On the same day as Byron Bay Bluesfest founder Peter Noble announced next year’s event would be the last, Victoria staked its claim to be the nation’s home of live music by unveiling its third annual Always Live program, featuring a roster of international, Australian and local acts over 17 days in November and December. The program has been underwritten by the state government, to the tune of $20 million in 2023 and 2024, as part of its response to the ongoing crisis in the live music and festivals sector. Many of the challenges facing the industry are structural: rising insurance costs; uncertainty due to extreme weather events and late ticket purchasing; an unfavourable exchange rate.
Jack White will play an intimate show at the Corner Hotel. Credit: David James Swanson Live music and music festivals are big business, with ticket sales in 2022 totalling around $940 million nationally, according to the most recent report from Live Performance Australia. But the past 18 months have been tough, with a raft of venue closures and festival cancellations prompting many to call for urgent government intervention and support.
Just last week, the Live Nation-run Harvest Rock in Adelaide became the latest event to be cancelled. In response, a federal parliamentary inquiry has held hearings around the country, the newly established Music Australia delivered a report into the state of the festival industry, and the NSW government has undertaken a review of its contentious Music Festivals Act. In Victoria, premier Jacinta Allan conceded Always Live was the mainstay of her government’s response, alongside the more grassroots-oriented 10,000 Gigs fund , in which venues can apply for grants.
“Backing Always Live is the key and central way that we can back live music here in Victoria,” Allan said at the launch on Wednesday. “This is a way that we can demonstrate really strong and practical support for both the artists and the entire architecture that sits around the live music industry.” Always Live sits within the state’s major events strategy, and is designed to drive tourism as much as it is to support the local music sector, evidenced by the emphasis placed on big-name international acts lured to the state.
White Stripes co-founder Jack White will play two shows as part of the program, one in Ballarat and the other an intimate show for just 700 people at Richmond’s Corner Hotel, the venue where legend has it he wrote his biggest hit in 2002. “Always Live is about creating intimate, memorable, unique, only-in-Victoria moments,” said Matt Gudinski, boss of the Mushroom Group founded by his father Michael and chair of Always Live. “So what a coup to get Jack White to come and play at the venue where he famously wrote Seven Nation Army .
It’s a real full-circle moment.” The Offspring, St Vincent, Roisin Murphy and electronica and multimedia artist Anyma are among the other international acts, while the local line-up includes Tina Arena, Missy Higgins, Baker Boy and Chet Faker. In total, almost 290 acts will perform at 65 shows in Melbourne and around Victoria, including a selection of free and all-ages gigs.
Though the uncanny timing of the Bluesfest and Always Live announcements seemed to offer proof of the ongoing turbulence in the music sector, Gudinski insisted the industry was not in crisis – or not entirely, at any rate. “There’s more live music events, and more people attending live music events, than ever, but putting them on is more challenging,” he said. “Costs are through the roof to produce shows, from a production point of view, through insurance, artist fees, the competitive nature [between promoters], and the rising costs for those artists to tour.
” While Gudinski was pleased the music industry had the eye of government he cautioned against the industry expecting governments to bail it out. “If you’re creating something that you can only do with government support, then you shouldn’t be doing it,” he said. “It shouldn’t be the difference between doing something or not.
If you need government support as a commercial business to put something on, then you’re not very commercial.” The issues facing the festival circuit are real, he added, but he did not believe it was in danger of collapse. “There are as many festivals doing well as there are ones that are falling over, they’re just not getting as much publicity,” Gudinski said.
“I still feel there’s a great market for festivals out there, you’ve just got to present the right pitch to the audience. I feel the market will sort it out in some capacity.”.
