BIGSOUND returns to Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley next month, hosting the most impressive emerging and established acts at its music festival—this year titled the BIGSOUND 100—and music industry figures and performers locked in as Speakers for its Conference.
It’s the Australian music industry’s biggest week of the calendar year, and, as ever, there’s plenty to see and do. From showcases to parties to conferences and more, BIGSOUND’s music festival is renowned for its programming, drawing everyday punters and industry figures alike.
Ahead of this year’s BIGSOUND music festival, returning to stages across the Valley from 1-4 September, The Music has caught up with some of the must-see artists performing next month and asked them: What are the biggest challenges artists are dealing with this year?
From needing to work full-time jobs to afford to make music, juggling content creation with creativity, touring, and more, emerging artists have opened up about the struggles ahead of this year’s BIGSOUND.
BIGSOUND: The Biggest Challenges Facing Artists In 2026
AKOSIA
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We need more support. It would be really cute if we had a liveable wage—we’d like to eat and pay our bills without stress; that would be nice. It would be really nice to have protections and regulations to make sure that music that is made with AI has a label, so people can at least make a choice if they want to consume that type of music or not.
I also believe that if people are going to use AI to make music, they should pay the artists the AI has used to make music from. We have spent decades honing in on our craft, we have gone through so many experiences to write the songs that we’ve written, all for what? Someone to type in random? I think music with AI is theft, so if it’s going to happen, we need to get paid, because I didn’t cry and write these songs for free. I’m getting paid!
Any Young Mechanic
Thea: The biggest challenge facing Australian artists is the ongoing cultural devaluing of arts by our leadership; everything from inequitable access to arts education for young people and the accursed Job Ready University scheme through to lack of regulated pay/financial support for artists to live, let alone practice their art-form and the past and ongoing erasure of First Nations culture, identities and language.
DAILY J
For us, I would say balancing full-time jobs and our project. Even just rehearsing after a full day of work can be quite tiring. We’re pretty much working every day, after work and on the weekends, so it’s pretty exhausting. Also, there’s such a big demand these days for socials and press and marketing; it takes a bit of time out of your day. It’s always worth it, but it’s a bit of a test on your brain.
Money is always a challenge; trying to afford to make music isn’t cheap, touring is not cheap, you just always hope it works out in the end, but it’s a pretty big slog. You’re really backing yourself to try and make it work.
Jimi The Kween
Getting on stage!!! The live music industry is struggling now more than ever. With so few major, multi-stage festivals now, it is so hard to get your music to new ears and to perform for crowds that may now know who you are.
Streaming services are so conditioned and edited that it can be hard for people to find your music, especially if you are up and coming. If we had more funding to create live shows and to put on more events where the ticket price is accessible, music fans would actually be able to discover their new favourite acts. Nothing beats discovering an artist at a festival and connecting with them.
KIZ
Keeping up with the constant grind culture of all this. Always feeling like you gotta be onto the next move as soon as you’ve made the other one, it’s a constant culture of content and push; trying to keep up with the algorithms. Sometimes, you’re so far away from the art you’re actually making, and you’re trying to think of how you can push it out.
It can really take you away from why we do it and the love for it. That’s the biggest challenge I face—trying to stay grounded and create art in this environment and this world that’s just demanding so much from us, constantly.
Mertas
As a band from remote Northern Territory, we find one of the biggest challenges as an artist is the inflation of travel costs; it's thousands for us to get out of Arnhem Land.
We've just given up on the idea of breaking even from our shows; we are running a pay-to-play situation, and it’s okay because this is what we love most. But I think it would make things nearly impossible for touring artists to make money, and we think that's unfair. Support the bands; you love people. The money is tight; buy their merch!!!
BIRDLAND
One of the big ones, especially for WA artists, is touring—especially shows in the Eastern states. It’s a big expense. The lack of all-ages music venues in all of Australia is a big challenge, especially for younger artists and emerging acts. Also, AI sucks.
LARA BUCHANAN
I think the biggest struggle artists are facing at the moment is access to funding amidst the cost of living crisis. Things like touring, recording music and everything to do with it is so expensive, and a lot of people often have to give up their dreams and passions because they can’t afford it. Access to funding is something I’d really like to see artists have in the future. Cost of living crisis—big impact on artists.
SALTY
There’s a lot going on; there’s a lot of challenges. Something I’ve dealt with over the last few years is having to wear all the hats: having to learn all the back end, BTS things, and it’s definitely taken me away from what’s most important, which is creative. We burn out, and then what happens?
CATPISS
Money is the biggest challenge; it’s kind of hard to generate when you’re starting off as a band, especially due to streaming not paying as much. You need it for everything as an artist: for recording, merch, flying, touring, and it’s hard to know where to put it all and you’re usually using it out of your own pocket.
Blue Diner
Honestly, just trying to find the time to write songs together amongst all the background work required to be in a band is probably our biggest challenge.
SIDNEY PHILLIPS
One of the biggest struggles facing artists in 2026 is having to make a bit of a fool of yourself, but you gotta get past it.
JJ Vacant
In 2026, keeping up with social media is one of the hardest parts of being a music artist. Trends are always changing, and if you don’t keep posting or jump on what’s popular, it’s easy to get left behind. A lot of artists end up spending more time trying to stay relevant online than actually making music.
Tall poppy syndrome also makes it harder, especially in Australia. When someone starts doing well, people are quick to bring them down instead of supporting them. The hate, jealousy, and negative comments can make it harder for artists to stay motivated and keep chasing their goals.
GLOAM
The biggest challenge we’ve found to being an emerging artist is the cost of living. Being a band from Perth, there’s such a large financial, and physical barrier to being able to play shows for new crowds, gain new fans and build new connections with other like-minded creatives in Australia.
This has all been significantly exaggerated by the steep increase in the cost of everything. I think this highlights the importance of supporting bands that you like; those merch and ticket sales mean a lot more to those artists than most might think!
All of the above artists will perform at BIGSOUND 2026. To attend or find out more about theis year’s music festival program, head to the BIGSOUND website.
