ALMBC Parliamentary Inquiry
The Australian Live Music Business Council (ALMBC) notes the Parliamentary Inquiry into the challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry and seeks your feedback to our submission.
You will likely be aware that on 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee to inquire into and report on the challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry.
Individuals and organisations are invited to make a written submission by 30 April.
Although we are realistic about the potential for significant positive outcomes from any such Inquiry, the ALMBC will be making a submission focussing around the following key points.
We seek our member’s feedback, stories, facts and ideas to make our submission as strong as possible. Please email contact@almbc.org.au .
We also encourage you to make your own submission.
The ALMBC calls on the Federal Government to:
Sustainability
The over-arching principle for Government investment should be the promotion of grass-roots performance and audience development. This means that tax payers funds will be developing a base from which the industry can grow and prosper.
- Economically speaking, specific criteria could include;
- Only funding SME and micro-businesses and artists that are Australian owned
- Only funding festivals if they are Australian owned, feature a majority of Australian talent and are capable of applying for funding with a proper business plan that demonstrates a commercial viable future.
- Only funding venues and artist tours if they are Australian owned, feature a majority of Australian talent and are building capability for the venue or artist to grow audiences.
- As proven by successful international models; partner with Federal tax system and promoters to tax a percentage of each major arena ticket to be directed towards a trust specifically targeted towards the above.
- From an arts perspective
- Financial support to micro businesses that are involved in the development and sharing of Australian content, songs and stories including artists, song writers, performers, managers, agents, labels, venues, festivals and more
Insurance Law Reform (Following successful models in New Zealand and other jurisdictions)
- Investigate a Limited Liability scheme for accident claims for attendees at events. If the limit of the payout on a given type of accident is prescribed at a fair rate, insurers will know the limit of their risk and be able to levy premiums accordingly.
- Partner with State Governments to ensure a minimum number of insurers and underwriters operating in the Australian market to provide suitable capacity and competition in the market
- Reduce and redefine the notification period by a claimant so that festivals and venues are aware of an injury and can assist the patron accordingly rather than the claimant engaging solicitors and inflating claim costs
- Force insurance companies to provide non-identifiable data on all claims and payout amounts over the past 10 years to enable better understanding of the real risks and needs
National Industry Leadership
- Formalise the collaboration between key national organisations including the Australian Live Music Business Council (ALMBC), Assoc. Artist Managers (AAM), Aust. Festivals Assoc. (AFA), and the peak music bodies of each state to lead policy for the live music industry in Australia with Music Australia providing resources and administration.
- Ensure Govt. music industry support organisations are governed transparently and include a diverse representative group of the live music industry including artists and SME’s. Also ensuring absolute transparency from these organisations with income streams and dissemination of revenue focuses on capacity building for emerging song writers and performers.
- Partner with State Governments to ensure appropriate funding support for Music Industry Associations across the country – especially those currently under-funded including Tasmania and Western Australia
Competition and Risk
- Partner with the ALMBC / AAM / AFA to develop best practise models in the areas of:
- Festival contractual exclusions around exclusivity, timeframes and milage
- Fair distribution of risk when major environmental or disaster impacts occur to artists and contractors
- Fair payment of deposits by major festivals to all artists
- Ensure that any Government funding or support is reliant on the above best practice model are being met.
Ticketing Barriers to Competition and Risk
- Promoters are in the business of taking risk and should not be allowed to pass that risk on to its vendors, suppliers or artists.
- Legislate to protect consumers by;
- Regulate Ticket Agents the same way travel agents and real estate agents are regulated, to stop the practice of ticket companies loaning or advancing ticket funds that should be held in trust.
- Stop foreign owned ticket companies from loaning or advancing ticket funds that should be held in trust.
- making it illegal to allow promoters to access their funds if they sell their own tickets, so they can’t bypass the new ticket trust regulations.
- Whilst there is legitimate reason patrons may not be able to attend an event and wish to on-sell their ticket, the re-sale market should be restricted so tickets can’t be resold for more than 10% face value, thereby stopping speculation from scalpers and stopping them artificially inflating prices.
- making ticket scalping illegal on all events regardless of venue or government ownership.
Research
- Fund new research into opportunities such as:
- Changes in youth culture in live music and audience models and changing audience dynamics post COVID
- Best practise regulatory environment for festivals
- Living wage for artists
- Tourism, economic impact and cultural/social returns and benefits of festivals, live music venues and music touring.
Pilots
- Fund the development and delivery of small-scale pilot projects in the following:
- Living wage for artists
- Underwriting insurance for live original music venues