Industrial Strength: March 8
Metro radio ad revenue up 12.64% in February
February was a good month for commercial radio, with metro ad revenue up 12.64% from 2015 to reach $61.907 million, according to figures sourced by Deloitte and released by Commercial Radio Australia. Sydney reached $18.780 (up 10.58%), Melbourne hit $18.964 million (up 13.52%), Brisbane was $9.651 million (up 13.90%), Adelaide took in $5.595 million (up 16.81%) and Perth generated $8.917 million (up 11.36%).
Figures were also supplied for the first eight months of the financial year, up 5.58% to $502.854 million covering agency and direct sales. Sydney posted a 5.17% rise to $153.663 million, Melbourne was up 5.37% to $153.655 million, Brisbane grew 2.50% to $78.276 million, Adelaide posted the strongest growth with a 12.30% expansion to $47.186 million and Perth up by 6.24% to $70.073 million.
More South Australian Hall of Fame names inducted
More South Australian names will be inducted into the SA Hall of Fame. The latest are two of the state’s folk pioneers, Robyn Archer and Peter Thornton, as well as early ‘70s psychedelic blues rock outfit Headband (formed by Chris Bailey who went on to be with The Angels and GANGGajang), its keyboard player Peter Beagley (who later changed his name to Peter Head) and The Mt Lofty Rangers whose ranks included Archer, Bon Scott and Glenn Shorrock.
The induction, an initiation of the Adelaide Music Collective, is held as part of its Live Sessions series at Goodwin Institute on April 1. Archer and Headband will play, as will Goldstein and Courtney Robb.
Port Fairy Folk names Marcia Howard artist of the year
The 40th Port Fairy Folk Music Festival yesterday named Victorian singer songwriter Marcia Howard as its Maton Artist of The Year. Howard, best known for co-founding Goanna with her brother Shane, went on to cut a series of highly acclaimed solo albums and work with Mary Black, Hothouse Flowers, Archie Roach and the Pigram Bros. Howard will launch her new Nashville Sessions EP at the sold-out festival, which between March 11 to 14, will present 200 shows by 100 acts in 18 venues.
Adelaide Fringe continues ticket sales juggernaut…
As the Adelaide Fringe winds up this weekend, it continues to live up to its promise it was going to be one of its biggest years. Late last year, pre-sale tickets were an instant sell-out and sales 10% up on 2015 before it launched on February 12. Last Friday, it had its biggest single-day sales in its 65-year history, with tickets were up 19% the same time in 2015.
New Fringe Director and CEO Heather Croall attributed it to appealing to a wider demographic with shows as California Crooners Club, an adventurous audience attuned to picking shows at random, and a redesigned website which was easier to navigate.
Long time attractions as The Croquet Club, Gluttony and the Garden of Unearthly Delights continued to draw large crowds, up to 60% of attendance. The Croquet Club reported a 20% rise in attendance, close to 40,000. But some nights in smaller venues were low, with some performers including UK comedian Alexis Dubus, complaining of low turn-outs to their shows.
..as does Perth International Arts Festival
The 25-day Perth International Arts Festival drew to a close last weekend with a record 180,000 crowd (a 6% rise) and raising $4.7 million at the box office from a budget of $17.6 million. It was a triumph for new Artistic Director Wendy Martin, particularly the way audiences could interact with the performers. The festival has a wrap blog on its website, but among its contemporary music highs were the all-WA acts Home, and sets by Sleater-Kinney, the Wynton Marsalis Swing Symphony, José Gonzalez, Kev Carmody, Tim Rogers & The Bamboos and Marlon Williams.
More Festival Updates: three inaugural events work
* After a successful launch in Brisbane in January, FOMO organisers BBE and OCD (owners of Brisbane club Oh Hello!) have indicated that the 2017 version will return to the Riverstage and spread out to some other Queensland cities.
* The inaugural Music In The Vines at Macarthur in regional Victoria may become an annual event after the first event on the weekend drew 400.
* Also making its debut on the weekend was the Canberra Reggae Festival at the Canberra Inn with local acts and a Sydney sound system. It was put on by the Inn’s co-owner Ben Johnson, who wanted to bring a taste of Jamaica to his former hometown after the success of his Sunday afternoon reggae sessions at Sydney’s Hive Bar in the past seven years,
* Perth’s Ampfest is back, and looking for bands, duos and solo artists aged 12-25, from which four acts plus a wildcard will be selected to play at the all-ages show on April 10. All five acts get paid $500.
* With 14,000 people heading to Ipswich this weekend for CMC Rocks Queensland, Ipswich City Council has actively promoted the region’s tourist attractions online. Visitor Information Centre staff will be on site engaging with patrons to engage further visits or to extend current stays. At a special Country Comes to the City event on the weekend, locals were urged to give the tourists a warm welcome and for businesses to make best use of an economic boost.
* After six years, Perth’s Beaufort Street Festival became a victim of its success, announcing it won’t return. Drawing 150,000 a year in November meant a greater effort to raise $600,000 for operating expenses for the non-profit organisation Beaufort Street Network (not to mention punters complaining of over-crowding). It will probably test a number of smaller community events through the year rather than one major one.
* Looks like Maitreya Music & Arts in at Wooroonook Lakes in regional Victoria is still surging ahead, at a nearby site. It was refused a permit by Buloke Shire Council because promoters didn’t supply all the documents. A hearing at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) upheld the decision. Late last week the bush doof doof and alternate lifestyle festival indicated on its Facebook page that things were moving forward – helped by the local business fearing the loss of the $2.1 million brought by the 10,000 patrons to the region. All the paperwork has been done, apparently.
Study: Australian games sector worth $2.8b
As Australians’ love affair with video games grows, sales hit $2.832 billion last year, according to the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA).
The study, with retail data from NPD Group and digital download data from Telsyte, also showed that year showed retail sales of digital hardware and software (up 27% to $1.589 billion) surpassed that of physical (up 2% to $1.243 billion) for the first time. Sony PlayStation 4 accounted for 59% of current-generation console sales.
“The current generation of consoles have been adopted rapidly by Australians, highlighting that gaming culture has become well and truly mainstream,” said IGEA CEO Ron Curry.
20songs emerge from SongHubs Auckland
20new songs were written during the SongHubs Auckland, reported APRA AMCOS New Zealand. Twelve local songwriters worked with three internationals – MoZella, Sacha Skarbek and Lindy Robbins, whose credits include Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, One Direction, James Blunt, Lana Del Ray, Kelly Clarkson and Ellie Goulding – over 650 songwriting hours at Neil Finn’s Roundhouse Studios between February 22 to 26.
MoZella observed, “There’s something unique about songwriting in New Zealand – it’s genuine, honest and heartfelt – and it’s these qualities that are at the centre of all truly great songs.”
The sessions were sponsored by APRA AMCOS, NZ On Air, Auckland Council, Recorded Music and the New Zealand Music Commission.
Jackie Orszaczky legacy lives on with lecture, competition
The legacy of Sydney-bassist, bandleader and composer Jackie Orszaczky, who died in 2008, will be perpetuated with two initiatives. These are the Jackie Orszaczky Music Lecture and the Jackie Orszaczky Composition Competition.
The inaugural Jackie Orszaczky Music Lecture, in conjunction with APRA AMCOS, is held at The Basement in Sydney on Tuesday May 10. It gives his peers the chance to remember his contribution and work ethic. The speaker will be pedal steel virtuoso, two-time Grammy winner and ABC Radio National’s The Daily Planet presenter, Lucky Oceans. “In the spirit of Jackie’s explorations, I plan to speak of unusual musical formulae, musical ecosystems and about finding your own musical voice and strategies to stay true to that voice.”
Immediately after, members of the Sydney music community, including members of Orszaczky’s bands, will perform a concert of his songs.
APRA will on the night announce the winner of the Jackie Orszaczky Composition Competition. APRA members who compose a piece in the spirit of the late composer’s music, to be chosen by his band, receives a crash prize of $2000. The competition opens at apraamcos.com.au from March 15.
Study breaks down SVOD users
In a first for Australia, a new study by Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (Emma) pinpoints who is watching which SVOD service. The State of Video On Demand showed that 9.3 million Aussies use SVOD, and 3.9 million use free catch-up TV.
The largest service is the imported Netflix, which has 2.3 million subscribers and used by 13% of the population. Users are young highly educated professionals, average age 35, are avid music and TV streamers, technology upstarts and frequent cinema attendees.
Stan (used by 2.3%) are usually between 30 to 44, usually families or shared households who are careful with money.
Presto (1%) are young mostly middle class families, traditional, avoid debt and have children living at home.
Free to air catch up TV (21%) is used by highly paid early tech adopters.
Foxtel Play (4.5%) highly educated and career driven, usually mature couples.
Queensland lockout claims first casualty…
The new Queensland lockout laws are not due to kick in until July, but it’s claimed its first scalp. After a year of operations, Club Boutique in Surfers Paradise’s Orchid Avenue precinct announced it is closing saying “We had no other choice”. It will not be reappearing anywhere else.
It explained, “As we all know now, our industry will be forced to adjust its trading and as a result there is no confidence for the future. Sydney’s Kings Cross late-night entertainment precinct has shown the effects the new laws will have on us.”
In the meantime, nightclub operators are getting more enraged. While the lockout restricts their trading hours, the new rate of nightclub liquor licence fees (brought in last year), which are up 400%, have kicked in. Previously, nightclub liquor licences were in the same category as restaurants and cafes, at $626.50 a year. But the new special category for nightclubs is $3388 a year … or $12,800 if trading until 3 am.
The Government has explained that the extra revenue will be used to make streets safer, with CCTV and education campaigns.
…and Darwin venues to feel the heat?
As the Northern Territory taps venue operators as part of a survey on how to reduce red tape affecting the hospitality and tourism sectors and create a stronger relationship with government departments, a move has begun to make Darwin’s lock-out laws stricter.
The laws came into effect two years ago, with measures including shots banned after 1am, and a four-drink limit per patron during happy hours and after midnight. Closing times were kept at 3 am. But recent moves by the NT Police Association and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons are pushing for a 1 am close and last drinks by midnight.
More Venues Update: reboots, closures, problems, legals
* Live bands are returning to the Paddington RSL in May with the revival of Level One in its showroom after ten years. Level One is run by LimeHQ Events, whose CEO Lindsay Osborne says, “We will be presenting a wide variety of entertainment including music, comedy and theatre.” Bands booked will be a mix of established and up’n’comers.
* Brisbane’s Albion Hotel, which showcases live music, was robbed on Sunday night. Two men sporting motorcycle helmets allegedly threatened staff and patrons with a gun and crowbar before stealing cash.
* Northbridge Piazza in Canberra will from Sunday March 27 to Sunday May 29 showcase live music between 4 to 7 pm on the last Sunday of every month. The Priscilla Gardner Quartet and The Nueva Salsa Orchestra begin the sessions.
* Long time Mackay, Queensland music venue The Upfront Club has closed, due to financial pressures, according to board chairman Garry Claridge. In a letter to members, the club in the suburb of Maleny said initiatives as The Friends of the Club and with the formation of SOCC had not worked.
* The launch of the new 200-capacity Bird’s Basement Jazz Club in Melbourne was a lavish affair, but suffered a technical glitch with food orders. In a gesture of goodwill, founder Albert Dadon decided not to charge 180 customers for their meals, to the tune of $10,000.
* Perth’s Rosemount Hotel’s Four5Nine Bar will host the Perth Jazz Society’s Jazz Tuesdays to the end of April.
* A Kambah, Canberra, woman is chasing $155,000 in compensation after fall at Northbar, which closed in September 2014. The 21-year old was drinking with family and friends when she fell on the polished concrete floor, landing on her left arm, leading to months of pain and expenses. She claimed the floor was wet with spilled drinks. Although the court awarded her damages the venue went into administration not long after.
* Melbourne’s Speakeasy HQ, off Chinatown in the city, is moving into larger three-level premises in Flinders Street. It opens on March 18 with live music, cabaret lounge, theatre and cinema.
* As the Sutherland Entertainment Centre in Sydney’s 2016 entertainment season marks its 40th year, many of its music, film and theatre events will have a ‘70s flavour. More than 150,000 will attend its 270 events.
* The new owners of Launceston’s Inveresk Tavern, which was damaged by flooding in January, spent about $100,000 in renovations and plans to include live entertainment in the mix to bring patrons back.
* Regional NSW has lost another live music venue. Les and Karyna Ylias, owners of the Star Hotel in Wauchope has sold to Queensland’s Taphouse Hotel Group.
Cat Empire album debuts iTunes charts in 16 countries
The Cat Empire’s sixth album Rising With The Sun, released last Friday, has made its debut in iTunes charts in 16 countries – with a #1 arrival in Romania and #3 in Australia. It also entered in the Top 10 in Hungary, Sweden, Canada, Czech Republic and Switzerland.
It additionally marked its spot in the Top 20 of the iTunes charts in Malaysia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, South Africa, United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain.
The Cat Empire have sold 2 million albums worldwide over the past 12 years, and sold half a million concert tickets in 2015.
Behind The Videos: GANGgajang, Ruby Boots
* GANGajang members’ close association with indigenous communities allowed them to shoot the video for their new song Circle In The Sand at Uluru – the first band permitted to do so, at least in recent times.
The band’s drummer Buzz Bidstrup, who co-wrote the song with Geoff Stapleton and runs the Jimmy Little Foundation and Uncle Jimmy Thumbs up! initiatives, recalled, “The lyric was inspired by the Pintupi Nine who were a group of nine Pintupi people living a traditional hunter-gatherer desert-dwelling life in Australia’s Gibson Desert until 1984, when they made contact with their relatives near Kiwirrkurra. They are sometimes also referred to as “the lost tribe”. The group were hailed as “the last nomads” in the international press when they left their nomadic life in October 1984
“These nomads and their families drew sand paintings to express their stories and culture and these were eventually transferred to paint on canvas beginning the dot painting art form that is now seen all over the world today.”
The video was shot by Chris Tangey from Alice Springs Film & Television and the track features vocals from NT performers Warren H Williams and Danielle Young. All proceeds go to Uncle Jimmy Thumbs Up, a nutrition program for Indigenous children.
* WA folk-country performer Ruby Boots wrote new single Middle Of Nowhere after travelling to an isolated farm in the American state of Utah where The Waifs’ Vikki Thorn lives. The songwriting trip was interesting: she was almost banned by US customs and on the ride to the farm kept passing out from jetlag.
The video was shot by Nashville based director Mick Leonardi, the creative behind her previous video clip Cola And Wine. “Video has always been the most challenging part of what I do so doing something spare of the moment with a new found element of trust with Mick felt really right,” Boots recounted. “We shot it at midnight and worked through to the morning, although it robbed me of the sleep I probably could have done with for our live filmed performance on Nashville’s “Music City Roots” the next day, I wouldn’t trade it for a second. I’m so glad that Middle of Nowhere has found a home with this clip and that it’s getting the love it deserves.”
CBF looking for nominations
The Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF) is looking for nominations for its board of directors, from July 1. See its website for full details.
The non-profit association also has vacancies for members of its Sector Investment Advisory Committee (SIAC), Development & Operations Grants Advisory Committee (DOGAC) and Content Grants Advisory Committee (CGAC) as well as assessors to participate in the Assessor Pool.
Neeson family wins over $100,000 in court decision
The family of the late Angels singer Doc Neeson won a two year court battle to claim back $70,500 in loans that Neeson made to promoter Mark Filby. The NSW Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Filby, ruling he must repay the $70,000 as well as legal costs and interest of $30,000. Neeson was fighting for the money when he died of a brain tumour in 2014. The family will donate part or all of the proceeds to a brain cancer trust. It was given free help by lawyers after it ran out of money. If Filby doesn’t repay the money within 28 dates, the family can chase to declare him bankrupt.
Thorpe scholarship finalists play together
In a run-up to the Queensland Music Awards on March 21, the four finalists of the 2016 Billy Thorpe Scholarship – Babaganouj, FOREVR, Leanne Tennant and Luke Peacock – showcased at The Triffid club last Friday. The winner is announced during the QMusic-organised awards.
Perth Unearthed on TV
Central Institute of Technology in Perth is soon to host Perth Unearthed, a new TV talent show for high school musicians to showcase their own songs. Auditions are held at CIT’s Leederville campus over the March 19/20 weekend. Details from show producer Peter Wharram at [email protected].
Inaugural Kat Muscat Fellow announced
Brisbane-based freelancer and the Founding Editor of Hot Chicks With Big Brains, Bri Lee is recipient of the inaugural Kat Muscat Fellowship. She will use the $3000 Fellowship to explore the legal industry and its interaction with women, discussing theories of feminism and feminist jurisprudence, and themes of rape culture and mental health stigma.
Kat Muscat was a Melbourne-based writer, editor and feminist who explored these themes, along with her love for pop culture. She died last year.
And now, the end is here…
Video Ezy at Glenelg, Adelaide, went into liquidation after four years, leaving less than 10 Video Ezy stores operating in South Australia. Rising rent and wages were cited.
Civic Video in Auburn is closing on April 8 after 19 years, with owner Julie Dorsett blaming online and pay TV competition.
NT arts grants available
Northern Territory artists, not for profit arts organisations and community groups are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $15,000 for projects that develop and showcase the arts of the Northern Territory and support community access and participation in arts and cultural activities. Deadline is March 29, for projects beginning after July 1.
Number Crunching
283,700 tweets from Australia during the Oscars telecast, according to Nielsen. It peaked at 2000 per minute when Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor.
$35.5 million loss for Rhapsody/Napster streaming service, nearly doubled from last year.
$1 million rumoured cost to get Kylie Minogue to play a 30-minute set at a Qatar Airways’ corporate function in Sydney. That’s $142,000 a song.
And A Few Other Things…
Despite rumours of a return to Southern Cross Austereo, it looks as though Kyle & Jackie O are to re-sign with ARN for a further three years.
Lorde’s long awaited second album is a step closer: she tweeted that she’s busy recording: “Spending all my waking minutes at the studio and all words go into songs instead of tweets.” She’s not made the title pubic. In January she reported, “Whispered the album name to my mum in the car today.”
Submissions for the 2016 Australian Jazz Bell Awards closed on the weekend.
Delta Goodrem’s focus seems to be back to the Australian market, putting her five bedroom gated Hollywood Hills home on the market for US$4.2 million – after paying $2.3 million five years ago for it.
Fairfax’s business site BRW.com.au, which in its time covered good financial and technical stories about the Australian music industry as well as its annual rich lists of entertainers, has been closed. All traffic is diverted to the Australian Financial Review site from March 17.
Northern Territory’s peak music association MusicNT has converted part of its Darwin headquarters (Level 1, 29 Cavenagh Street) into a Chill Out space. Musicians and music industry workers can hang out, do some work on the free Wi-Fi, or get some career advice from MusicNT staff.
Gold FM Melbourne breakfast co-host Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann is the new #1 ticket holder of the Box Hill Hawks VFL club alongside former jockey (the horse kind, not the disc type) Simon Marshall.
Mix 104.9 Darwin’s Greg Vincent found out the hard way not to get involved in family issues – in this instance, a family of plovers near the station. He was trying to help two chicks which seemed abandoned by their parents when Ma and Pa returned and attacked the good Samaritan, leaving scratches on his eyebrow.
Is your doof-doof loving neighbour driving you mad? In New Zealand, a 70-year old couple were fined $500 for playing their classical music at full volume.
Sydney-based Christian hip-hop producer Kodi Maybir was jailed for 42 years for the murder of his partner’s little son. Maybir apparently put her kids on a strict religious regime of physical exercise (“cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment”, according to the NSW Supreme Court judge) which ended the little boy ending with a fractured skull.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, alternate music radio station RDU98.5FM in Canterbury, New Zealand, holds an audio and visual exhibition of its history, including its launch on February 23, 1976 (initially just for a few weeks during the University of Canterbury’s orientation week) at Canterbury Museum. Bands are also playing there.
Former Queensland nightclub owner Phil Cropper has an arrest warrant placed on him by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC). He’s under investigation for allegedly running “boiler rooms” or high pressure selling of fraudulent investment schemes.
Aussie expat Mark Tulk went through quite a wild ride to get his album Embers released through Small House Creative. On May 12, 2015, he had finished tracking guitars and bass at Miner Street Recording studio in Philadelphia, and was returning by train on Amtrak 188 to his home in New York. He was caught up in one of the worst rail accidents in the US. He managed to retrieve his laptop from the upturned carriage. After months of physical therapy – he had a collapsed lung, multiple fractures and a crushed hand – he completed the album, which features percussion from Jim White, a long-time artist on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label, and producer Joe Henry’s son Levon on reeds.