Industrial Strength: Feb 9
Study: Aussie spend $18 on streaming a month
A new Ernst & Young study Digital Australia, State of the Nation 2015-16 found that Australians spend $181 a month on digital services – of which a little over 10% goes on music and movie streaming. In addition, Australians also spend an average of $782 in hardware costs. Australians see themselves as “digitally active individuals” and don’t mind paying for the privilege. 83% are comfortable with their spend, only 29% are concerned they spend too much.
Consumers’ perception of “a high quality digital experience” begins with security, followed by ease of navigation and the ability to find a product or contact information. That is followed by responsive customer service and the ease of purchasing on mobile and online.
Perth Fringe performers harassed by yobs …
This year’s Perth Fringe World (January 22 to February 21), which last year drew 370,000 people, may be a victim of its move to expand its audience. It’s attracted a minority of drunken yobbos who’ve harassed or assaulted some of its performers, most of them female or in drag. Fringe organisers moved quickly, asking for extra police patrols in Norhtbridge and getting $5 Uber discount fares for performers.
Reports are that some female performers refuse to walk alone from venues, leading Ayden Doherty of hip-hop cabaret Burlesque Beats to start a “buddy system” to escort performers. Reported incidents included a female performer
punched in the face during a show, a male colleague pushed over and kicked, a female grabbed at because she declined an invitation from an audience member for a drink, and one surrounded by four men and harassed while moving props to her car.
… and TV reporter groped at Laneway Auckland
The issue of sexual assault at music festivals came under the spotlight again, this time at Laneway Auckland. TV3 reporter Kim Vinnell was interviewing Lontalius Lontalius for a live segment on current affairs Story show, when interrupted by two drunken males. They groped her and shouted, “Fuck her right in the pussy”. When Vinnell’s boyfriend, Thai boxing champion Richie Hardcore chased the men and challenged them to a bout at his gym, one told him it was “just a friendly joke”. Vinnell posted a comment calling the incident “unsettling”.
Call for BYO liquor licence in SA
While new South Australian rules come into effect on May 1 allowing small venues to host live entertainment without the extensive building compliance, a new suggestion is for the creation of a live music venue BYO liquor licence.
It was submitted by the Live Music Office, music/tech cluster Musitec and peak music association MusicSA. It would apply to venues smaller than 120-capacity, which host live entertainment, theatre, comedy, visual art or dance. Developed from the input of Sydney Fringe Festival Director, Kerri Glasscock, the proposed licence would allow for venues that don’t want to go through the effort of running a bar or nightclub during their shows, and find it easier for patrons to bring their own. RSA trained staff would be on duty throughout, as part of the licence.
CMC Rocks Qld expected to sell out…
The CMC Rocks Queensland festival is today expected to announce that it has sold out for the first time in its nine-year history. The 1-day and 2-day tickets were went ages back. Last week, co-promoter Rob Potts revealed that only 70 of the 3-day tickets were left and set to go by now. This year’s event is capped at 13,500, double that of last year. The camping site is also sold out including the overflow 900 that Ipswich Council made available at the last minute.
… and Port Fairy Folk too
The Port Fairy Folk Festival’s 40th edition (March 11-14).is expected to have sold out within days. Last Friday only 50 tickets remained. Festival Ticketing Manager Shane Lenehan said that an added attraction this year was that punters were making an effort to attend because of the 40th anniversary connection and the fact that it was the last festival presented by long time Artistic Director Jamie McKew. The festival draws around 15,000 a year.
Over 40 years it featured 3500 acts (including 500 international) and involving 12,000 musicians), sold 240,000 tickets and had a total attendance of 1 million.
Canberra’s National Folk Festival wins bronze
Canberra’s National Folk Festival took out bronze (third) in the Festivals and Events category of the 2015 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards gala night in Melbourne last Friday. The category was won by Victoria’s Fun4Kids with The Drovers’ Campfire as runner-up.
The win comes as the folk festival celebrates its 50th anniversary March 24 to 28. In its 2014/5 report, it posted a total attendance of 46,109 over five days. Its peak crowd in recent years was 55, 092 in 2010. 45% were from ACT, 36% from NSW, 12% from Victoria, 3% from Queensland, while the other states and territories were represented by 1% each.
More Festivals Updates: rivalries, sackings, sneak preview
* Sydney Sings, the new event featuring 700 singers in choirs, chamber groups and soloists (July 28 to August7) is expected to draw 11,000 visitors to Sydney and deliver $5 million in visitor expenditure to the state, according to Destination NSW. But it’s created a bitter taste down in Tasmania. There are grumblings that Sydney Sings’ Artistic Director Leo Schofield AM took elements from The Festival of Voices (June 30 to July 17). Even worse, the new event starts eleven days after the Tasmanian one, with Festival of Voices director Tony Bonney fearing that it might cannibalise acts and audiences. “All props to Leo for stealing a great idea we’ve had,” he sniped.
* The campaign to get Shannon Noll on the regional Groovin’ The Moo bill was a floperoo. But Perth’s Ship-Wrecked festival in April has asked him on after its punters voted overwhelmingly on its website to have Nollsy on. Within a week, they got Noll to drop an East Coast commitment to become ship-wrecked.
* New Zealand musician Silicon twittered that he had been “kicked out” of Laneway Adelaide and “fined” for apparently “kissing a cop’s gun”.
* While the official program launch for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival is in mid-March, relative newcomer Esperanza Spalding will open, making her Australian debut with her groundbreaking theatre/poetry project Emily’s D+Evolution. Closing the festival is saxophonist Wayne Shorter, joined by three fellow virtuosos Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.
Nordoff-Robbins music quiz returns
The Nordoff-Robbins Music Quiz is back for its 18th year, with 400 music fans competing with musicians, celebrities and music biz execs. It’s on Thursday March 3 from 6 pm at the Crystal Palace Ballroom at Sydney Luna Park. Each ticket is $110, a team of eight is $880 (includes dinner). Tickets purchased at musicquiz.eventbrite.com. Sponsorship opportunities contact Nicci Gow at [email protected].
How did Molly rate against INXS, Peter Allen?
Before the first part of Molly went to air last Sunday, co-producer Michael Gudinski wanted it to beat INXS’s ratings for February 2014’s two-part Never Tear Us Apart. As revealed in TMN yesterday, Seven’s Molly drew 1.79 million in the overnight ratings for five metro capitals. The total, with regional viewers added, was 2.636 million, again the night’s top rater.
Never Tear Us Apart (also on Seven on Sundays) drew 1.974 million metros and a total of 2.243 million for its first part, on February 9. The second, on February 16, dropped to 1.767 million metros and a total of 2.081 million.
The first part of Peter Allen’s Not The Boy Next Door (September 13, 2015) had 1.333 metro viewers tuning in, with a total of 1.560 million. The second, a week later, dropped to 1.212 million metros and a combined 1.450 million.
With such figures, little wonder that the TV networks are shoving each other’s side to produce a teleseries on Olivia Newton-John and Gudinski, There’s an obvious one, around the infamous 1970s rivalry between Skyhooks and Sherbet, waiting for some TV wunderkind to pounce on.
Sydney’s Musica Copa raises $16,500 for charity
The Sydney music industry’s Musica Copa soccer match raised a total of $16,500 for charity. 400 players and spectators rocked up to the KIKOFF Fraser Park in Marrickville last Friday. The event was presented by UNDR Ctrl’s Paul Stix and Purple Sneakers’ Martin Novosel who confirmed the match will return next year AND have a Musica Copa Basketball in the works.
The closely contested final saw Sydney/LA influencer agency the projects* snatch victory from Lucky Ent. in a dramatic 90 second final, overturning a 1-2 score into a 3-2 championship. The projects* donated $7000 to its nominated anti-slavery trafficking charity Project Futures. Runner up Lucky Ent. picked up a cheque for $5000 for The Reach Foundation and 3rd pace getters MTV $2000 for Ted Noff’s Foundation.
Star power came in the form of Scott Baldwin of The Rubens playing for the new WME team, Flight Facilites’ Hugo Gruzman turning out for Future Classic, the DMAs’ Johnny Took repping hard for Falcona and Musica Copa’s unofficial ambassadors The Meeting Tree returning to kick some goals for Sony Music.
Victorian Government sets up ACMI X hub
Victoria’s Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley announced $587,000 for ACMI X, a 60-seat creative co-working space in Melbourne’s Southbank creative industries precinct set up by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).
The space will foster creativity, collaboration, experimentation and inspiration between filmmakers, script writers, game and app developers, graphic and web designers, writers and visual artists. Applications open via the ACMI website.
Man who brought Beatles to Adelaide honoured
Lilla’s Cafe owner Ron Tremaine was the latest to be inducted into the AMC SA Hall of Fame in Adelaide. He was one of three South Australians who brought The Beatles to Adelaide in 1964. Initially Adelaide was left off the Australian tour. DJ Bob Francis started a petition hoping for 3000 signatures, and got 77,000. Tremaine took the petition to Sydney where he sat in promoter Kenn Brodziak’s office for two days. Adelaide could only offer a 3,000-capaciy Centennial Hall while the other cities catered to 7,000, and Brodziak said no.
Tremaine called his father-in-law who worked at SA department store John Martins, and got its boss Ian Hayward to write out a cheque for £28,000. The Beatles arrival drew 300,000 to Adelaide’s CBD and stopped traffic.
Tremaine’s induction took place at the State Library’s Mortlock Chamber which also saw the launch of the Yesterday’s Heroes – Mixmasters Sessions album and documentary. The project saw ten emerging SA singer-songwriters collaborate with the state’s music greats at Mixmasters Studio with producer Mick Wordley, reinterpreting some of SA’s best known rock songs.
On the night, 26 musicians including The Angels’ John Brewster, John Schumann, The Twilights’ John Bywaters, Rose Tattoo’s Rob Riley, blues guitarist Chris Finnen and The Mixtures’ Evan Jones performed the album live with the young interpreters. Among the songs given the modern treatment were The Twilights’ 9.50, The Angels’ Shadow Boxer, The Masters Apprentices’ Wars Or Hands Of Time, The Mixtures’ The Pushbike Song, Doug Ashdown’s Winter In America and Bev Harrell’s The Looking Glass.
Four “pop sensations” up for Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice
Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, Five Seconds of Summer and At Sunset are up against each other in the Favourite Pop Sensation Australian/ New Zealand category at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2016.
Troye Sivan is in the running for Favourite Social Media Star against New Zealand’s Kristina Webb and Jamie Curry.
In the various international music categories are Fall Out Boy, Fifth Harmony, Taylor Swift, Adele, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaz, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, One Direction, Pentatonix, Drake, Blake Shelton, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Nick Jonas, The Weeknd, Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande.
Favourite Old Fart (that is, sigh, anyone over 25) are Sunrise TV presenter David Koch, TV lifestyle presenter Scott Cam, comedian and broadcaster Peter Helliar and former rugby league champion turned TV head Paul “Fatty” Vautin.
Venues Update: closures, re-openings, robberies
* After ten years of attracting celebs as Britney Spears, Kanye West and Serena Williams, Eve’s nightclub in Melbourne closed on the weekend. The landlords are knocking it down to build apartments.
* The landlord of Gold Coast Prohibition-style nightclub and bar 19 Orchid Avenue has locked out the operators, claiming he is owed $40,000 in unpaid rent and bond. It was opened in mid-2015 by Nathan Innes.
* Amsterdam’s pedal powered pub, the HandleBar, makes its debut in Adelaide this month. 12 people pedal their way around town while having beer and wine and getting to know each other. It took two years of paperwork for the brand to be introduced locally.
* Northern Territory’s Araluen Arts Centre, home to Desert Mob as well as exhibitions, theatre, and film, has re-opened after an electrical fire in the plant room forced it to close.
* Stuart King and Andrew Lazarus’ Bondi Asset Management (BAM) has bought the Vauxhall Inn in Granville, in western Sydney, for $15 million from Eastern Hotels Group. BAM is looking tor another property in the area.
* South Brisbane live entertainment showcasing Red Lion Hotel in Moorooka was robbed for the second time in 18 months. In the latest incident, two armed men threatened staff and made off with cash on foot.
* Ballarat nightclub Haida, which made news two years ago when it was stormed by bikies, is being converted into the state of the art offices of an accounting firm.
* WA’s Bassendean Hotel brings back Basso Fridays this Friday, the first three nights headlined by swamp rockers The Floors and boogie blues trio Huge Magnet with The Love Junkies making one of their last shows before a US tour.
JB Hi Fi posts strong first half profits, revenue
JB Hi-Fi’s first-half net profit rose 7.5% to $95.2 million in the six months ending December 31. Total sales rose 7.7% to $2.12 billion, in line with market forecasts. The chain opened seven new stores in the time. JB HI Fi expects full year sales to grow by 5.8% to $3.85 billion and net profit between $143 million and $147 million. It will open another store in the next six months.
Analysts expect a sales spurt after the January collapse of rival Dick Smith, forecasting an extra 106 million in sales and $19 million in earnings for the 2017 report. JB CEO Richard Murray rejected speculation his company might pick up some Dick Smith stores, saying they were too small to generate sufficient sales. JB stores turn over sales of $20 million while it’s $3 million for a Dick Smith store.
The Last Waltz back on the floor
Eleven top names will appear at The Last Waltz Revisited, recreating The Band’s farewell show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Performing on April 1 and 2 at the Sydney Opera House are Richard Clapton, Tim Rogers, Paul Dempsey, Kevin Borich, Olympia, Vika & Linda Bull and The RocKwiz Orkestra. The RocKwiz Team first performed The Last Waltz Revisited at The Melbourne Arts Centre in December 2015 and received multiple standing ovations from the sold-out audience.
Guvera case becomes bitter
The Federal Court case between Australian streaming service Guvera and a former UK director is becoming bitter, reports the Brisbane Courier Mail. Last October, Guvera sued Michael De Vere, alleging he signed to buy UK company Blinkbox without the board’s approval. Blinkbox went into administration six months later, leaving Guvera minus $2.3 million. De Vere counter-sued for damages of $6.9 million, and options in Guvera or $7.3 million.
De Vere has made a number of allegations against Guvera’s Executive Chairman Darren Herft that he’d signed up — without board approval —Guvera to a property deal with his own AMMA Private Equity and that he (De Vere) resigned from Guvera last May “because of the direction of Mr Herft to strip Blinkbox of its assets so as to avoid obligations to staff”. Herft has denied the claims to the Courier Mail. De Vere argues buying Blinkbox was in Guvera’s best interests.
The newspaper also reported that AMMA raised $120 million in investment for loss making Guvera and charged it $14.4 million, $7.7 million in the past year.
UK, US, hit makers to collaborate with NZ songwriters
Mozella and Sacha Skarbek who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’ chart topping hit Wrecking Ball and Lindy Robbins who co-wrote David Guetta’s hit Dangerous are among those visiting New Zealand for the APRA AMCOS initiative SongHubs. It will be held at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios February 22 to 26.
“Having this calibre of international artists come together to share their talent, knowledge and experience with our songwriters is totally unprecedented in New Zealand, and a huge opportunity for our writers.” says APRA’s Manager of NZ Member Services Victoria Kelly. “We’re incredibly excited about the music that will come from these collaborations.” The NZ songwriters who’ll work with the hit makers are announced this week by SongHubs Auckland curator Greg Haver.
John Schumann defends Australian of the Year
Adelaide singer songwriter John Schumann was so irritated with criticism of Lt. General David Morrison’s appointment as Australian of the Year 2016 that he released a statement in his defence. Schumann became involved with veterans’ welfare after the success of Redgum’s I Was Only 19 (A Walk In The Light Green). Morrison was a senior officer in the Australian Army and served as its Chief from June 2011 until his retirement in May 2015.
Some veterans and veterans associations criticised his 2016 honour as he was not concerned with their welfare. Schumann felt that some of the comments stemmed from some veterans feeling they’d been badly treated after they left the service and that putting Morrison in the firing line was “intemperate. In fact, it was David’s commitment to veterans and their welfare that drew us together in the first instance. On many occasions I have observed his genuine interest and care for all members of Australia’s veteran community.”
Brisbane saxophonist awarded Churchill Fellowship
Brisbane saxophonist and composer Rafael Karlen has received the Churchill Fellowship for research overseas. A director of the Queensland Youth Orchestra Big Band and lecturer at several music institutions, he will travel across Europe and the US studying the creative working process of well known ensembles, composers and performers.
Michael Gudinski for ILMC
Frontier Touring’s Michael Gudinski will serve as a mentor at the 28th International Live Music Conference (ILMC), held in London March 3 to 6 before 1000 delegates. The conference also includes a Q&A with Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino, and presentations by William Morris Endeavor’s Head of Music Mark Geiger, former Dire Straits manager Ed Bicknell, and discussions on safety, escalating artist fees, emerging markets and global trends.
Number Crunching
450,000 viewers tuned in to Nine’s broadcast of Grease Live, disappointing given its high ratings in America.
13 venues in Sydney’s Kings Cross alone have closed since the 2014 lockout, says the Kings Cross Licensing Association.
$12.2 million earned by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band for five US shows last month, drawing 90, 579 fans.
And A Few Other Things …
Wolfmother landed a track on the Zoolander 2 soundtrack. Andrew Stockdale confirms the track is titled Remove Your Mask, saying “Super psyched to have a new song … (in) the sequel to possibly the greatest movie of all time.”
Famed Sydney late night eatery Harry’s Cafe de Wheels – Peter Blakely named his 1989 album after it, Elton John announced a tour from within – is expanding to Queensland.
During the Molly series, Seven announced that it is launching a new film and entertainment channel called 7flix on February 28.
Backed by Jack Daniel’s Future Legends project, Brisbane’s Hey Geronimo play ten Sydney venues on February 27, They start their The Longest Shortest Tour 10 am, playing hour-long sets until 11.30 pm.
Gold 104.3’ Melbourne’s Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann announced on air that he and TV producer wife Kelly Kearney are expecting their first child.
Meantime, Hope 103.2’s A=afternoons announcer, Erin La Macchia and her husband of five years, Sean, are expecting twins.
Sony Music has Grammy winning producer Steve Berkowitz in the country February 22 to 29 to talk about Jeff Buckley’s You And I, his first studio recordings for Columbia. It was Berkowitz who signed Buckley to Colombia. “Jeff loved being in Australia, playing in Australia and cherished the times he had there with his band, friends and fans,’ he says. The “new” recordings were discovered during the research for the 20th anniversary edition of Grace.
Missy Higgins and her fiancé Dan Lee are selling their three-bedroom New York-style loft in the Melbourne suburb of Abbotsford for $2 million.
A postscript to last week’s item about Catherine Britt and husband James Beverley taking ownership of Rhythms magazine, is that the pair are keeping it a family business. She’ll oversee editorial (she’d already done pieces for Rhythms previously) and Beverley will tap into his background of sales and marketing. Britt’s school counsellor father Steve will write and proof read, teacher librarian mum Anne will do the mail-outs and a cousin will handle accounts.
Last Sunday’s 60 Minutes travelled with Tamworth country music singer Roshani Priddis (who was on Australian Idol and X Factor Australia) to fulfil her dying adoptive mother’s wish – to return to Sri Lanka to find her biological mother.