Premier Artists’ Frank Stivala Chimes In On ALWAYS LIVE Debate

Frank Stivala of Premier Artists has weighed in on the debate around ALWAYS LIVE, the 17-date celebration of contemporary live music supported by the Victorian Government via Visit Victoria. This year’s program includes exclusive, intimate performances from international stars like Jack White, St Vincent, The Offspring, and many more.

In case you missed it, former Queenscliff Music Festival Director Andrew Orvis blasted the Victorian government-supported program last week, calling it a “complete disaster for the industry.” In an open letter posted to Facebook, Orvis made his thoughts known, where he also described ALWAYS LIVE as an “ill-conceived program.”

While Stivala argues that Orvis raised some valid points, he’s also offered some suggestions and potential solutions to see Victoria in a better place when it comes to live music programs.

“[Andrew] has many valid points that, in most cases, there is a waste of money,” Stivala told The Music. Adding that the “best” music initiative presented by a state government is NSW’s Great South Nights program, as it “benefits many Australian artists and venues,” Stivala continued:

“Victoria can take a page from their book, use the money with a similar model, and still support some international shows and have the best of both worlds. This would make it work well on many different levels, and best utilises the government money with maximum impact.”

In his open letter, Orvis fired at ALWAYS LIVE, claiming that the program “creates uneven competition in the industry” as it’s difficult to “compete with the millions in government funding they receive each year.”

“It also creates state-to-state competition, that then becomes even harder for others to compete with,” Orvis wrote.

“It detracts from existing and established festivals and events that are all doing it so extremely tough right now. Do we want ALWAYS LIVE to still be here in 10 years, or do we want some of our long-established festivals and venues that we all know and love to still be here?! It’s competing with an entire industry it also claims to support.

“It’s tourism money, so all about the ‘tourism impacts’ - but it spends big money on shows with very little economic impact potential.”

Orvis acknowledged that seeing Jack White perform an intimate gig at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel would be “fucking awesome” but asked how that benefited the industry. He also questioned whether Missy Higgins’ Sidney Myer Music Bowl event needed government support.

Orvis alleged that ALWAYS LIVE finds programmers “paying big money for artists, setting unattainable fee levels and precedence for other events and venues” and said it “feels like it’s wasting money on supporting tours and shows that could have happened anyway without wasting loads of taxpayers’ money or using that money to support existing events and venues that actually need it.

“The industry is at breaking point, crying out for help, and has been pretty clear what some of the issues are,” Orvis continued. “ALWAYS LIVE doesn’t address any of the issues the industry is currently facing, rather it just creates more.”

The Music contacted ALWAYS LIVE for comment ahead of publishing our recent news stories. At the time of publication, The Music hasn’t received a response.