Parliamentary Report on Australian Live Music Makes Case for Major Reforms
As venues around the nation shut-up shop, and festivals pull back, or pull out altogether, Australia’s live music industry is in critical need of reform.
That’s the takeaway from the parliamentary Live Music Inquiry report, ‘Am I Ever Gonna See You Live Again?’, published this week.
Borrowing its name from the classic Angels song from 1976, the report is the culmination of a task presented in March 2024 to the Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, to explore “what’s going on in live music in Australia,” the challenges and “the path forward to ensure live music can enjoy a strong and sustainable future.”
The Committee delivers 20 recommendations. Among them, a tax offset for live music; limiting extreme variability in ticket prices caused by “dynamic pricing”; the expansion of the “Revive Live” program; the rollout of entertainment precincts; renewed calls for Austrade to expand its support for Australian music exports; and the strengthening of local content on algorithm-driven or automated playlists for Australian users.
Further to that last streaming recommendation, the report notes that if co-operation is not forthcoming that legislation “be strongly considered to mandate and enforce higher proportions of Australian music on these services.”
Also recommended is the addition of a “small levy” to the price of tickets to large-scale events, which would be offset as support for small venues and grassroots live music – mirroring a similar initiative in the UK.
Well away from the content end of the spectrum, the Committee recommends the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission monitor the Australian music industry for “anti-competitive conduct” and to “take enforcement action as required.”
“This report delivers a roadmap for a stronger, more sustainable Australian music industry that can thrive both at home and on the world stage,” comments APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston.
“This is a chance to get the policy settings right, to build on the co-investment of successive Australian governments, back the venues and festivals that bring live music to audiences and ensure that our artists have the opportunities they deserve, both here and internationally.”
The live music ecosystem’s struggles are well documented. Just this week, Victoria’s Esoteric Festival joined the growing list of live events to fall over in 2025, a situation that has been blamed on the state’s onerous licensing regime.
Through its information-gathering process, the Committee received 129 submissions and several supplementary submissions.
Its final report runs to 115 pages, and, at a closer examination, is a gold-mine for detail on the industry and its many and varied struggles.
Live music is said to be a $16 billion industry supporting 41,000 jobs, and “yet the venues, festivals and events that take the risks to put on shows have been left without the same level of support as other creative industries,” notes Ormston.
“That’s why a tax rebate for live music is such a critical reform—it would be an investment in jobs, cultural vibrancy and ensure live music remains central to Australian life. We’ve been advocating for this since 2016, and it’s time to get it done.”
Read the report here.