The biggest Australian music industry news, delivered to you.
If you’re out of the loop of what’s been going on, we’ve put together a wrap-up of all the biggest music industry news stories from the past fortnight.
Catch up on all the latest features, columns and interviews here.
$1M to take Aussie music overseas
Music Australia is providing $1,010,688 to 65 artists, producers, composers and songwriters to take on the world through its Export Development Fund.
Ball Park Music hit their first European and UK tour in a decade, following their support tour with Oasis across Australia. Ocean Alley is doing their first headline tour of Latin America, marking their debut in the region behind their fifth album Love Balloon, which this week entered the ARIA charts at #3.
Screen Turkish Australian stage and screen composer Ayda Akbal undertakes an International Screen Music Mentorship in Los Angeles under Catherine Hoy, head of Joy Music House. ARIA-winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Georgia Mooney will travel to Brighton, UK, to record her second album with renowned producer Marcus Hamblett.
Indie-folk singer-songwriter Reuben De Melo will return to India for professional, artistic and market development across Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Goa.
Walmatjarri Elder, blues and gospel singer-songwriter, teacher, mentor, human rights advocate, and political activist, Olive Knight (Kankawa Nagarra) will embark on her debut European tour with Mississippi Records. Genre-bending Samuel Gaskin is in Aotearoa for a two-week songwriting residency and cultural exchange with Te Kura Huia and mentorship from Jen Cloher.
Festivals are selling out in record time
The summer festival season got off to a rollicking start with several events selling out fast. Laneway sold out Melbourne and Sydney within an hour. It’s the second time in a row for the festival and only the second in its history. Promoters said, “Each city sold out in under an hour — less time than Chappell Roan will spend commanding the stage with her 90-minute gothic fairytale spectacle.”
Beyond the Valley
It took an hour for Untitled Group’s Beyond The Valley in Victoria, which celebrates its 10th anniversary by returning to Barunah Plains, Wadawurrung Country from Dec 28 – Jan 1. Aside from a hotshot bill over the three stages and Dom Dolla bringing in 2026, there’s a new Lounge Room for podcasts, conversations and comedy.
There’s also the return and expansion of headline brand partners and key brand experiences: Red Bull Unforeseen, Smirnoff Schmall Klub, and Jack Daniel’s House Party. A new tourism impact report by IER in 24/25 found BTV injected $18.5 million into the Golden Plains economy.
Meredith Music Festival
As per usual, Meredith Music’s 13,000 tix also disappeared, or to use “Auntie Meredith”’s patois, “went off like a frog in a sock.” Auntie reminds us that the ticket waitlist is at mmf.com.au, that her Ticket Resale Service is the only authorised ticket resale facility, and that under the state’s Major Events Act 2009, it’s an offence to sell, advertise or offer to resell a ticket for over 10% above face value purchase price.
Lost Paradise
NYE’s Lost Paradise also reported that its 11th edition at Glenworth Valley/Darkinjung Country, New South Wales (Dec 28 to Jan 1), not only did it “sell out” but this was its fastest sell-out yet. Aside from 78 acts over 3 stages with headliners Ben Böhmer, Underworld, Confidence, there’s also the Shambhala Fields program of talks, workshops and wellness.
Gympie
All this feverish ticket activity comes on the heels of last month’s Gympie Muster in Queensland, which had 60,000 visitations across the festival and pre-Muster period. From Daryl Braithwaite to Troy Cassar-Daley, and James Johnston to Kasey Chambers, each night of the Muster, August 28-31, saw about 10,000 people pack the Optus Hill Stage. The Maton guitar auction for charity partner River’s Gift raised $17,000, and nearly $10,000 was raised via the Star Wall. Evanescence sold out their tour in two minutes, promoters Destroy All Lines and TEG Live said.
Coachella
From overseas, Coachella, which draws 125,000 for each of the six days, saw all tickets for both weekends vanish in five days. Among the Aussies playing there are Royel Otis, The Chats, Ecca Vandal and Ninajirachi.
Seed Fund back supporting managers
The Seed Fund has returned with its acclaimed management workshop for 35 managers and self-managed artists, injecting skills called “life-changing” by past alumni.
Applications close on Friday, October 31 and can be found here.
Starting in 2005, the Seed Fund was spearheaded by directors John Butler and Danielle Caruana and managing director Stacia Goninon.
Australia gets YouTube “Hype”
Australia is one of 39 new countries that now get YouTube’s ‘Hype’ promo tool. It allows viewers to promote videos from creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers by awarding points to help their videos land on leaderboards. Each user can hype up to three videos per week, with the system favouring smaller creators.
When tested in Turkey, Taiwan and Brazil in 2024, in the first four weeks, users generated over 5 million hypes across 50,000 channels. The company found that viewers aged 18 to 24 comprised over 30% of beta users.
Rockinghorse Studios for sale
Renowned Rockinghorse Studios in Byron, NSW, is up for sale. Sprawling across over 700m2 internal floor space and over 600m2 of external floor space, the property (36 Keys Road, Coorabell) features a 5-bedroom timber main house, a 3-bedroom cottage, outbuildings and large sheds. Included is a commercially approved state-of-the-art recording studio that has hosted to David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Delta Goodrem, Pete Murray, and Olivia Newton-John.
Americana fans are big spenders
Americana is a fast-growing genre in Australia, especially for Gen Z. New research from the Digital Media Association found that US fans spend twice as much ($837 versus $400) as the average music streamer on recorded and live music, as well as merchandise each year.
Americana music listeners spend 24% more time listening to music in an average week than other music fans (28.3 hours vs 22.8 hours). More of them stream (99% vs 94%) and 71% pay for an on-demand subscription — above the 44% national average.
Laneway Music waves John Meyer flag
Laneway Music is releasing the solo catalogue of the late Australian guitar hero John Meyer (not to be mistaken with American musician John Mayer). Meyer played a significant role, first in Perth with Fatty Lumpkin, Everest, Trilogy and Saracen. After moving to Sydney, he plugged in with Sharon O’Neill, Swanee, Rose Tattoo and Matt Taylor’s Chain.
After that, he recorded six solo albums, to be reissued over the next six months. There are another six albums, “covering his early years plus a host of live material and live videos,” said Laneway Music.
South Australia inducts jazz legends
The South Australian Music Hall of Fame inducted two major contributors to jazz at a civic reception at Adelaide Town Hall. The late Kym Bonython was a musician, broadcaster and concert promoter who brought legends as Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, The Glenn Miller Band, Herbie Mann and Dave Brubeck to SA. Kym Purling, a graduate of the Elder Conservatorium with a Bachelor of Music and Jazz Studies, performed in the ‘90s with his trio, lived in Las Vegas for a time before returning to SA in 2020 and is in demand as a performer and musical director.
New President for CBF
One time Attorney-General Prof. Michael Lavarch is the new President of the Community Broadcasting Foundation (CBF), which distributes $20 million per year from the Federal Government to 450+ community services. Since leaving politics, he has had leadership roles in the legal, education, finance, energy and not-for-profit sectors.
Music Victoria appoints James Kenyon
Music Victoria welcomed James Kenyon as Deputy Chairman. Aside from being a folk singer-songwriter, he’s also a well-connected policy advisor and strategist. He has worked at senior levels in Federal and Victorian politics, including as senior advisor to the Minister for Creative Industries, where he championed investment in Vic’s cultural sector.
VMDO’s new way to discover music
The Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) has launched a new platform in partnership with music supervision and production company Level Two Music. The Victorian Music Finder is built for government agencies, advertising firms, production companies, and other creatives to find music for their projects and connect directly to copyright owners via Level Two Music’s licensing services. It is powered by Melbourne-based DISCO, a cloud-based music catalogue platform that stocks over 140 million tracks.
Sync tie-ups are worth $64 million per year to the Australian music industry and can generate millions of dollars for artists. Genesis Owusu’s “Get Inspired” is a big streamer for him post the KFC ad, initially generating 5 million streams from its 2022 release.
Qantas using “I Still Call Australia Home” for all those years helped Peter Allen’s estate grow to an estimated $10 million, according to ad agency sources. The current Mitsubishi ad using AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock And Roll)” with a schoolyard pun on the title, apparently, has stirred up sales of sausage rolls.
Industry nominations for the ARIAs
There are three industry categories among a total of 29 for the ARIA awards, held at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday, November 19.
Producer – Best Produced Release
Alex Burnett for Thelma Plum – I’m Sorry, Now Say It Back
Dom Dolla for Dom Dolla – DREAMIN’
Kevin Parker for Tame Impala – End Of Summer
Nina Wilson p/k/a Ninajirachi for Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
RÜFÜS DU SOL for RÜFÜS DU SOL – Inhale / Exhale
Engineer – Best Engineered Release
Alice Ivy for Alice Ivy – Do What Makes You Happy
Dom Dolla for Dom Dolla – DREAMIN’
Eric J Dubowsky for Emma Louise & Flume – DUMB
Kevin Parker for Tame Impala – End Of Summer
Thomas Purcell p/k/a Wave Racer for Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
Best Cover Art
Giulia McGauran for The Cat Empire – Bird In Paradise
John Stewart for Amyl and The Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness
Kira Puru, Em Jensen for Thelma Plum – I’m Sorry, Now Say It Back
Nina Wilson, John You, Aria Zarzycki for Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
Sarah McCloskey for Hilltop Hoods – Fall From The Light
Radio awards axed for good
The Australian Commercial Radio Awards are to be axed, due to cost concerns. “Our focus on long-term sustainability across the industry is our number one priority, Commercial Radio Audio CEO Lizzie Young said.
Hard-Ons back at school
Just before their October tour starts this week, the Hard-Ons returned to Punchbowl High in Western Sydney to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Ray Ahn and Peter Black were belatedly presented with student award flags (both graduated in 1982) by principal Robert Patruno and individual Mayoral Certificates of Recognition from Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El Hayek.
They were praised as “a true trailblazer whose music, spirit and fearless authenticity gave voice to a generation and pride to our community. Your journey from Sydney’s western suburbs to punk rock legend has inspired countless others.”
On Facebook, Ahn wrote: “For the first time in my life, perhaps, I was overwhelmed by the love of my own community, the respect from my own kind. I will never take that for granted. Punchbowl lives!”
Leopold and Rattlesnake closes the cage
A piece of Australian rock history is about to disappear, with The Leopold Hotel in Bicton, Perth, set to close at the end of October. The Lepold and the Raffles were the places where Bon Scott was meeting on his motorcycle rides down Canning Highway (aka Highway To Hell), which he sang about on “Highway To Hell”. Meanwhile, after 15 years, Rattlesnake nightclub in Coolangatta, Gold Coast, closed. Known for its safety, it was voted the best nightclub on the Gold Coast in 2018.
Charlie Chan plays the (F)un House
Australian pianist Charlie Chan struck a chord among the world’s leaders when she played at the United Nations in New York.
She premiered a commissioned work at the Welcome Dinner in the UN General Assembly Building, the night before the General Debate. Chan opened the event with an original 80-bar overture -one bar for every year since the United Nations was first established in 1945.
“I named the piece General Harmony, to reflect both the setting – the General Assembly – and the aspiration: harmony not just in music, but between nations,” she said. “I wanted every bar to carry a sense of history, resilience and possibility, to remind us that progress, like music, comes from listening as much as leading.” Chan joined Grammy-winner Andra Day for a stirring performance of her anthem “Rise Up”, accompanied by members of Rockin’ 1000, the world’s largest rock band.
In a rousing finale, they were joined by Destiny’s Child alum Michelle Williams for a soul-stirring rendition of The Beatles’ Hey Jude that had the entire room singing along. Everything ended on a high… the next day, President Trump arrived, and the escalator blew up.
Guitarist in court
Jesse Horvath, 34, one-time guitarist with the now-defunct Victorian metal band Eyes Wide Open, pleaded guilty in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court to making threats to kill. The tirade on January 3 this year was over the victim’s relationship with a woman. Horvath was also charged with driving while suspended and failing to answer bail. The court was told the guitarist was remorseful about his threats, had mental issues and recently had his car and guitar stolen. He escaped a conviction and was sentenced to a six-month good behaviour bond.
Dinosaur signs to New World
New World Artists signed Maple’s Pet Dinosaur for live representation across Australia and NZ. The 14-year-old from Newcastle and her band released the debut single “Lego” in August.
Lego’s video was created on a neighbour’s Ring doorbell camera and became a viral sensation, notching over 50 million Instagram views, over 2.2 million TikTok views and more than 40K Spotify streams with fan interest from Europe, the US, Brazil and Greece.
Mashd N Kutcher video hits 2B in a fortnight
When EDM act Mashd N Kutcher released a hot version of Loleatta Holloway’s “Make Me Feel”, they did a tongue-in-cheek video just for their socials. They included footage of Gen Z dance hero Renata Bliss. Before you knew it, it’d become a viral hit and picked up 1 billion views in three weeks.
Pieater links with Community Music
Melbourne label Pieater (Big Scary, #1 Dads, No Mono, Airling) has joined artist-first Community Music for A&R and Catalogue partnership. In a Community Music first, Pieater co-founder Tom Fraser will help the team drive artist and independent label collaboration across the network. He will also continue to guide Pieater’s own roster while contributing to the broader artist and label development strategy within the Community Music ecosystem.
Francesca Caldara, Vice President of Community Music, said: “Pieater has been quietly shaping indie music culture for years, not just through their artists, but through the way they operate: with care, purpose and a real sense of community.
“We’ve long admired their approach, and this partnership is a natural evolution of that shared philosophy. We’re proud to support them in this next chapter and excited by the impact we can make together.”
Vale those we lost in the last month
Chris Doheny was best known for fronting ‘80s band Geisha, and writing hits such as “Kabuki”, “Fools Way” and “Rainy Day”, and later playing in bands Dragonfly and All The Young Dudes. He also produced young acts, wrote for James Blundell and Lee Kernaghan, but is best known for writing and recording the Channel 9 AFL Footy Show theme “More Than A Game”.
Another well-known song was the ballad “In My Life”, recorded by Daryl Braithwaite as part of his comeback after being picked by John Farnham and a Hollywood movie.
Former EMI executive Michael Matthews, who signed Geisha to the label, said, “Chris had a great voice and had a natural skill for writing great pop songs and arranging them. “His father was a musician and left him all these instruments, which he could
instinctively play.” Doheny, 64, was killed in a tragic crash at Kapunda in South Australia, where he lived in the Mid North.
Mike Sutherland was the founding drummer of indie-funk outfit Skunkhour in 1991, after first emerging in the late ‘80s post-punk band Jawbone Green. Skunkhour posted: “He was a highly creative drummer, whose contributions to Skunkhour’s writing and recordings cannot go unrecognised. “He had a wicked sense of humour and a very sharp intellect.” Sutherland played rugby with Mosman and Norths, and embarked on a law course at Sydney University.
Graham Matters sang with Geelong band Redhouse, best known for the single “I Like Dancing” (1976) through EMI. His acting also saw him in The Rocky Horror Show and TV series, such as Cop Shop and Skyways.
Phil Deamer was a music executive known for Tim (1979), Let the Balloon Go (1976) and Gimme Ted: The Ted Mulry Benefit Concerts (2001).
Norbert Probst was a sound engineer both in Australia and the UK, and was also the events coordinator at Melbourne Congress Centre. He drew on his studies of art and design at the Caulfield School of Technology, and later created paintings of sports cars, became knowledgeable in car engineering, fixed computer issues for road crews for free, and, after retiring, designed cars on computers and explored creative projects with 3D modelling.
Cairns-based Tom Jones was known as DJ Wasabi and the organiser of psytrance festival Orin Aya. He was a member of Combat Wombat and Bad Boys Batucada and devoted to community work. A GoFundMe page to support his family raised more than 30,000 in 48 hours.
Guitarist Greg Webster emerged in Adelaide in the 1970s (first Gold, which changed to Riff Raff), and was best known for his time with The Aliens, a Melbourne new wave outfit signed to Mushroom Records, and whose stage costume was all-black with thin white ties. Noel “The Tooth” Jefferson was an eminent road crew member who worked with Johnny O’Keefe, Wendy Saddington, Jeff St. John and The Go-Betweens, among many others.
