Industrial Strength: Feb 23
Cairns venues to launch legal action over lock-out?
While Queensland venue operators fear the loss of 600 jobs and the collapse of at least 80 family businesses in the wake of the state’s new lockout laws in July, Cairns City Liquor Safety Accord will convene a meeting with its 100+ members to consider legal action citing loss of revenue from new restricted trading hours.
There is much bitterness in Queensland (also reflected at Sydney’s Keep Sydney Open rally on the weekend) that the casinos in both states are exempt. Cairns City Liquor Safety Accord President John Lynch said, “If that isn’t biased, I don’t know what is.”
Bond University Associate Professor of Criminology, Wayne Petherick and University of Sydney Professor of Criminology Murray Lee warned in the Gold Coast Bulletin that Queensland could face the same DIY home or warehouse raves with no security in place, as has happened in Sydney.
No plans for lockout laws in Tasmania …
In the wake of Queensland’s adoption of lock-out laws, the Tasmanian Government confirmed that there are no plans to also lock-around-the-clock. The Tasmanian Hospitality Association responded there is no need for such a law, as alcohol related violence isn’t a big a problem, and licensees have a good working relationship with police. The sector’s only challenge, it says, is its inability to get young people to work in it.
… while SA is reviewing its three year lock-out laws
The South Australian Government’s first review of liquor laws in 20 years is due by June. Submissions from 86 applications closed off this month, with T.R Anderson QC to conduct the independent review. See all submissions at http://www.agd.sa.gov.au/initiatives/review-of-sa-liquor-laws) addressing key themes: a safer drinking culture; red tape reduction; and vibrancy.
Among these, the Late Night Venue Association of SA pointed out that Adelaide’s late night economy revenue only grew 7.1% between 2009 to 2013 and employed 10,000 and that the 34 late night venues in the Adelaide CBD were 0.5% of all licensees in South Australia who were not affected.
Live Performance Australia recommended all unnecessary red tape be scrapped, including the six-week wait for application approval, and that license conditions should better reflect the “risk” of a venue. It pointed out that its last data for the SA live performance industry (in 2014) showed a 7.5% rise to $101 million revenue and a 7.8 rise in attendance to 1.6 million tickets.
Comscore report: Spotify leads streaming in Australia
New data from ComScore shows that Spotify is the largest music streaming player in Australia, with 2.985 million “unique monthly visitors” for December, Mumbrella reported. Soundcloud was second with 2.059 million, then Pandora (976,000), TuneIn (484,000) and iHeartRadio (468,000). Apple Music, Google Play and Guvera are not included as they either do not include tags on their content or did not reach the “minimum reporting standards”.
Australia launches world’s first multi-streamed online festival
Australian entrepreneur Brett Hlywa has come up with the world’s first multi-streamed online festival. LoveBusk will be held on March 20 to coincide with the United Nations World Day Of Happiness. Music artists and speakers will stream from Australia, Canada, the US, Argentina and South Africa.
Streamers log in to www.lovebusk.com and buy LoveBusk Tip Dollars from $5. They will “tip” the performers as they would a street busker. Half the proceeds go to the performer’s favoured charity, the rest to LoveBusk’s “for purpose” project of building a village for homeless and orphaned kids in Uganda with OrphFund.
Hlywa, one time ARIA publicist who founded music consultancy Sound Advice, tells Industrial Strength he was inspired after streaming a Ben Lee concert in Los Angeles. He’d caught Lee’s concerts before and “I was really curious to experience this new format. I was really blown away by how intimate and engaging the exchange was between the artist & fan. I walked away from that show inspired and began to think about the possibilities of a multi-streamed online festival.”
Lee is among the first acts announced for LoveBusk, along with Ash Grunwald, DJ Samrai, Cyrus, Murat Kilic & Spice Djs, Kevin Johansen and Pierce Bros. Speakers include War Child author Emmanuel Jal, James “The Iron Cowboy” Lawrence and change-inspiring Marianne Doczi. As to who’ll be streaming, Hlywa says, “That’s the exciting thing about doing an event online – we have the ability to reach a very broad demographic, from any location around the world.”
WAM Song of the Year draws 9% more applications
This year’s WAM Song of the Year drew over 360 entries, a 9% rise from last year. Organiser WAM revealed that the awards party, on Saturday April 9, will return to B Shed warehouse in Fremantle, on the harbour.
Mayor of Fremantle Dr Brad Pettitt commented, “The City of Fremantle is proud to once again be supporting WAM Song Of The Year. This competition plays an integral role in the development of emerging and mid-career songwriters across the state and we look forward to hosting the awards night to honour all nominees and winners in April.”
White Night Melbourne back in 2017
The Victorian State Government extended funding for White Night Melbourne for another year. Organisers confirmed the 2016 event last Saturday drew a record 580,000 people over 12 hours to 130 free events including live acts, circus aerobatics, and awesome lighting shows on the facades of buildings as the Royal Exhibition Building and National Gallery in roads, laneways and public spaces.
Artistic Director, Andrew Walsh said, “White Night again exceeded expectations with an increase in numbers and across the board Melbourne’s creative community delivered a spectacular night of art and culture.”
Festivals Update: crowd funding, DJ comps, rockabilly heaven
* Byron Bay’s “indigenous festival for all Australians” will extend its crowd funding campaignfor a further 60 dates. It wants to ensure that it can become a stand-along event on the lands of the Arakwal, of the Bundjalung Nation.
The second round of names are George Negus, Amelia Telford, Letila Mitchell, The Hon. Tony Burke and Getano Bann with Frontline Change – A Climate Change discussion. There is also Clarence Slockee & Clayton Donovon with Keeping the natives green – Medicine, Plants & Foraging; Joe Williams with The Enemy Within; Negus, John Faunt & Tenzin Cheogyal with The Boat Debate; Richard Frankland with Conversations with the Dead; Craig Pilkington and Nancy Bates In Conversation with Archie Roach; and Troy Brady with Music and Chemo.
* Tasmania’s Party in the Paddock continued growth. In its fourth year in Burns Creek, 30 minutes’ drive from Launceston, 6000 people attended the first day.
* Dubbo, NSW’s Roar Festival is holding a DJ competition for up-and-comers to join the lineup alongside the likes of Seth Sentry and get two days of training from experienced DJs. Artistic director Zac Waters, a DJ himself, says that of the 20 people who have entered, over half were females. Applications close March 25 at www.roarfestival.com.au.
* Darwin Festival is advertising for arts professionals to take on the roles of Head of Programming and Program Coordinator. Applications for the first close February 28 and for the second on March 4, see http://darwinfestival.org.au.
* AmpFest in Cambridge, WA, is back on April 10. Entries to its competition, to find four acts and a wildcard to play the event for a $500 payment each, closed on the weekend. The four bands, and some other acts, play the City of Cambridge’s Open Mic Night event on March 11. The wildcard is selected there.
* Final attendance figures are not in yet, but the inaugural Rods and Rockabilly Miami in the parking lot of the Miami Tavern made its debut on the Gold Coast on the weekend. A spin-off of Rods and Rockabilly Hamilton (at Brisbane’s Hamilton Hotel), which began in 2014, organisers hope it becomes an annual event as well.
Adelaide’s Pilot Records at end of runway
After four years, Adelaide’s EDM label Pilot Records has come to the end of the runway. Launched in 2012 by Urtekk members Ben Smith and Dave Brewer, Pilot quickly signed up acts in the city’s electronic scene, as Oisima, Menagerie, Ride Into The Sun and Question Question. It spread the word about the scene through the mini-festival PilotFest and the Electrolounge stage at WOMADelaide, and Brewer was a recipient of the first Robert Stigwood Fellowship program.
The final PilotFesti was held on the weekend, with this year’s WOMADelaide Electrolounge stage to feature Problems, Zeequil & Datakae and Mortisville vs. The Chief. Pilot’s final release is Adelaide producer How Green’s debut The Reverse Happens.
Nine confirms The Voice return
Nine Network’s major programming announcement to advertisers and stakeholders, it confirmed that The Voice will return later this year. Last August its grand finale hit a peak of 1.562 million although one episode hit 1.6 million.
Also on the schedule is the 58th TV Week Logie Awards. The last ceremony drew 971,000 viewers, a rise of 9,000.
TuneCore earns $142m for indie artists
TuneCore, which opened an office in Sydney last year, earned over US$142 million for indie artists last year. It was a 7% increase on 2014. Its artists also earned $36.8 million from digital streams and downloads alone in Q4 2015. Publishing revenue was up 47% in 2015 and sync revenue up 57%, with placements in major feature films and network TV shows. Since its inception in 2006, TuneCore artists have earned more than $648 million collectively.
Last year, TuneCore also opened two more offices in the US (Austin and Atlanta) and the UK. It reported a 71% increase in new customers in Latin America and 55% in Africa.
Adelaide’s Come Out ramps up name change
After 40 years, Adelaide’s biennial children’s Come Out Festival is changing its name because of modern connotations of the phrase – and encouraging children to come up with a replacement. When set up in 1974, the name was inspired by the nursery rhyme “boys and girls come out to play.” But organisers say that the term, while still a wonderful resonating and essential phrase for the gay, lesbian and transgender community, is not suitable for children.
The deadline for name suggestions is mid-April, with cash-in-kind prizes. Winner’s suggestions will be incorporated into a theme song for the next festival, in May 2017, with the winner able to help with creation of the song.
Venues Update: acoustic house, tributes, ad bans
* Last Friday’s Jack The House organisers at The Sly Fox in Enmore Road, Sydney, was furious when told by police to cut the music at 3 am. Strange since it is not in the lock-out zone, can serve alcohol after 3 am and has a 24 hour licence. Promoter Mark Dynamix, also one of the four DJs on the night, in a Facebook posting called it “an oppressive tactic designed to bring us in line with other venues in Sydney (apart from the casino).” They brought forward the club’s opening by one hour and, since there was to be no amplification after 3 am, encouraged punters to come up with an acoustic guitar to sing house tunes.
* The Pub in Tamworth named its café after singer songwriter Audrey Auld who passed in California in August last year aged 51. Her husband Mez Mezera flew from America to attend the opening, bringing with a hand-made box that held Auld’s ashes, which were scattered in the garden outside. The Pub’s music room was named after performer and producer Bill Chambers.
* WA Minister of Health Kim Hames had to step in to tell his Health Department not to be so ridiculous. Seems Paul North, owner of J.B. O’Reilly’s in Leederville, collects age-old tobacco ad posters. He put 28 of them up in the venue for decoration, only to be told by the department it contravened a ban on tobacco advertising. Hames said he would change the legislation regarding old posters, and invited North to put the posters up again.
* High profile Gold Coast nightclub Melba’s on the Park on Cavill Ave is on the market. Already 16 parties have shown interest, including club operators in Sydney and Melbourne.
* The Boundary Hotel, in Brisbane’s West End, has launched the Sunday Chill Sessions in its beer garden, tapping on roots and rap favourites as Kingfisha, Resin Dogs, Wild Marmalade and Cheap Fakes.
* With all the talk about Sydney and Queensland lockouts, the focus shifted to what’s happening to Byron Bay’s nightclubs since 1.30 am lockouts were introduced in 2013. Byron United, a group of businessmen set up to promote the area, told the local newspaper that venues lost up to 60% of their income. Some were sold as profits declined (Balcony Bar), others like Coco Mangos nightclub became a sports bar during the day. But Tweed and Byron Bay police commander Wayne Starling defended the lockouts, pointing out that alcohol-related incidents dropped from 303 between September 2012 to February 2013 to 164 in the same period in 2015-2016 .
* Rockhampton’s Criterion Hotel is returning to be a music venue. It has introduced a band night once a month on Saturdays called Northern Exposure and is planning a mini-festival of local acts later this year. Bands are booked through Brisbane-based Beats Cartel, whose founder Christian Tryhorn started out as a musician and promoter in Rockhampton.
WA Government to launch new grants program
WA’s Department of Culture and the Arts (DCA) is launching a new grants program on March 1, which will enable it to offer a more timely and responsive approach to project funding. DCA staffers are holding a number of info sessions of the new offerings over two weeks. All are between 6 pm to 7 pm at King Street Arts Centre, 365 Murray Street, Perth.
Week 1 is on Wednesday 24 February and Thursday 25 February. RSVP to [email protected] or 6552 7400 by 4 pm today (Tuesday February 23.) Indicate your preferred session in your email subject line. Also provide a contact phone number and email. Week 2 is on Wednesday March 2 and Thursday March 3.
Adelaide Festival of Arts smashes $2 million box-office
Adelaide Festival of Arts smashes its $2 million box-office target with 27 ticketed shows three weeks ahead of opening night. The box office had climbed to $2.3 million with a week to go before the event’s opening weekend (February 26 to March 14; all figures exclude Womadelaide).
Adelaide Festival of Arts Chief Executive Karen Bryant said, “We are seeing a real reversal in box office trends, last year many festival-goers chose to buy tickets late. Since we launched the 2016 festival back in October we’ve seen a significant increase in people planning their festival ahead of time around our program of exclusive productions.”
Pina Bausch’s Nelken became the fastest selling dance show in the festival’s 55-year history, reaching 100% before Christmas. The 11-hour Scottish theatrical blockbuster The James Plays was also well beyond its box office target.
Two opportunities for community radio producers
Two opportunities for community radio producers are open for applications. The National Features and Documentary Series encourages storytelling from new and emerging producers around Australia offering help in planning and production. CRN Segments Series provides a national platform twice a year for creative thinking and production skills. See cbaa.org.au for all details.
Macquarie Media revenue down in first half
Macquarie Media’s half-year result to the end of December 2015 saw a 9% fall in revenue to $66.83 million. This was not good news because the combined revenues of Macquarie and Fairfax Network’s radio assets before their April 1 merger was $73.7 million. But Macquarie Media Executive Chairman Russell Tate said that as a result of sales staff changes and savings in operational costs, he was confident of full year earnings of $20 million – $25 million.
Festival catalogue offers 4CD pub rock look back
In an ambitious project, Warner Music Australia has delved into the goldmine of its imprint Festival Records, to come up with the 4CD The Glory Days Of Aussie Pub-Rock. Mind you, it covers 91 tracks, and this is only Volume One! The set is out on April 1.
This one doesn’t look at the original pub rock explosion but covers stuff from the mid-70s. There are the usual suspects – Chisel, Tatts, Oils, The Falcons, Mondos, Angels, Divinyls and Hunters & Collectors, along with relative flash in the pans (Painters & Dockers, Matt Finish, Dave Warner from The Suburbs) and indie guitar acts as Lime Spiders and Huxton Creepers.
The set has a couple of firsts: CD and digital issue for The Dingoes’ Smooth Sailing and the first Paul Kelly & The Dots single Seeing Is Believing. Spectrum/ Jimmy Barnes drummer Ray Arnott’s On The Run is strongly rumoured to feature Angus Young on guitar. RAM founder Anthony O’Grady provides a track by track and essay on the era, while Mushroom’s first art director Ian McCausland provides artwork for the packaging.
Sunshine Coast test to head to AG
Five months ago, Industrial Strength reported that the Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance (SCCA), along with some enlightened councillors, began a 12-month test where Nambour’s music venues within the zoned hospitality area be given some flexibility re its 75 decibels maximum, and that it be measured from the border of the precinct rather than outside the venue itself. The idea was to encourage more venues to showcase bands without dramas, and build up the area. Nambour was chosen for the fact that it had a quirky counter culture behind its sleepy façade.
The success of the trial has gathered the support of the south-east Queensland Council of Mayors. The Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath and subsequently the Office of Liquor and Gaming, will be approached to ratify the achievements of the test. SCCA President Phil Smith insists that the issue is not linked to the Queensland lock-out laws, as it is more “non-threatening” and evidence is there that the trial is working. It would turn Nambour into a live music centre in the area and justify the expense that current clubs have invested in sound proofing.
Finalists announced for NZ’s Taite Music Prize
The eight finalists for the 7th Taite Music Prize – to recognise the most creative New Zealand albums in the past 12 months – are announced. Named after the late music journalist Dylan Taite, the winner gets a cash prize of $10,000 and free studio time. They are SJD’s Saint John Divine, Nadia Reid’s Listen To Formation, Look For The Signs, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Multi-Love, Princess Chelsea’s The Great Cybernetic Depression, The Phoenix Foundation’s Give Up Your Dreams, Anthonie Tonnon’s Successor, Marlon Williams’ Marlon Williams and Silicon’s Personal Computer.
The victor is announced at an invite-only ceremony in Auckland on April 20. Previous winners include Lorde, Lawrence Arabia, Ladi6, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and SJD.
Number Crunching
12—1 offered by British bookmakers that Dannii Minogue willreturn to The X Factor UK to replace Nick Grimshaw, after she announced she would not be return to the Australian version of the show.
440,000 attend the St. Kilda Festival in Melbourne.
13 Coldplay tracks return to the US Hot Rock Songs after their Super Bowl appearance.
$16, 261 raised in 20 days during Tropfest crowd funding, badly missing its $100,000 target.
500,000 times that Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo was downloaded illegally in its first 48 hours of release on Tidal.
Vale
* Tony Beks emerged in the music scene of Warrnambool in regional Victoria, through his mandolin and fiddle playing skills. He was instrumental in starting up the South West Musos Club. He was also an adventurer, sailing to Europe, Indonesia and Africa on his a 14-metre yacht Ragin Cajun. A designer and inventor, his creations included a three-wheeled motorbike, a low energy bluestone house and a 12-metre yacht for a friend. Beks died of cancer aged 63.
* New Zealand three-octave soprano and actress Sophia Hawthorne appeared in musicals as Cabaret, Closer, Romeo and Juliet and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and movies as When Love Comes, Savage Honeymoon and Insiders Guide to Happiness. The daughter of actors and directors Raymond Hawthorne and Elizabeth Hawthorne, she made her stage debut at 10 and studied classical singing in New York. She died suddenly in Auckland, aged 38.
And A Few Other Things …
With TV ratings success for musical identities, word is that some production houses are looking at former Rolling Stone Australia editor Jeff Apter’s book on the Bee Gees, Tragedy.
WA authorities are looking at music concerts and cultural festivities to be staged at Fremantle Jail in a search for new uses for the 160-year-old building.
19-year-old Los Angeles-based Melbourne DJ Throttle whose song Together is being used in Hilary Clinton presidential campaign, hopes to meet up with her when their respective touring cross paths on the US East Coast in a few weeks.
Highly acclaimed New Zealand blues guitarist Midge Marsden, who’s frequently toured Australia and the US, is currently on his farewell tour of NZ. 50 years on the road is enough, he says.
Australia’s Got Talent judge Kelly Osbourne was so knocked out by 10-year-old Canberra heavy metal guitarist Callum McPhie’s rendition of dad Ozzy’s Crazy Train that she sent a tape of the performance to him. His response: Kelly says, “He was in shock, he couldn’t believe it!”
Radio 3AW Melbourne breakfast co-host Ross Stevenson and wife Sarah have welcomed new daughter Lauren.
Helping Taylor Swift celebrate her Grammy win at the Republic Records after-party was her bestie, Lorde.
One of Australian music streaming service Guvera’s very large shareholder” is jettisoning his shares for “personal reasons where funds are needed immediately”, reports The Australian’s Margin Call column. Shares were being offered at 20c to 50c off the $3.20 sticker price — “a potential 20 per cent increase … upon purchase.”