Live Music Sector Facing Collapse:
With live music still off the cards for some time in Australia’s most populous states and no realistic roadmap for prospective international touring, the live music sector is facing the prospect of widespread collapse.
With the sector heavily reliant on small business and the majority of these businesses staring down a future of near zero revenues, without immediate emergency assistance the inevitable loss of businesses, skills and expertise will torpedo the key incubator and revenue source of the entire Australian music sector.
ALMBC recognises and welcomes a continuation of JobKeeper that will provide support to employees and sole traders however this provides no relief to the thousands of small businesses who are in hibernation but covering operating expenses with no revenue. These businesses face an even steeper financial cliff if they continue to retain staff on the JobKeeper program and accrue debt to fund the necessary life support their businesses are currently needing in order to support cultural and entertainment experiences for Australians on the other side of this pandemic.
Only two weeks old but already representing over 300 members, ALMBC is urgently trying to quantify how widespread the collapse will be amongst its member base and what the knock-on impacts will be for the broader Australian Music Industry if the micro sector is wiped out. This work, partly in response to increasing cases in Vic and NSW will feed into ongoing discussions within the Music industry and government.