With news that Splendour in the Grass has cancelled the 2024 festival, Music Australia has responded, stating it’s devastating and that the impact will be felt acutely across the wider ecology.
“Our thoughts go out to the Australian promoters, artists, managers and crew immediately affected,” said Millie Millgate, Director of Music Australia.
The current operating environment is highly complex with several issues, from rapidly increasing costs to changing audience habits – simultaneously impacting the health and sustainability of the global festival landscape.
The cancellation of music festivals is one of several factors which are disrupting the discovery of Australian music and artists.
On Tuesday 9 April 2024, Creative Australia will publish its research report Soundcheck: Insights into Australia’s music festival sector. This is the first of its kind and looks at the social, cultural, and economic impacts of music festivals and the logistics of organising them.
Soundcheck will provide a useful tool for festival organisers and help to build a better understanding of the role of festivals within the broader sector and creative industries.
“Soundcheck shows the size of the music festival scene in Australia and finds that some continue to perform well,” said Ms Millgate. “While it provides important insights into the challenges affecting the sustainability of festivals, further research is needed to understand the complex issues at play.
“These challenges are not unique to Australia. Other countries like the UK are also experiencing changes in ticket buying behaviour in addition to increasing production costs. We will be engaging with the industry and our state and territory government colleagues.”
“We will undertake further research to build a more complete understanding of the ecosystem that underpins live music including festivals, discovery, consumption, and audience engagement, so that we can look to the future with confidence,” said Ms Millgate.
Music Australia has been established under the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy Revive, a dedicated new body within Creative Australia to support and invest in the Australian contemporary music industry.
Soundcheck: Insights into Australia’s music festival sector will take place online on Tuesday 9 April 2024 (2.00 – 2:45pm AEST). For more information, REGISTER HERE!