Don’t Kill Live Music: Speakers and musos confirmed for today’s rally

As signatures on the Don’t Kill Live Music petition hit 111,000, the names of speakers and performers at this evening’s rally at Sydney’s Hyde Park (6—8 pm) are revealed.

MCs: Rhys Muldoon & Yumi Stynes

Julien Hamilton (The Presets)

Murray Cook  (The Wiggles)

Tim Levinson (Elefant Traks)

Helen Marcou (SLAM/Save Live Music Australia)

Adelle Robinson (Fuzzy/ Australian Festivals Association)

Michael Chugg (Chugg Entertainment)

Dave Faulkner (Hoodoo Gurus)

Jane Slingo (Electronic Music Conference)

Councillor Jess Scully (City of Sydney)

Gordon Bradbury (Wollongong lord mayor)

Appearances by Ocean Alley, The Rubens, Cloud Control, Dan Sultan w. Polish Club, Urthboy & Bertie Blackman and Olympia.

The rally demands the NSW government delay the March 1 implementation of the rules until after the March 23 elections.

Don’t Kill Live Music is concerned the government is trying to rush the new legislation before it goes into “caretaker mode”, and hence hasn’t thought through its economic impact.

“There is too much uncertainty for festival operators as to how the proposed regulatory system would work,” organisers state.

They also point out: “The current regulatory body is not equipped to regulate music festivals.

“Their mandate is around liquor and gaming, they have zero understanding of the nuances of music festival operation or knowledge of local area needs, in the way that local councils and venues have.

“Delay the implementation of the new license date of March 1 of the proposed Music Festival License regulation until further consultation has taken place

“Delay the implementation of the new licence date of March 1st until a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) has been completed.”

But the issue also goes past festivals and promoters to brands and sponsors.

While the music festival sector expresses its alarm about its future, the marketing industry has also warned that the uncertainty caused by the new rules could also lose brand support for such events.

NSW is the largest market nationally for contemporary music and music festivals in Australia, generating $325 million in revenue for the NSW economy with 6 million attendees each year.

M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment managing director Jamie Gilbert-Smith, speaking to B&T, warned of another dilemma.

Sponsors would see festivals as a risky proposition.

They’d either work with promoters to ensure no last minute cancellations, or they’d simply move out of that space to online platforms where they could reach the same demo but without the risks.

He said, “Personally, I wouldn’t be putting money into potentially risky festivals — I wouldn’t be advising brands to do that.”

MORE CALLS FOR DELAYS & CONSULTATION

A new coalition has been formed by the Australian Festival Association (AFA), Live Performance Australia, Music NSW, APRA AMCOS and the Live Music Office to represent industry concerns about the new rules.

The AFA said, “A preliminary review of the draft regulations by the AFA yesterday has confirmed the draft regulations are still incomplete and make reference to risk assessment tools and interim guidelines that are still not available for review.”

The coalition met yesterday afternoon with the Premier’s department and ministerial staff. More as this story breaks.

The coalition also called for a delay in implementation and time for more consultation.

Also throwing his support behind a postponement and more talks was shadow minister for music and the night time economy John Graham.

“These are rushed and panicked changes,” he said.

“The Australian music industry is now saying their implementation will put events and live music at risk in NSW.

“These are important issues.

“Labor wants to see a genuine dialogue with industry so that we are confident that the regulatory regime will actually work.”