My wife and I headed to the Sunshine Coast for the June long weekend. The communities of Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Caloundra were roughly as I remember them – good quality restaurants, accommodation, gardens, marine infrastructure, paths, walking trails and signage. A very desirable place.
But where was the music? Where were the funky pubs? About the only funkiness came when ordering a XXXX beer at the Mooloolaba Pub. Something was at my elbow – I turned to see a very tall, young, near naked lady giving me a dazzling smile. After I recovered from the shock, I realised she was a drinks waitress. The pokie parlour next door was pretty quiet, so the publican was presumably looking for an alternative way of attracting patrons.
The interesting thing is that the Sunshine Coast’s pubs and clubs used to be its tourism magnets. They built their revenues around music and people having a good time. Admittedly there is now the first-class Woodford Folk festival (December), the Caloundra Music festival (October) and the Gympie Music Muster (August). But it’s the in-between times that’s arguably the issue. I’ve since been informed of the Maroochydore precinct and Ocean Street having a growing music vibe courtesy of the Sol Bar and the Piano Bar. The locals would know about this, but it was off our radar.
But I’m not singling out the Sunshine Coast – most places are having to overcome the dampening effects of tight liquor laws, noise controls and the bloody pokies.
City of Sydney
On return to work I raised the matter with John Wardle at the Live Music Office (established by the Federal Government in 2013, and partnering with the Australia Council and APRA AMCOS) in Sydney. He understood my point, and he is actively trying to address the situation. He said that things are beginning to move in NSW with the Cities of Sydney, Wollongong and Leichhardt/Marrickville variously engaged in getting live music moving again, as well as the Cities of Adelaide, Melbourne and Yarra Council developing live music strategies. Brisbane’s Lord Mayor also says its live music scene is beginning to rock, or words to that effect.
City of Sydney Mayor Clover Moore was pushing a Small Bars Bill back in 2007 to liven up otherwise dull city streets, add some sophistication and create venues for live music. She won through, and the City of Sydney now has a Live Music and Performance Action Plan (2013). This is a very good document. It observes that Australia has an international reputation for live performers and bands that developed as a result of the venues where artists could perform and hone their skills in front of live audiences. The Action Plan refers to Paul Kelly asserting the importance of venues like the Tote Hotel in Melbourne:
“You don’t learn how to write a song in school. You can’t do a TAFE course on how to play in front of an audience. These places were my universities… Some of these places are gone, but their legacy lives on in the venues under threat today.”
Adelaide’s Music Cluster
Things got even more interesting when material arrived about Adelaide’s Music Cluster. It aims to link the creative and cultural side of music with high-tech companies to drive innovation and attract national acts to record in Adelaide.
The idea came from Martin Elbourne’s ‘Thinker in Residence’ report on live music (2013). Martin was the founder of the Glastonbury Festival and WOMAD, and he’s been inspired by Adelaide’s sister-city Austin (Texas) and its South by South West music festival linking music, film and interactive media with the start-ups and entrepreneurs that power those industries.
The Adelaide folk were asked to ‘imagine people coming from around the world to experience the best audio equipment in the midst of cultural and technological creativity’.
Premier Weatherill was impressed, because he’s signed off on around $700,000 for the Music Cluster to advance Elbourne’s vision – to generate benefits from like-minded businesses working closely with each other and educational institutions to create economies of scale and to foster innovation. Early thinking is that the cluster will focus on audio-visual technologies, musicians and event management, with links to the film industry and composers.
Federal aspects
The federal government won’t be facilitating any clusters, because the May Budget killed off its Precincts Program (its anodyne terminology).
But the Industry Department has one valuable piece left on the chessboard – the $484 million Entrepreneurs’ Infrastructure Program. It’s there to improve the business capability of small and medium enterprises. However its current discussion paper talks about the focus being on the usual suspects – Food and Agribusiness; Advanced Manufacturing; Medical Technology & Pharmaceuticals; Mining Equipment Technology & Services; Oil & Gas.
The last two sectors don’t jump out as hot beds of entrepreneurial spirit. Hopefully this new program could apply to budding entrepreneurs in the live music and affiliated industries such as audio-visual technologies, film and TV, event management and tourism.
In conclusion, other regions might usefully track the Adelaide Music Cluster – it’s not a zero sum game, because everyone benefits. Contact us if you’re thinking along similar lines.
