Sounds Australia Unveils SA Export Contribution Fund (EXCLUSIVE)

South Australia’s music community is in line for a leg-up, thanks to an innovative fund that will help local artists on their way to international showcases.

Through the new SA Export Contribution Fund, which The Music Network can exclusively reveal, the South Australian government’s Music Development Office and Sounds Australia will provide a non-competitive $3,000 contribution against travel costs for artists who are selected to showcase at a string of international events.

An Australia-first initiative, the financial aid will boost musos invited to showcase at Folk Alliance International (Kansas, U.S.), SXSW (Austin, U.S.), The Great Escape Festival (Brighton, U.K.), Americanafest (Nashville, U.S.) and The Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg, Germany).

The inaugural beneficiaries of the new funding lever include Dean Forever, Germein, MANE, PINES, Teenage Joans and Tushar, all of whom applied for and were selected as “official” artist performers at SXSW 2023 in Austin, Texas in March.

The team at Sounds Australia is confident that the new fund will create opportunity to hear from new emerging talent from SA, and participants will get insights on what it’s like to be heading overseas post-pandemic, trying to break one of the toughest showcase conference events in the world.

Millie Millgate

“The creation of a dedicated Export Contribution Fund is the first of its kind in Australia and we are inspired by the South Australian Music Development Office who have seriously thought about where their artists need tangible support and have strategically created such a simple and effective program,” comments Millie Millgate, executive producer, Sounds Australia.

“Sounds Australia is proud to partner in its delivery and look forward to working with the South Australian acts and industry in their forthcoming export endeavours.”

South Australia’s geographic isolation has, without doubt, created barriers to market entry for artists, an issue that was explored in Martin Elbourne’s 2013 report The Future Of Live Music In South Australia.

On the flip side, isolation can breed originality, a situation that most South Australians will attest to.

SA has a proud music culture.

The capital, Adelaide, is the first, and only, designated UNESCO City of Music in Australia, and, in recent years, it has hosted Indie-Con and the AIR Awards.

“One of the best ways to grow the profile of our many talented musicians here in South Australia is to assist with music export,” comments South Australia arts minister Andrea Michaels.

“It is great to see that five South Australian acts have already been invited to be showcased at SXSW – the most we have ever had from our state – and they will benefit from this initiative.

The South Australian Government – through the Department for Industry, Innovation and Science’s Music Development Office – is keen to “continue to build on Adelaide’s status as Australia’s only UNESCO City of Music and being able to perform at these events will work towards this goal.”

Sounds Australia got a shout-out in in the federal government’s Revive policy, a years-long roadmap for the music and creative industries.

In its pages, and during prime minister Anthony Albanese’s launch, the government pledged to increase funding for Sounds Australia, to “build on the growth achieved to date and to expand into new markets.”