ARIA welcomes Michael’s Rule

In memory of Michael McMartin OAM, called on Australian concert promoters to observe the following:

1. Every International artist must include an Australian artist among their opening acts
2. The Australian artist must appear on the same stage at the International artist using reasonable sound and lighting
3. The Australian artist must be announced at the same time as the tour so that they benefit from all the marketing and promotion 

ARIA and PPCA CEO, Annabelle Herd, said: “Tours play massive roles in discovery and provide important support slots for Aussie artists to connect with new fans. Taylor Swift, the 1975, Harry Styles and Ed Sheehan all rocketed up the charts with multiple albums the weeks they were in the country recently. 

“At the local level, these tours provide huge opportunities for Australian artist via support slots, which can connect our artists with whole new fan bases. Doing whatever we can to get our local artists in front of new audiences is the most important issue facing our local industry, and as such the Michael’s Rule is a fantastic initiative, which we are confident can be implemented in a way that doesn’t impact the viability of international touring. 

“Other initiatives, including looking to broaden venues like sports stadiums to multi-use facilities in NSW is a really important step to increase the availability of entertainment for everyone outside of sport, and continue to increase opportunities to see local artists alongside global icons.”