Industrial Strength: Telstra’s plans after MOG; Global Music Agency launches; Adelaide Fringe off to China; Two more venues opening in QLD

Telstra closing MOG streaming service…

Telstra announced that MOG streaming service goes dark on August 31. It has operated only in Australia after it was closed elsewhere last year, with Telstra – which took it over for Australia in June 2012 – insisting it was committed to continuing it. But now MOG’s 155,000 Australian subscribers (Telstra’s estimate last August) are advised they can no longer access their music libraries, downloaded songs and playlists, and are en courage to delete the MOG app.

"Although MOG had already shut down in the United States, Telstra kept the MOG service running until now as we know music is important to you," said a posting.

MOG was founded in America as a network of blogs in 2005, becoming a paid subscription service four years later, with a free on-demand service in 2011 claiming it had 16 million tracks. But it was swamped globally by rivals as Spotify, Pandora and Rdio. Beats Electronics acquired it a few weeks after Telstra took it over in Australia in June 2012. Beats effectively killed it off two years later when it launched Beats Music, which was later sold to Apple for US$3.2 billion in May 2014 and became the basis of Apple Music.

…and launching video streaming Telstra TV in spring

Telstra is launching a video streaming service to take on Apple and Google TV in September. At the heart of Telstra TV is the Roku 2 device which connects to TVs and hosts apps that play catch-up TV and streaming video services as Netflix, Stan and YouTube. Telstra says it is targeting “the entire rest of the market that doesn't currently get pay TV.” Question: in the way streaming made downloading redundant, will it also see consumers move away from expensive pay TV fees? Roku costs about $100 in the U.S and the UK.

Global Music Agency launches in Melbourne

Turkish born guitarist, producer and festival promoter Murat Yucel has set up Global Music Agency specialising in ethno, roots and jazz. He is joined in the venture by Assistant Director Alisha Brooks, a musician who also has years of global touring and festival organisation experience.

The agency officially launches on August 14 & 15 at Thornbury Theatre. Acts include Zulya & The Children of the Underground, Kekoson, Jali Buba Kuyateh, San Lazaro, Bashka and La Mauvaise Reputation, representing music from Cuba, Russia, Turkey, Senegambia and France. More info at: www.globalmusicagency.com.

Report: video games increasingly embraced by females and older Aussies

The Digital Australia Report 2016 showed that the video gaming community continues to grow in this country. The survey of 1,274 households and 3,398 individuals in all demographics was the sixth of its kind, by Bond University and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA). It found 68% of Australians play games. Females have grown to be 47% of players. The daily average playing time is 88 minutes, a far cry from 2005 when it was once or twice a week for an hour a time.

78% of gamers are 18 and over, while 98% of homes with children under 18 have a device for playing games. The average age of Australian gamers has risen from 32 to 33, while new additions to the community over the last four years are aged 50 and over, who now make up 23% of the community.

Australians spent over $2.4 billion on video games last year, reveals IGEA, a 20% increase on 2013. Its CEO Ron Curry said, "This year's report reinforces the breadth and depth of Australia's gaming community. We are witnessing significant changes in the realm of digital interactive entertainment, where games have become an amazing medium to reinvigorate family life, education, workplace training, consumer engagement and social and political conversation.”

Adelaide Fringe may head to China…

Fresh from the Adelaide International Guitar Festival being staged in spring in China, a deal is struck to showcase elements of Adelaide Fringe as part of next year’s 30 year anniversary of the sister relationship between South Australia and Shandong Province. It happens at the International Beer Festival, which draws 4 million over two weeks in August to the city of Qingdao in Shandong. Plans are still in early stages but the Fringe’s popular 5,000 capacity pop up venue, the Royal Croquet Club, is among those expected to set up among the beer guzzlers.

The exchange is expected to draw more Chinese cultural tourists to SA and see more Chinese acts perform at future Fringes. This year Adelaide Fringe pumped an extra $68.8 million into the SA economy (compared to 2014’s $66.3 million) with a 9% rise in attendance to over 2 million and a 21% growth in ticket sales to 540,860. The impact of the Chinese exposure could be staggering.

… and CX opening in NZ

Julius Media’s NSW-based pro-audio technical title CX celebrates its 25th birthday, by starting a bi-monthly New Zealand edition in October. It will promote the inaugural ENTECH NZ Roadshow, to run in July 2016 across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch similar to its Australian version, which celebrates its 21st in October.

Two more venues opening in Queensland

After a slight hiccup, The Foundry in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley finally relaunches on August 20. It is now a three level complex with a 300-capacity live room, rock themed bar and a collaborative space for the city’s live music community. There's a dedicated room where up to eight touring band members can crash for the night for a small cost. The Foundry opened with fanfare earlier this year but had to close down within a week after it was discovered that additional structural work had to be done to the band room.

Meantime, Surfers Paradise has a new music spot aimed at over-25s opening this week. Owned by Nathan Innes, 19 Orchid Avenue is based on the 1920s prohibition clubs which were hidden behind other businesses (in this case, a tailor’s shop). Clubbers have to text a number before they’re allowed in through the locked door.

Book Review: The Bakehouse Project

The Bakehouse Project collects the stories behind the artwork adorning the walls of Melbourne’s Bakehouse Studios rooms. These rooms were described by no less than Elvis Costello as “some of the best in the world.” Helen Marcou and Quincy McLean took over the 1880 building on busy Hoddle Street in 1991. After commissioning a giant paste-up of Lou Reed in late 2013 on the outer walls to mark his death, the two asked their visual artist friends to create installations and reimagine the rooms. Over 128 pages, names as Patricia Piccinini, Mick Turner, Peter Milne and The Hotham Street Ladies explain in fascinating detail the ideas behind their creations. The book is in bookstores and at www.bakehousestudios.com.au.

Venues update: award winners, closures, relaunches.

* At the Australian Hotels Association SA Awards, long time music supporter the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel (aka The Gov) took out the Live Music Venue for the second time. The Moseley Bar & Kitchen in Glenelg scored Entertainment Venue. The Stirling Hotel, which offers live music on the weekends, took Best Overall Hotel. Another live music showcasing venue, the Lion Hotel, North Adelaide took home the Function Operation/Facility – General Division prize. The Port Lincoln Hotel won a country accolade for Bar Presentation while staffer James Alexander took Rising Star.

* This week marks an important one for Sydney’s Hugo Lounge: it will close permanently due to a 60% revenue drop unless a new owner is found.

It’s also an important week for Sydney’s The Imperial, which has until Tuesday August 11 to show cause why it can’t be closed down by the Office Of Liquor, Gaming & Racing.

* The Gold Coast’s Boathouse Tavern and Treetops Tavern are on the market.

* Blue Mountain Hotel in Toowoomba is planning a major redevelopment that includes a new sports bar, toilets, terrace and gaming lounge.

* Mackay’s Regional Council extended trading hours for AM Bar, The Rabbit Hole and Movidas from 4am to 5am, but must still maintain a 3 am lockout.

* In Sydney, Slyfox (formerly The Sly Fox) opens this Thursday under new management. Live at the Sly is a late-night Thursday band night and Saturdays is house night for the Enmore Road establishment.

* A Goulburn Performing Arts Centre is being considered by local council.

* Already hit by lower revenues, the prospect of a 1am lockout has seen Gleeson Properties abruptly close Townsville’s Criterion Hotel.

* A survey by Adelaide’s The City of “different” venues in the CBD saw the once-a-month EcoCaddy in a warehouse at 174 Wright St highlighted, as well as the Flinders Street Baptist Church, which every Tuesday hosts jam sessions by musos mainly from the Elder Conservatorium, the Soapbox Sessions held on the first Friday of the month from 6.30 pm upstairs of The Store Café (157 Melbourne St) and Friday night sessions at Cafe Troppo (42 Whitmore Square).

* While Townsville is hot for a 25,000 seat sports and entertainment stadium, the city is also musing the possibility of an initial smaller 6,000-capacity venue if the Federal Government doesn’t come through with funds. The Queensland Government has allocated $100 million to the major stadium and urging Canberra to match it.

Groove Music heads to Android, Xbox One and Web

Australian users of Microsoft’s Groove Music —the replacement for Xbox Music—can now access it on Android devices, Xbox One and the web. Separately, Sonos announced beta support for Groove Music on its popular line-up of connected speakers. The Groove Music/ Sonos is, aside from Australia and New Zealand, also available in 20 countries.

More music for New Zealand TV screens

New Zealand will get more local music on TV screens thanks to its NZ On Air funding organisation. Of six new programs green-lighted two are music specials. NZ$166,000 is for a two-hour special on the Vodafone NZ Music Awards on TV3. $189,172 is for an hour-long doco The New Sound Of Country by Notable Pictures for Prime network about the new wave of country music sweeping the land with names as Tami Neilson, Marlon Williams, Delaney Davidson and Barry Saunders.

Number crunching

$109.7 million grossed by The Rolling Stones’ Zip Code tour which shifted 628,733 tickets.

3382 liquor licences in NSW have been cancelled as a result of non-payment – representing 18% of licences in the state.

46th Dance Club Songs chart topper by Madonna with Bitch I'm Madonna.

63% jump in ad sales for Twitter but its CEO Jack Dorsey says user take-up is still too slow.

And a few other things …

The Phil Rudd court circus was in full swing yesterday when, as TMN reported, the AC/DC drummer pleaded guilty to breaching rules of his home detention – to wit, boozing while partying with hookers. Judge Wolff allowed him to continue home confinement until he returns to court on November 24. If the court finds a breach of conditions, Rudd has been threatened a term of striped sunshine.

Yesterday’s attendance saw Rudd the good natured rocker, not the middle finger pointing “angry dude” or the dishevelled loonie of past appearances. Enjoying the bright sunshine, he traded wry quips with the media as his harassed lawyer tried to push him through the throng. Ruddy said he was “going home for a cup of tea”, was working on “self-improvement” during the detention and, when asked about the November case replied, "The only thing I'm feeling nervous about is I don't actually know what's going on."

The Sydney Reclink Community Cup at Henson Park in Marrickville saw the media’s Sailors again slap the music industry’s Wailers around the field 56 to 51.

Among highlights of the National Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin: Gurrumul flew in just to world premiere songs from his The Gospel Album to his NT mob, and then caught a flight to Sydney … a one-hour long team up of East Journey and Yothu Yindi, including the official premiere of their Genesis Project, was another exhilarating example of the creativity in Australian indigenous music.

Dave Thornton, breakfast co-host of hit101.9 Fox FM Melbourne admitted on air he got engaged during the mid-year break. He proposed to his girlfriend Nixi at sunset on a Thai beach.

LA-based Aussie R&B singer songwriter Alston Koch and Prince’s music director Morris Hayes have written and recorded the theme song for the global issues charity We Care For Humanity, which they have gifted to founder Princess Maria Amor of Balo-I. It makes its world premiere this week (August 7) at the United Nations when they perform it at the GOD (Global Officials of Dignity) awards before an international audience of politicians, ambassadors, cultural proponents and humanitarians. Koch and Hayes have set up their own recording studio in Burbank and are working on a number of film soundtracks.

Tours abroad: Following global airplay for her self-titled debut album, Perth based singer songwriter Bernardine is off for a series of club dates in England between August 23 to September 12 … Sydney producer Wave Racer heads to North America for ten headlining club dates from September 4 to 27 .. Perth hard rock band Hailmary do 11 shows in the UK in September with Ugly Kid Joe.

Former Westlife member Kian Egan is reportedly being wooed to appear on the NZ version of The X Factor.

Indigenous culture celebration Corroboree Sydney’s organisers said it will not be held in 2015 for its third year after failing to convince NSW tourism and events agency Destination NSW, to increase its funding level to support its growth. Artistic Director Hetti Perkins told the Sydney Morning Herald that Corroboree had received great support: last year it drew 50,000 (up from 35,000 in 2013) while the number of business partners rose to 20 from nine.

Byron Bay/Brisbane-based 5-piece reggae/funk/soul outfit CC The Cat have decided to record an EP in Bali in September. After successfully crowd-funding for their 2013 album Songs From The Sea, they’re using the same avenue to raise $12,000 for the EP through http://www.pozible.com/project/197893.

Australian streaming service Quickflix yesterday requested the ASX allow it to be in a trading halt until Wednesday while the Perth-based firm continues negotiations with an “international” player about a possible “acquisition”.

Tour promoter Straight Up says juggling promoting international EDM tours and campaigning on environmental issues has proven to be ideologically untenable. Founder Blair Sullivan admits, “The carbon emissions of bringing large numbers of people into our country are, to put it simply, just depressing.” Over the last 12 months, he’s cut back on tours and will now use his contacts and database to help environmental organisations fight the good fight.

Melbourne’s City of Port Phillip is set to appoint a sponsorship operator for its St Kilda Festival. For the first time, it will offer uncapped commission to secure a major partner.

US a capella vocal outfit Naturally 7 mark their return to Australia this month by recording a version of Farnesie’s You’re The Voice.

Melbourne gets a new punk festival, with Crossroad Creative presenting the inaugural Night of The Living Shred at the Bendigo Hotel on August 22. The eight act bill is headlined by Sydney’s Born Lion.

Wollongong musician and programmer Justin Clayden has created the world’s first music video using Google’s #deepdream software “uncovering a psychedelic world of images hitherto never seen by human eyes.” Check it out at:http://justthejust.com.

The return of Centenary Rocks! Festival in Ipswich, Qld, after a year’s break saw crowds return, organisers said.