Having Australian media support Australian content seems like a no-brainer, but it’s not always the case in today’s cultural landscape. Last year, commercial radio came under fire from legendary Aussie promotoer Michael Chugg, who claimed “mainstream radio will not fucking play Australian music until they have to. It’s awful.”
Chugg criticised mainstream radio for fulfilling their quota of Australian content only by playing “greatest hits shit… between midnight and 6am,” adding: “With mainstream radio, it would be good to see out of the 60 to 70 records they play, 25 per cent of that be current Australian content.”
Now it seems a Sydney based musician shares Chugg’s views, starting up a new online petition urging for a minimum quota of 25% Australian content not just on radio, but across all Australian media, calling for Government legislation to enforce the new regulation.
The new petition, title ‘More Aussie Music’ was started by Sydney based composer, producer, and musician John Prior, and is calling for 5,000 signatures on a petition addressed to political figures urging for a 25% minimum quota in the Australian media, as well as “appropriate penalties for non-compliance” and a prospective increase to 35% by 2016.
The petition states that “currently, many radio and television stations in Australia play less than 10% local music, while the internet is completely unregulated.” It also points out that Australia already has local content quotas “to protect local producers in television, mining, agriculture and other industries, why not music?”
The petition argues that the benefit of a 25% quota would help revive the local recording and live music industries, help create stable employment for local musicians, generate a booming export market, keep royaltie rates in Australia, increase music tourism, all helping contribute millions – maybe even billions to local industry and economy. The petition reads:
To revive the Australian music industry, the Australian Government should immediately introduce legislation requiring 25% minimum Australian music content, composed and performed by Australians, in all genres, in all Australian media, including radio, television, internet and live shows.
More Australian music in the Australian media is also vital to “developing and reflecting a sense of Australian identity, character and cultural diversity,” as outlined in the Federal Government Broadcast Act.”
The petition itself is addressed to Greens Leader Christine Milne (who has previously called for Government support for Australian artists), the newly instated Minister For The Arts, Tony Burke, and the Shadow Arts Minister George Brandis (who critiqued the delay of the recently introduced National Cultural Policy), Chris Chapman, the CEO of Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Senator Conroy who is no doubt used to petitions from musical figures following the ‘call to action’ by as many as 37 other community radio stations after the Communications Minister failed to deliver funding to their digital radio sector after serious budget cuts.
Community Radio is already a serious supporter of local content, well in excess of 25% without regulation, with Industry statesman and chairman of Mushroom Michael Gudinski praising community stations – like RRR, PBS, and FBi – as “the lifeblood of so many new local artists.”
Commercial Radio, by contrast, is less supportive – as Chugg decried last November – despite the 25% regulation already enforced by the Commercial Radio Association, laid down as part of the Broadcasting Services Act in 1992; and last year the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced that the code would exempt digital commercial radio stations from local music quotas for three years. But a 25% regulation of Australian content – such as enforcing Australian support acts – may harm the significant contribution that international touring has to the music industry.
But its not just broadcast media that the petition is calling for to implement, but a 25% regulation across all media, “including but not limited to terrestrial and digital radio, television, films, advertising, commercial websites, live shows, music reviews, music editorials, music interviews (which includes music websites like Tone Deaf) featured music, piped music, music on hold.”
But a 25% regulation of Australian content – such as enforcing Australian support acts – may harm the significant contribution that international touring has to the music industry.
As Music Victoria pointed out in their latest reports, demonstrating that live music contributed $1.04 billion annually to the state economy – making live music bigger than the AFL – is that large-scale tours and concerts from international acts generate more than local gigs and shows. With more than 14.4 million recorded punters heading to around 62,000 popular music gigs held annually, the $1.04 billion in patronage isn’t solely coming from ‘domestic produce’.
The fact of the matter is that local industry isn’t just about Australian artists. In many ways, the industry is reliant on the influx of international artists to remain commercially viable. While its of course important to give Aussie bands a leg up where possible, it’s equally important to give them an industry to leg up to. Record sales and tours from international acts help funnel more money into the local industry, supporting thousands of jobs across the country.
Consider a national broadcaster like Triple J, a huge supporter of Australian music, but also heavily promote emerging independent international artists. Would demand for the likes of Alt-J and Of Monsters And Men been as great if it hadn’t been for Triple J’s airplay? Winding up selling out national tours and playing as part of Laneway Festival? The huge figures from both helps pour money into the industry even if its not strictly homegrown content.
The petition also calls for “live shows” to undergo a similar 25% quota. Does this mean that a quarter of all shows and concerts should be from Australian bands? or simply feature Australian artists in the lineup, as a support act?
In addition, as covered in Tone Deaf’s opinion piece on Australian Festivals supporting Australian bands (*cough* Soundwave *cough), in 2010, Midnight Oil frontman-turned-Federal Minister Peter Garrett tried a similar proposal as part of the Labor Party’s pre-election strategy, called ‘Entertainment Visas’, where foreign music acts would be legally obliged to have local support bands .
But the scheme never got out of the ground, with most in the industry agreeing it was more of a burden than a benefit, and would only provide limited opportunities for local acts to begin with.
A 25% quota across the rest of the media industry could also be a problematic burden, not least in monitoring that the quota is upheld. Something that’s easier to do with broadcast media such as media and television, in fact the quotas already in place are there because there’s a limited amount of content that can be aired in a 24 hour period, so it’s only fair that a share of that is Australian.
Outside of broadcast media however, there is no such limit. A music website can write as much or as little content as it likes. As an example, Tone Deaf confidently exceeds a 25% benchmark in Australian coverage, but if it were enforced, it arbitrarily limits what content is provided in that other 75%, and again there arises the issue of measurement – how and by who?
At the time of publication, the Change.org ‘More Aussie Music’ petition has more than 2,000 signatures. You can view the petition here.
