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The New South Wales government is seeking to transform the state’s music industry with the launch of its Music Strategy 2024.
It is a decade-long roadmap that is intended in making the Australian state a “global music powerhouse”.
The strategy is based around three pillars. The first aims to build a better, more viable industry while pillars two and three look to grow audiences for NSW music and strengthen the state’s communities with music.
It will include efforts to wind back burdensome laws, reduce costs and find new ways to support artists, venues and festivals.
“The previous government declared war on the state’s music sector, including its festivals,” said NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham.
“Over 10 years we lost more than half of our music venues. We have come a long way since those days and the music sector now enjoys bipartisan support in the parliament.
“The NSW government wants to bring music back across our state.
“We are working to wind back outdated laws, reduce costs and find new ways to support artists, venues and festivals. This is the first time a NSW Government has stepped up with a plan to back the industry.
“With this 10-year strategy, we want to make a very clear statement: government is no longer standing in the way of music, it is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the industry to face the challenges and embrace the opportunities ahead.”
The live sector generates around A$5.5bn (£2.7bn/$3.5bn/€3.3bn) in economic output and employs more than 14,000 people in New South Wales.
The strategy is keen to prioritise First Nations music as it looks to empower communities and invest in skills development for First Nations artists.
It will also see the implementation of fair pay for musicians, with a minimum payment fee of A$250 for artists performing at government-funded events to be enforced.
In addition to the new strategy, the state government has announced the third round of the Uptown Grant Programme is open for applications.
There is A$5.5m available in total, with grants of A$100,000 to A$200,000 on offer to new applicants while previous recipients can apply for between A$50,000 and A$100,000 in additional funding.
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