EXCLUSIVE: ARIA & PPCA COO Lynne Small Announces Her Exit: ‘There’s No Neat Time To Go’

After 28 years with both the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and Phonographic Performance Company Of Australia (PPCA), Chief Operating Officer (COO) Lynne Small has announced she will be exiting from her role at both organisations on April 30th.

Having served as an integral part of the organisations ever since she first joined the team back in 1996, Small has since become regarded as one of the most knowledgeable, respected, and beloved figures in the local music industry. 

With her financial prowess, strategic mind, and resolute dedication to the advancement of the Australian music industry, she's become not just an influential figure within ARIA and PPCA, but the wider musical landscape as well.

For Small, her journey into the world of music was a somewhat unexpected one. Coming back from some overseas travel in the late ‘80s, a desire to work in an organisation that would allow for long service leave and further travel saw Small soon land a job at Coca-Cola. Unsatisfied with her latest role, she soon began looking elsewhere once more in 1989.

“I went to an agency and said, ‘What have you got?’ And they sent me to Festival Records,” Small recalls. “To be honest, I'd never considered it, but it was fantastic to be looking at an opportunity for something that was so interesting.”

Her role as Group Finance Manager at Festival Records lasted for seven years, and after witnessing plenty of growth and expansion at the company, Small figured it was time for a change. 

“I was just ready for something different,” she explains. “An opportunity had come up at PPCA and ARIA, and I knew some of the people who were working here, who had been at Festival, so I came to have a chat with the then CEO.”

As Small admits, she was well aware of ARIA and was excited about the ability to "look at the industry from another perspective," but had almost no knowledge of PPCA, which still remains something of a quiet achiever in the grand scheme of the Australian music industry. Even now, 28 years on, the understated nature of PPCA (and the small scale of ARIA) continues.

“With ARIA, we often say it's all done with mirrors,” says Small. “People have a completely disproportionate view of how big it is, and how many people they think work here. 

“They see the very shiny ARIA Awards and how it's a big scale event, they see charts every week, and they just imagine we are much bigger than we are. It's a very small team.”

Though Small leaves ARIA and PPCA as their COO, it was – like all good careers – a gradual progression to where she finds herself today.

“I came here as an accountant, and I did that for around 11 months, and then I became the Finance Administration Manager,” Small recounts. “So I still had a responsibility for finance, and then a few years later, there was another sort of restructure and the general manager was leaving, so there was a sort of a reallocation of responsibilities. 

“I think it was around 2011, I became General Manager for ARIA and PPCA, and then in 2021 I became the COO.”

While the likes of COO can be considered a lofty title to most, and sharing that title across two organisations might even feel a little intimidating to some, Small notes that her day-to-day workload has been both a manageable and enjoyable one due to the diversity of what the role required.

“To be honest, the difference between those two roles is negligible; still doing all the same things,” she says. “I think because we are a small organisation, it's been so interesting because you are doing so many different things. 

“On the ARIA side, I'm involved with the Awards, the charts, the membership queries, the various things that ARIA is doing from time to time in terms of projects, and liaising with our international counterparts at IFPI and other national groups,“ she adds. “And, of course on the PPCA side, there's distribution and for a long time, quite a big licensing team before OneMusic came into existence.”

During her time at ARIA and PPCA, the Australian music industry has experienced so much widespread growth. It’s evolved alongside internet distribution, it’s seen the rise of streaming, and it’s seen numerous local artists top the charts both at home and abroad. One could assume then it might be difficult for Small to name a career highlight, but ultimately, PPCA’s massive growth comes to mind immediately.

“I think the thing that I'm probably proudest of is the growth at PPCA,” she says. “The first distribution I did here, in 1996, we paid out $2.5 million and then by 2019, I think it was $50 million. So there's a awful lot of hard work gone into lifting the revenues and staying in control of the costs to be able to give out as much as possible. to licensors, labels, and artists. 

“It's been a bit of a grind to be honest,” she adds. “There’s been lots of tribunal cases to try and set rates, and difficult negotiations. So to see that evolution is really satisfying.”

Even now, as the Australian music industry continues to grow, and occasionally finds itself in crisis with fears of a lack of support rising to the top, Small says it’s the celebration of local music which makes her proud of what ARIA and PPCA do.

“I think there's no limit to the excitement about what the artists are doing, the challenge is making sure it's recognised,” she explains. “That's been one of the exciting things at ARIA. We're trying to do what we can to promote and make people aware of the terrific music that's being made.

“I think that's an ongoing challenge for ARIA of the industry,” she adds. “There’s no dearth of talent, it's just making sure that it can connect with audiences and people are aware of it.”

After 28 years at the company, the question does now arise as to why Small is exiting ARIA and PPCA, but the answer is rather simple when she admits it’s “just the right time” to do so. However, she is quick to point out that she’s not leaving to go and take on another job, but rather choosing to step away from full-time work.

Though she’ll officially step down from her role from April 30th, she still has quite a bit of work that will continue past that date, remaining engaged on a part-time consultancy basis to support key PPCA projects and assist with ARIA’s transition. 

“We've got a couple of tribunal matters on foot, one which isn't scheduled to end until mid-October,” she notes. “We've got a systems project we're running and I've sort of committed to assisting to make sure those end successfully. I'll still be involved in helping the transition, so not completely out of here until later in the year.

“Some of the PPCA projects in particular take a very long time – some of these tribunal matters can take five or six years,” she adds. “You sort of realise eventually that there's no neat time to go because you get one done and then you're in the middle of something else. 

“So it sort of seemed like if I didn't decide when to draw a line, given the trailing work, that it could go on forever.”

As Small does exit from ARIA and PPCA, it’s clear that her presence and impact within the organisations will be greatly missed. 

In a statement issued alongside news of her exit, ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd summarised Small’s legacy as “immeasurable.”

“She’s been more than a leader, she’s been the heartbeat of ARIA and PPCA, a trusted advisor, and a guiding force through decades of change,” Herd said. “Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the industry, coupled with her warmth, integrity, and sharp wit, will leave an incredible legacy and undeniably positive impact on all of Australian music.

“While this is a significant change for ARIA and PPCA, we are fortunate to have Lynne’s continued support during the transition, and we will forever be grateful for her immense contribution.”

Indeed, ARIA and PPCA will undergo a bit of a change in the immediate future. While there is the news that Julia Robinson will be promoted to Head of Government Relations and Programs, and Rohini Sivakumar will be promoted to General Counsel & Company Secretary effective May 1st, the organisations have now begun a search for a new Head Of Finance ahead of Small’s exit.

Ultimately though, while the work has been immensely rewarding over these past decades, it’s the professional relationships that Small has curated over the years that make her exit so difficult.

“That's the hardest thing about leaving,” she admits. “There’s so many really smart and lovely people.”

ARIA and PPCA’s job listing for the new Head Of Finance is available now on Seek.