To the enquiry into the Australian Music Industry. Thank you for taking the time to read my submission. I have written from the heart and based entirely on personal experience, and although it is little more than a personal opinion, it is my hope that you will find something of interest and usefulness in my words.

My name is I am a New South Wales resident and have been working as a passionate music industry professional for 18 years. I have opened the show for many great acts including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Portugal the man, Stonefield and The Preachers. I have also been billed alongside legends such as Hoodoo Gurus, British India and The Melbourne Ska Orchestra whilst playing at Music Festivals around the country. Back in 2002 I was included in FNAC stores ‘Australian Music week’ promotion alongside Tina Arena in Paris, France.

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Southern Cross University, Lismore, majoring in Composition and I teach Piano, Guitar and Drums through (NRCAC) The Northern Rivers Conservatorium of Music in Lismore, NSW. Other professional highlights include working in partnership with Berry Street and The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne to rebuild a sense of hope through music and the arts in the Cathedral Ranges after the tragic Victorian Bushfires. It was whilst doing this project that I was left with absolutely no doubt the far- reaching benefits of enabling humans with the language of music and other artistic tools for self-expression. The benefits to community health alone are so obvious that it seems almost malicious of any planning body to overlook them, but even with that aspect aside the cultural and economic benefits of music within our community are far too great to be ignored.

I’m always trying to find ways to continue to make a living from music, even if I continue to live just above the poverty line as I have for most of my adult life.

It’s a crazy industry. I know so many working musicians, who work over 50 hours a week trying to keep their small business alive with passion and dedication; and all done on the smell of an oily rag. They do it for more than love, and more than the mere hope of success; they do it because they have to. So what is this inner force that drives certain members of our society to live in such hardship? Music is a language of self-expression. It’s a birthright. Nothing quite expresses the sublime like music does. We have no other language that can express that entire inner abstract of the human struggle to exist, better and more lucidly than music.

Music helps us to process the tragedies and the triumphs of human endeavour. And there is certainly no shortage of talent here in Australia. I live in the Byron Shire, but was raised in Melbourne and have lived in Sydney, Brisbane, Paris, London and LA and the talent pool here in this tiny little shire in Northern NSW compares to anywhere I’ve been in the world.

I think it’s a crime that so much talent and national resource just goes to waste. We need more opportunities to reach an audience. We need to build more bridges to global markets. Too many musicians are living on or below the poverty line and as they age their health becomes a greater and greater issue. The mismanagement of their talents will have a much greater cost to the community in the long run.

It is my belief that we should trial something in this country like a Universal basic income for artists. The arts due to piracy and streaming and an overall lack of planning and infrastructure investment have become more and more difficult to make a living from, but as a society the benefits are endless.

After reading ‘Utopia for Realists’ by Rutger Bergman, I’m convinced. I highly recommend you approach reading this book with an open mind. I think it makes economic sense. Cut funding to Centrelink and Job providers who do nothing whatsoever to cultivate growth, innovation and self-determination; and redistribute those funds directly to the source.

Arts grants are another dubious phenomenon; too often the agenda setting body is forcing a straight jacket of conformity onto self expression- we must innovate not imitate and certainly we must be free to speak the truth of our inner story and uniqueness, not be forced into a safe and contained little box of Government approved self expression, which does not even qualify as Negative Liberty let alone Positive Liberty. Arts Grants all too often become about who you know rather than based on the quality of the product. It centralizes power, breeds corruption and leads to mediocrity all too often. Vibrancy and diversity will lead to richer global export of our National assets.

Other Arts funding gets eaten up by Museum arts – such as the Aussie Ballet, Opera etc– these established bodies need to stand on their own two feet. Their audience can well afford the expense of covering their ticket prices. It is elitism and does very little for cultivating the kind of unique, exuberant and innovative arts culture that our country requires for a competitive edge as an export of our National Assets to the world.

We should be searching out our point of difference and our funding money would be better spent feeding the roots rather than being wasted on dead leaves. I say create a Universal Basic Income for artists and lets see what economic benefits it leads to- who knows maybe it might even inspire a Universal Basic Income for all. But in all likelihood it’s still too soon for such out of the box thinking.

So let me state some of the other problems I’ve identified and some areas where economic growth could be cultivated to a greater degree.

Poker machines have for far too long ruled our Pubs and Hotels. They are a leech on our society and must be held to account. It’s easy money for The Pubs sure and hey, we all need to make a living, but the devastation they create is surely something of great concern and should be more highly regulated. If there could be a way that Pubs and Hotels were forced to have some kind of quota between live entertainment and Gambling, there might be more gigs available for musicians.

Also the rate Pubs and Hotels pay for a live music act has actually decreased since around the year 2000 in my experience.

There should be some kind of minimum rate enforced and some quota of live original content enforced.

Let’s talk radio and TV. We need a quota for new Australian content. Many of the commercial stations fill their Aussie content with museum acts from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s guaranteeing ongoing paycheques for a few lucky bands whilst denying a couple of generations of Australian songwriters the chance to earn a basic living.

We need more programs disseminating and discussing new Australian content. Even café’s that play spotify lists should be forced to meet quotas of new original Australian Music. Another ridiculous aspect of the industry is the closing down of established Venues due to noise restrictions.

Music needs its home. We need Festivals such as ‘Australia Made’ where it is completely showcasing Original Contemporary Australian content. We also need to build Australian content within the international Market. We need to get more bands to festivals and conferences overseas such as SXSW. We’ve got to build our brand and take more chances. Another killer of our musical culture is TV shows such as ‘The Voice’ and ‘Australian Idol’ run by the Major Record Companies. These shows feed off the desire of singers to get a big break. The contracts are awful. The songs are all from the companies roster. More money for the museum acts. Just awful. Where once record companies spent money on building the careers of new musical acts and songwriters now they simply roll over previous hits to a mass audience starved of entertainment. I think the major companies should be held to account and encouraged to invest, with tax benefits etc in new Australian Content. I also believe that the AIMA ‘The Australian Independent Music Association’ has put forward a bunch of damning information regarding the role of the Major Companies influence on the board at APRA.

If these Major Corporations wish to enjoy Government support they should be required to give something back to the community. They need to foster and help cultivate a vibrant music and arts culture in Australia.

Let’s talk education- as a music teacher I work through the Conservatorium, who send me out to schools in the area to teach kids whose parents can afford to pay for the extra-curricular activity.

The schools themselves don’t have a music teacher.

I just can’t believe that as a nation we would devalue music so much as to deny our children their birth right to self-expression. One other aspect I think should be cultivated, if we are to try to sustain music in our culture is to connect different artistic disciplines.

The current entertainment pie is predominately made up of Gaming.

We need to foster partnerships between these worlds.

Games too should require a quota of new original Australian content. We need to connect our artists and encourage such cross-pollination.

I think music should be everywhere. I think musicians should be working more closely within our prison systems to help rehabilitate criminals. I think musicians should be included in aged care and hospitals. I think musicians should be performing in public spaces at lunchtime in all of our cities. We should have new original music streaming in supermarkets, cafes, elevators, on call waiting, in flights, on TV, on radio etc etc. We need to guarantee quotas of new original Australian content across the board on all of these mediums. We must feed the roots. We need more discussion and greater dissemination of new original content on as many platforms as possible. Kind Regards,