Spotlight on

The Australian Music Market Is Making Progress By PETER CONYNGHAM The Australian music 'market has continued to progress since Record World's last spotlight, in November 1978. Naturally, there have been a myriad of changes. Australian artists have continued to make inroads internationally. Air Supply had three singles in the U.S. top ten; has continued as strong as ever; is making its mark in both the U.S. and the U.K.; AC/DC is staking its claim as one of the top rock bands in the world; and Jon English is building a big following in Europe following his starring role in the TV series "Against the Wind." Hard rock band Cold Chisel is making its mark as the most popular live group in Australia. Their album "East" is multi -platinum. The touring scene has had some casualties: both Evans-Gudinski and Marquee Attractions went out of business; Pat Condon left AGC- Paradine; and Harry Miller's Computicket collapsed. But on the other side of the coin, Condon progressed successfully on his own and Air Supply Mike Chugg (formerly of Marquee) and Michael Gudinski teamed with Phil Jacobson and Glenn Wheatley to form the Frontier Touring Company-now one of the most successful touring promotion com- Dominates Mo Awards in Australia. panies John Farnham has cause to Wheatley Brothers Management. Australian artists are now drawing big crowds here, although airplay look optimistically to the '80s Among the other winners were is still not as strong as it might be. Three major TV music shows after having been voted male vo- Julie Anthony, who was named ("Countdown," "Sounds" and "Nightmoves") provide much effective calist of the year and entertainer female vocalist of the year for the exposure for local product. of the year at the Australian Vari- fourth time, and rock star/entre- The recording industry has withstood the international recession ety Artists (Mo) Awards. Farnham, preneur Col Joye, who won the and continues to support a mix of international and local releases. whose album "Uncovered" re- John Campbell Mo Fellowship With the growing success of Australian releases overseas, record com- cently went gold, is managed by Aw.ird. panies are becoming more adventurous in their support of local prod- uct. The international market is ready to take a greater part in the promotion of Australian talent. On the radio front, FM has made an impressive debut in several cities, although its impact has been relatively slow in Sydney. A recent survey, however, showed FM doubling its market share in the Sydney area. It is clear that it will be a prominent force soon. Sydney's long -overdue concert facility is expected to be completed this year. When ready, it will seat 12,000 people in -doors. Until now, the largest facility in Australia was the Hordern Pavillion, with a capacity of 5000. All this serves to emphasize the positive attitude toward the growth of the music market that exists throughout Australia. We remain one of the most important touring markets in the world for all kind of music, and we intend to proceed even further in the future. Australis s most General Manager Peter Jamieson Success -Fu I act. Tells How EMI Returned to the Top ìnterna-tionaI EMI Australia has regained its RW: Can you pinpoint the position as market leader. In a reasons for such success-almost recent Record World interview, doubling you market share in a j1 You (are evevbcdv general manager Peter Jamieson short space of time? offered his thoughts on bow his Jamieson: It's hard to say-in else) know that company did it. fact, in December we did double Record World: What were the our figures from the previous De- home in most important things that hap- cember. We had some good cam- lack pened for EMI over the last paigns and breakthroughs. We twelve months? were conscious that we were do- Austral is AuldId Peter Jamieson: Early in 1980 ing well and were working hard we were coming fifth in the mar- to achieve results. We made EMI find them with ketplace, with a market share of more accessible. We improved approximately 10-12 percent. We our image and our profile despite finished off the year clearly num- some adverse publicity interna- EMI AUSTRALIA ber one with in excess of 20 per- tionally. We opened doors signifi- cent. This is naturally our most cantly to anyone in the Australian, important result and it is what of cou rse _ _ . " we, as an organization, have music scepe and devised varying worked very hard to achieve. (Continued on page 3)

RECORD WORLD MAY 2, 1981 SECTION II 1

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