Australian contemporary music
Contemporary music is central to Australian culture, reflecting, expressing and shaping our identity and helping successive generations of Australians find their creative voices.
Millions of Australians enjoy music from local artists in their homes and their headphones, on street corners and in stadiums.
Australian contemporary music is an important sector of the creative economy, and the many Australian acts making waves overseas have made it one of our great cultural exports.
Development and support
The Australian Government is committed to supporting the continued development of Australian contemporary music through:
- developing a strategic long-term plan targeting the many facets of the music industry, including export, live performance, skills development and building innovation
- investigating ways to promote private capital investment in the music industry, such as private sector microfinance
- investing $260,000 over three years from 2010-11 in business skills training and mentoring for Australia's music managers through the CONTROL: the business of music management initiative
- providing support for touring activities to the contemporary music sector through the Contemporary Music Touring Program
- ensuring Australian acts have the opportunity to support international performers on tour in Australia
- examining ways to protect and promote artists’ copyright in the digital environment
- investing $17 million in a Creative Industries Innovation Centre to incubate innovative small and medium sized Australian creative businesses, including those in the music industry.
Australia-wide initiatives
The Australian Government is also working with state and territory governments through the Cultural Ministers Council’s Contemporary Music Development Working Group to:
- boost music industry exports through a more coordinated and consistent approach to international marketing. One initiative to achieve this is Australia's Contemporary Music Markets – a guide 10/11 (PDF - 436 KB).
- address barriers to live music performance and encourage the growth of live music precincts in cities throughout Australia. A guide examining live performance regulatory issues and encouraging best practice principles was released by the Cultural Ministers Council in May 2010 - Supporting Australia's Live Music Industry: Suggested principles for best practice 2010
- develop an Indigenous contemporary music strategy to provide coordinated support for Indigenous artists and music industry professionals. The first step in achieving this is publication of the Indigenous Contemporary Music Action Plan .
