Industrial Strength: April 4

CMC ROCKS TO REMAIN IN QUEENSLAND

As tipped by TMN, CMC Rocks Queensland has had its stay extended. It initially went north from NSW in 2015 on a three-year deal. The last two events have sold out, with crowds climbing to 15,000 and injecting $10 million to the local economy.

As a result, Qld Minister for Tourism and Major EventsKate Jones, confirmed that CMC will remain in Queensland for the next three years.

Ipswich City Council has inked a deal which sees the festival stay at the Willowbank Racecourse for at least five years.

IN HISTORY’S RAGE

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of ABC-TV’s rageon April 17, the ABC will hold a multi-platform event from Friday April 14 to Sunday April 23.

Across TV, radio, in print and in person, ABC will give fans a chance to relive their favourite moments and discover everything there is to know about the program’s history and influence on Australian music and culture.

ANDREW MCMANUS ESCAPES JAIL

While the prosecutor pushed for jail time for Andrew McManus, the promoter escaped a jail term and will serve 20 months in community service.

He was charged with obstructing justice when he claimed that $702,000 found in a suitcase in Room 3026 in the Sydney Hilton on August 11, 2011, was his, and proceeds from a tour.

NSW Police and the FBI were chasing the money as part of an alleged drug and money laundering syndicate that operated between the US and Australasia.

CANBERRA PUSH FOR MORE ARTS FUNDING

Canberra’s arts and music sector held a rally outside Parliament as part of a quest for more arts funding.

A petition has been launched to protest the ACT Government’s move in December 2016 to slash Project Funding by an estimated 66% without consultation.

This year only 14 projects have been funded as a result, compared to the 60 each year in the past.

The petition asks the Government to honour its election commitment to increase annual Project Funding by $500,000, to keep it at a minimum of $1.25 million starting in the 2017-18 budget year. It also asks for an Arts Ministerial Advisory Board to be set up by 1 September 2017, reporting directly to the Minister.

A letter co-signed by 160 arts names saw the figure raised by an additional $230,000. But the arts sector is still furious.

WEATHER CAUSES QLD AWARD EXTENSIONS

In light of the chaos caused by Cyclone Debbie, the Queensland Music Festival has extended the deadline for two of its initiatives to 5pm, Friday, April 7.

The inaugural Carol Lloyd Award, named in honour of Australia’s first rock chick, who died in February, offers a $15,000 grant to an emerging female singer-songwriter.

The On Song competition invites young singer-songwriters from regional Queensland to apply to win a mentorship with independent performer Jack Carty.

BLUESFEST UNAFFECTED BY DEBBIE

Cyclone Debbie might have caused havoc in Queensland and Northern NSW, but Bluesfest Byron Bay, while reaching out to its victims, says that its site has not been severely affected. Thus, it’s business as usual come the long Easter weekend.

Organisers say that it’s Tyagarah Tea Farm site has been weather proofed for years, and that the campgrounds have “not been damaged.”

GOLD COAST TALENT TO SHINE

Amy Shark, genre-defying duo Hussy Hicks, psychedelic trip-funkster Benny D Williams, electro-pop performer Ella Fence, gypsy rock firebrand Felicity Lawless, reggae infused CC The Cat and R&B act Electrik Lemonade are among the 43 nominees in six categories for the 3rd Gold Coast Music Awards.

The awards will be held Thursday 27 April at Surfers Paradise Beach.

“Gold Coast continues to punch above its weight when it comes to diversity of genres and sheer quality of music being produced,” GCMA director Chloe Popa said.

APPLE VS SPOTIFY IN THE BACK OF THE CAR

Spotify is rushing out a new original show called Traffic Jams. It is not a million miles from Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke.

But while the latter has celebs and musos squawking away in songs to hit songs, Traffic Jams features rappers and producers cutting a new track in the back seat.

AUSSIES STREAMING ON TV

According to OzTAM, a record 5.14 million Australians streamed 1.2 billion minutes of catch-up and live TV through March. This streaming number of free video on demand (FVOD) exceeded the 3.53 million for subscription video on demand (SVOD), according to Nielsen data generated in February.

THE CLEAN GET GONG FOR 1981 EP

New Zealand’s The Clean’s 1981 Top 5 EP, Boodle Boodle Boodle, picked up the Classic Record award at this year’s Taite Music Awards. The awards, recognising the most creative records in NZ in the past month, will be held on April 18 in Auckland. But Classic Record was announced in advance.

The record was made in three days for a cost of $750. Band co-founder David Kilgour, awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001 in recognition of his contributions to the arts. He said: ’’Boodle was a really important recording for The Clean and all involved in many ways. I have nothing but joyous memories of making it.”

VALE

John McConnell grew up in Sydney, attending St Aloysius College before moving into music and sound audio. One of his inspirations was Todd Rundgren who produced solo records on which he played all the instruments.

After an apprenticeship at a number of venues, he joined House of Hits. On his Facebook page, he recommended great records to be discovered as well as petitions for every social justice cause. Singer Leo Sayer said, “He’ll be missed as there weren’t many like him.” John McConnell died of a stroke after developing kidney problems in recent years.

HILLSONG ACTS CONTINUE ON US CHARTS

Two acts emerging from Sydney’s Hillsong Church continue to make their strong mark on the US charts.

Hillsong Worship’s What a Beautiful Name is #1 for seven weeks on Hot Christian Songs (combines airplay, streaming and sales data), #1 on Christian Airplay, #2 on Christian Digital Song Sales and #5 on Christian Streaming Songs.

The single, which was streamed 1.7 million times in the US in just one week, is co-written and sung by Brooke Ligertwood. It features on the church’s latest annual live album Let There Be Light, which debuted at #1 on Top Christian Albums last November.

Meanwhile, Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United (both acts share personnel), which peaked at #1 on Hot Christian Songs for a record 61 weeks, is still in the Top 5 after 175 weeks.

SINGING ABOUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

In a stand against domestic violence to help raise funds to battle the crisis, the Queensland Music Festival is holding a You’re The Voice choral concert on July 29. It wants as many Queenslanders to sing the John Farnham hit. You can register for the initiative here.

QMF Director Katie Noonan says that for many, it’s easier to sing about domestic violence than talk about it – and it encourages victims and their families to speak out against perpetrators.

AUDINATE PLANS GROWTH

Australian audio tech outfit Audinate is looking at capital expansion options as its products are gaining more global recognition.

Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen and Foo Fighters are among those who use their audio products at shows, and it’s recently signed deals with blue chip brands Yamaha, Bose, Harman, Sennheiser, Shure, Crestron, Sony, Extron and Bosch.

TRIBAL APES LAUNCHES VIDEO STREAMING STUDIO

In what it calls Australia’s first purpose-built live-streaming studio, Tribal Apes launched Tribal Live at Fox Studios Australia. It is set up for publishers, brands and content creators to produce video content quickly. It has the capacity to stream productions on social and digital media.

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…

• US pop singer Andy Grammer of the ARIA Top 5 Fresh Eyes fame, will perform at the TV Week Logie Awards on April 23.
• While Adele is estimated to have personally made $35 million from her Australian shows, her three Auckland shows reportedly made NZ$20 million. The singer has just bought a new pile of bricks in England costing £14 million, which works out to AU$23 million or NZ$24.9 million).
• While performing in Hobart, Marcia Hines managed to rupture an Achilles tendon playing tennis. Her medics told her she could perform wearing moon boots (which was okay as she was in the disco musical Velvet) and not to move too much (which was a problem because, er, it is full of disco dancing songs).
• Aussie comedian Eddie Perfect is doing the score for the Broadway musical adaption of Beetlejuice. It is currently in development through Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.
• 14-year old Canberra singer Lucy Sugerman was awarded the Arts and multimedia category of the Canberra young citizens awards for personal achievements, as part of National Youth Week.
• 24-year old Perth alt-folk musician Riley Pearce arrived at London’s Heathrow airport for his first UK shows to find that his $2,500 Maton M808 guitar – which he’d packed in a heavy duty case to avoid such trauma – turned up looking more like an accordion. After angry calls were made to Qantas, he got a new guitar and case, according to his post on Facebook.
• Hip-hop artist L-FRESH The Lion is one of those appearing in the Holden/SBS’s Drivers of Change ads emphasising Aussies with disabilities and those from different cultural backgrounds.
• New Zealand choreographer Parris Goebel hit the big time, worked with Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez. But she missed out on working with another star after forgetting to check her inbox – Frank Oceanhad emailied her to offer her a gig.
• Sydney band Bad Pony kick off a North American tour this weekend, with two clubs shows in LA, four in NYC and one in Philadelphia, before heading off to Canadian Music Week.