Music Council of Australia rebrands

Music Council of Australia, the only national body devoted entirely to music, will now be known as Music Australia.

The rebranding effort, which falls on the non-profit’s 21^st birthday, is designed to strengthen its agenda as a music advocate, education provider and broker.

Music Australia has unveiled a new website and opened its first Sydney office, based in Erskineville Town Hall, with four full-time staff members: Cara Anderson joins the 50-member team as Marketing and Program Manager, Anderson developed and project managed the new branding, website development and a implemented a roll-out of a new communications strategy; Kate Tomlinson joins as Administrator and coordinator of the organisation’s new membership drive; Maeve Marsden oversees its new music education programs and initiatives as Program Director and Chris Bowen is CEO, a new position which was filled by the Board in 2012 to drive a new strategy for the organisation.

Music Australia CEO Chris Bowen told TMN: “The new branding is the culmination of a significant transformation, including a new website and digital communications, and it equips us to effectively serve as Australia’s only organisation devoted to advancing music in its entirety.”

Music Australia is currently running Australia’s biggest school music participation program, ’Music: Count Us In’ to support music teachers. The program has more than 500,000 participating students from over 2,100 schools.

Music Australia is also launching a seminar series in October, commencing on October 15 at Erskineville Town Hall, ’Music Talks’ covers workshops and keynotes for music teachers and a discussion on copyright, where it has partnered with Music NSW.

“Music is a multibillion dollar contributor to Australia and a vital part of our creative identity. As an artform it offers huge opportunities, but also faces very real challenges in an age of massive change and technological disruption,” Bowen told TMN. “Music Australia, as a not-for-profit agency devoted to advancing all aspects of music, is committed to supporting the sector to address these challenges and strengthen the whole artform for all music lovers.”

Chairman Michael Smellie said in a statement: “As we enter our third decade we want to strengthen our role as a respected and independent leader in Australian music. The name Music Australia embodies our mission to be a powerful and influential voice for advancing all aspects of musical life in Australia.”