Export Smart

Thaddeus Rudd is co-owner of Mom+Pop Music, and will appear at the 2026 BIGSOUND conference.

From our perch here in the US, we’ve been continually impressed by the talent coming out of Australia. If the UK has historically been the first point of entry for Aussies, the US has shown itself to be the largest and most welcoming market, from festivals to headline touring, from Pitchfork to Sirius Radio to now TikTok and IG, Aussies have broken through over our lifetime at Mom+Pop.

We’ve been fortunate to work with some great ones during our 18+ years: Courtney Barnett, Flume, and Tash Sultana have all started their careers as Mom+Pop artists. We’ve had an up-close experience breaking into the US and beyond.

From a US perspective, exporting our artists isn’t always the first concern; the size of our market gives us plenty of fans and live markets to conquer. For Australia, it’s all but essential.

Current obstacles to touring internationally at present include uncertain Visa climate, high Visa legal and expediting costs, inflation affecting the costs of travel and crew. “Old Media” promo campaigns no longer deliver the results.

There’s a better, more accessible opportunity now, in 2026 to create a global fanbase. The power of the Internet- TikTok and Instagram to be specific. “New Media” now spreads a song, an artist, a post far beyond Australia’s border, making for smarter spends on touring, press and radio teams later on.

Here are some tips, with the caveat that there’s no substitution for the right record and the right new artist story.

Artist Community

A record or an artist’s connection to other artists, to a scene, is a game-changer. We’re looking for connectivity with culture. What’s the scene, what is the movement that music is coming for. Which artists can lead their fans to discover you? Context is important, and an artist's co-sign is impactful in an online world.

Discovery & Virality

The viral song, the viral post often kicks it all off. A brief but important moment- a post reaching a million, a song starting a creation trend. Aussie artists are at the precipice of building on the moment, but with extremely short time windows before people move on.

Online World Building

The biggest opportunity is the online world. Specifically, visual posts on TikTok, IG and YT shorts. Artists who can conceive and represent a compelling, cohesive, original vision trend to succeed, but it’s subjective. Some posts will perform; many won’t. Taste, luck and sheer volume of content get rewarded. The algorithms favour frequent posting, which is a tall order for artists.

Fan Data

Capturing your new fans’ data and engaging with them is a must: IG and TikTok followers, YT subscribes; CRM platforms to collect emails and texts; Discord channels. From day one, Aussie artists can build, segment and communicate with fans before leaving the market. The payoff is a loyal following who will buy tickets and merch when you do get on a plane and tour internationally.

Fan Interaction

Now that you’ve got the beginnings of a fan base, and can organise where, from what source, in what numbers, you’re able to contemplate putting out more music and seeing it translate to streaming numbers. Continued content posts are essential and will, over time, grow more global and less local.

IRL (Touring)

At this point, touring and IRL activities are essential. With all your data, it’s time to sell hard tickets in markets, at home and internationally. The pop-up has become the go-to for activating fans, even on an early, developmental career level, and creating content for social posts. IRL activations help make Aussie artists locally relevant when touring internationally. 

Old Media

Once you develop an online audience and begin touring internationally, this is when local media teams (press, radio) begin to be effective. Once there’s an exciting artist story and a local angle to tell. This is when your label teams will be most effective outside of Australia.

Expertise

It goes without saying that experience, in management, live agents, and social and creative marketing, is essential for a long career. Virality may play a large part of getting to the first stage, but it’s what you do with it that matters. A great live agent and effective manager are essential at this stage. Can your team activate labels or distributors' passion and budgets, and make the connections to move your career forward? Did your music lawyer advise on any contracts, to protect you from headaches down road? Together with excellent music and compelling creative content, your professional team’s smarts and experience are necessary, to go turn a finite moment into an international career.