How a shift in attitude towards live music from govt will speed recovery

Music NSW boss Emily Collins said she has seen a shift in attitude towards live music from government policymakers during the Global Cities After Dark event in Sydney.

As part of a week-long conference, local government and industry stakeholders from hospitality, music, entertainment, events, tourism and transport came together to workshop ideas and “thrash out a plan” to future-proof the city’s 24-Hour economy.

It was the first meeting of its kind between the stakeholders since the pandemic began.

“We’ve really seen a shift in Government attitude towards live music from a policy perspective,” Collins said. “This is an incredible opportunity for the industry to collaborate with the government and work together on strengthening the industry.

“It’s also about building relationships to help safeguard live music from policy fluctuations in the future,” she said during the Powerhouse Museum-based event.

Collins added that protection is critical for the venues that still exist in Sydney.

The closing event for Global Cities After Dark celebrated a new exciting chapter for Sydney’s nightlife with the implementation of the new NSW 24-Hour Economy Strategy.

Michael Rodrigues, the NSW Government’s inaugural 24-Hour Economy Commissioner, said because of the way NSW has managed the pandemic, the city will be “the focus of the world”.

This wasn’t the case before the pandemic,” Rodrigues said, “It is now.

“We’re so used to looking overseas for solutions – looking to what’s happening in London or New York. Now it’s like, ‘Well, you’re the first ones out of this pandemic; you tell us how to do it.’

“It represents a big opportunity.

“Now is the time to grab that opportunity and think, what does ‘local’ mean, and is a focus on local going to be a core part of how economies come out of the pandemic?”

The dream future for Sydney’s music scene includes cultivating a culture of musical discovery, around the clock transport and safe spaces, a better standard of all-ages events, and for money to be diverted away from pokies and into music.