforms

To help drive innovation in Australian music across genre and platforms, Australia must ensure the policy settings are right with a framework that ensures music creators receive fair payment for their intellectual property and continue to innovate in one of the fastest moving industries in the world. With new platforms emerging, Australia has a unique opportunity to not only capitalise on new patterns of music consumption but invest in the development of the next wave of digital delivery.

Partner with industry to support the recommendations of the Music Industry Review into sexual harm, sexual harassment and systemic discrimination

An Independent Review into Sexual Harm, Sexual Harassment and Systemic Discrimination in the National Music Industry commenced in December 2021. The Review is the first of its kind in Australian music and will be industry-wide and covers all sectors and professions in the national contemporary music industry; it will be the first time the lived experiences of our people are front and centre of a cultural change process. The Review will include artists, artist management, agents, crew, venues, production, labels, publishing, promoters, studios, trade and peak organisations, and freelancers and creatives. A report will be delivered in June 2022 with findings and recommendations.

A ‘Green Paper’ Review of the policy settings supporting the creation, investment and pathways to market for the key creative industry of Australian music

Global music consumption is changing. It is time for the Australian Government to fully reflect the policy and investment settings of Australian music as a cornerstone creative industry that is a key cultural, social, and economic driver of the nation. An Australian Government green paper on the Australian music industry will provide a critical opportunity for better government focus and a whole-of-government approach. COVID-19 has highlighted incredible opportunities while also accelerating key challenges facing Australian music and its place in the world. These include professional sustainability and skills, local content, global digital export, live music regulation, innovation and touring. A commitment to a ‘Green Paper’ review of the policy settings around creation, investment and pathways to market for Australian music will ensure Australia has the policy and investment framework in place to ensure the industry is sustainable and world leading.