Adelaide Rolls Out Game-Changing Live Music Initiative

Adelaide’s already-thriving live music scene is set to undergo a massive overhaul with an innovative and internationally significant program unveiled to streamline regulations and get more venues hosting artists.

The 90 Day Project, commissioned by Premiere Jay Weatherill, will see a number of bureaucratic barriers broken down and rewritten following a live music census last month that shows just how valuable the state’s entertainment industry is.

The collaborative initiative between the SA government, City of Adelaide, Live Music Office, Australian Hotels Association of South Australia, music industry and surrounding community will recommend reforms that will allow venues a clear and easy path to apply for the needed licenses to host acts.

"This is the big one - completely rewrites the rulebook on live music and performance regulation in Australia,” Live Music Office policy director John Wardle said.

“It may take well into the next decade for the rest of the country to catch up".

The move will push to exclude ‘low risk’ entertainment from being treated as development, making it easier for licensed and unlicensed venues and non-traditional venues to host music without jumping through endless hoops, which will also bring the cost and time of applying down.

This is in addition to a proposed case management service that will give applicants a single point of contact who can guide them through.

There’ll also be a push to remove out-dated city council regulations that hinder certain venues from hosting live music and genres, while grants are being proposed to help venue operators with the costs of acoustic engineering reports; an element of applying that would also be made easier through an industry-standard technical guide for acoustic engineers.

Although the festival state has broken its previous records with the 2016 Fringe, Adelaide Festival and WOMAdelaide, Weatherill said a vibrant city needs a strong live music scene.

“These changes significantly cut red tape, making it cheaper and easier for venues to host live music,” he said.

The progressive move will see the state reach above and beyond the reach of the country.