Can Australian Music Survive in the Age of Spotify?
Mixed Picture For Music in NT’s 2026 Budget
The NT’s two most recent budgets, handed down in May 2025 (2025–26) and May 2026 (2026–27), present a mixed picture for the music and live music sector. Events and tourism infrastructure have received some attention and headline festivals like BASSINTHEGRASS continue to be supported. But dedicated arts and music-specific funding has been trimmed, and neither budget contains anything new specifically for the music industry.
Positive Impacts
Major events support and BASSINTHEGRASS
The 2026–27 budget speech notes that major events, sport and community activities generate around $85 million a year for the Territory economy. BASSINTHEGRASS, now in its 23rd year and delivered by Tourism and Events NT, continues to run each May at Mindil Beach in Darwin. In previous years the festival drew around 16,000 attendees, roughly half from interstate, and generated over $14 million for the NT economy per event — strong numbers for a regional music event and a good indicator of what the NT festival model can deliver.
Tourism and Events NT
The NT government has formed Tourism and Events NT, consolidating destination marketing and events delivery into a single entity. The NT Visitor Economy Strategy 2032, released in late 2025, explicitly includes the food and festival scene as a priority pillar and targets growing visitor spending from $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion. Tourism spending in the NT is already up 13% and overall visitor numbers are up 19% year on year. That broader tourism health is good for major music events that rely on out-of-territory audiences.
International aviation routes
New airline routes secured during 2024–25 include Jetstar’s direct Darwin–Gold Coast service, new routes from Indonesia and Malaysia, and an Alice Springs–Cairns connection. These increase visitor access to the Territory and put downward pressure on airfares, which benefits interstate and international audiences attending NT music events.
NT Arts Grants Program
Arts NT’s grants program, administered by the Department of People, Sport and Culture, continues to operate. Industry development awards were made for 2025–26, maintaining a funding pathway for music and creative industry professionals in the Territory. Project grants and career development opportunities for young artists remain open on an ongoing basis.
Concerns
Tourism and events budget cut in 2025–26
The 2025–26 NT budget cut the total tourism, events and screen production allocation from $92 million to $88 million, a reduction of $4 million. Indigenous tourism funding was also cut by $400,000 to $2.2 million. Given that events like the National Indigenous Music Awards are both a cultural centrepiece and a tourism driver, any reduction in this envelope matters for Indigenous music industry stakeholders.
NT arts funding in overall decline
The most recent national arts funding data shows total NT government arts spending dropped 14%, or $5.2 million, to $32.3 million in 2023–24. The biggest falls were in multi-arts festivals (down $6.9 million) and arts administration (down $4.7 million). This is the budget envelope that covers arts bodies, grants programs, and sector development work — and the trajectory is heading in the wrong direction.
1.5% efficiency dividend in 2026–27
The 2026–27 NT budget applied a 1.5% efficiency dividend across all government departments. This catches Arts NT and the Department of People, Sport and Culture in its sweep, squeezing arts and music administration budgets further. It compounds the cumulative funding pressure already building from the 2023–24 decline.
Weakening international tourism services outlook
The 2026–27 NT budget papers forecast that services trade, including international tourism, will weaken across the forward estimates. The driver is higher fuel prices resulting from global geopolitical instability raising the cost of air travel and reducing the volume of international visitors. For NT music festivals that depend on interstate and international audiences, this is a meaningful risk to attendance and economic impact over the next few years.
Budget dominated by law and order, no new music investment
The 2026–27 NT budget committed a record $1.73 billion to law and order and $250 million for a Corrections Infrastructure Masterplan. There were no new arts or music industry programs announced. Specific event funding callouts in the budget speech covered AFL ($9 million over three years) and international cricket ($2 million over two years) but there was no comparable announcement for music. The 2025–26 budget similarly offered no new music or live music initiatives.
Key Takeaways
The NT music sector gets some indirect benefit from the government’s events tourism focus, but that’s largely incidental. Dedicated arts and music funding has declined at the territory level and the structural tilt toward law and order and infrastructure spending means there is less room for the kind of sector-building investment the music industry actually needs. The 1.5% efficiency dividend adds further pressure on already-stretched arts administration. The federal Revive Live funding and Creative Australia grants are a partial bright spot, but do not make up for what has been lost or reduced at territory level.
For industry advocates, the positive signal is Tourism and Events NT’s explicit focus on the festival scene within the Visitor Economy Strategy 2032. The challenge is converting that strategic language into dedicated program funding that benefits music venues, artists, and industry infrastructure beyond the major headline events.
