Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) welcomes the new National Cultural Policy announced today by the Hon. Tony Burke MP and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and Arts.
ARIA CEO, Annabelle Herd, said: “It is fantastic to see contemporary music front and centre of the new National Cultural Policy, represented through a range of commitments, including the new Music Australia to focus on growing export and audience development for our talented artists. The strategic focus, backed by new investment into the Australian contemporary music industry and a whole-of-government approach, is a fantastic first step to realise music’s true potential as a social and economic contributor.
“Contemporary music does so much for Australia. It tells our stories here and overseas. It drives employment, tourism, and expenditure across retail and hospitality. It brings joy, it brings comfort, it makes us feel alive and it makes us proud to be Australian. Music should be at the forefront of government cultural and economic policy. It deserves a proper strategic focus and investment in audience development and export. Today’s National Cultural policy is an excellent indication that the government agrees and is committed to growing our music industry, as well as helping secure the global audiences for our artists that they are so ready for.
“Australia is in a prime position to be a global music powerhouse once again. We have the talent and we have a strong industry, the biggest challenge we face now is cutting through and finding an audience for new Australian music when 100,000 new songs are uploaded to streaming services every day, while listening to older ‘catalogue’ music remains so popular.
“It is true that Australian music is facing a crisis in streaming and that it is harder than ever for Australian musicians to have a charting hit in Australia. We thank the government for acknowledging the need for greater support of Australian commercial music as a business that is facing key issues surrounding discoverability and export. It is our hope that the introduction of Music Australia will make important strides toward providing solutions to these issues, including a reassessment of commercial radio quotas and streaming policy.
“We also thank the government for their acknowledgement of the need for cultural and behavioural change in Australian music with the Centre for Arts Workplaces as well as a commitment to funding for Support Act; and their promotion of diversity in the arts with First Nations programming and funding initiatives.
“ARIA looks forward to working closely with the government to maximise the potential of the enormous opportunity laid out by the National Cultural Policy – with particular focus on governance, ongoing funding and industry collaboration – to bring Australia in line with other markets who enjoy rising profit shares, like South Korea and the UK.
“There is a lot of work to do and the detail behind today’s announcement will be crucial to our success, but this truly is a great start. We thank the Prime Minister, the Attorney General, Arts Minister Tony Burke, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Special Envoy for the Arts Susan Templeman for their passion and dedication to our industry.”
Yesterday, ARIA and PPCA also welcomed the announcement of the Centre for Arts Workplaces in a statement that may be found on the ARIA website.
