APRA AMCOS CEO Dean Ormston has issued an SOS to the Australian Government, calling for JobKeeper to be extended beyond March.
In a statement released today, Ormston said that due to the recent COVID clusters and state border closures, the local music industry has been unable to emerge from lockdown.
"The constant wave of lockdowns and state border closures means that any local live music events and national touring is impossible to plan. Hospitality and tourism dollars generated from our sector remain stifled. We are an industry in crisis,” Ormston said.
“The lockdowns are all completely understandable. But for live music, the last twelve months has been one of the most distressing and destabilising in living memory. It’s well documented by the Bureau of Statistics that arts and entertainment related industries have seen the largest pandemic business shutdowns.
“In March last year, musicians, artists and an entire industry ecosystem which is built around national touring and live performance was shut down overnight. Every live music venue or festival in a city, town centre or regional area is part of an intricate industry network that supports our industry. Sitting behind these venues and events is an army of musicians, technicians, promoters, agents, managers and industry professionals.
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“In just two months JobKeeper ends which has been the single most important policy intervention by the government since the pandemic hit our shores. It has provided some certainty and helped keep a large number of individuals and businesses in the music industry on ice so they are ready to restart with new tours and events.
“The cycle of lockdowns is impossible to navigate and represents the biggest immediate issue for the Australian music industry providing uncertainty as to when live events can restart at any capacity."
While local tours have been able to recommence to a degree, it's predicted that international acts won't be able to tour Australia until 2022 if the borders remain closed.
Meanwhile, the recent border closures have halted headline shows for acts like Bob Evans, Human Nature and Voyager to name a few, while Queensland's Airwaves Festival was last week forced to postpone until March.
“The Australian Government’s response package for arts and entertainment announced in June last year was a welcome intervention," Ormston continued.
"$250 million in grants and loans to stimulate the restart of the live event sector – from theatre to concerts – with the employment of artists and crew at the heart of the package. But a restart can’t happen while state borders keep getting erected and audiences remain limited.
“The live music and event sector will be the last sector able to restart anything akin to business as usual. JobKeeper must be continued beyond March for those who work directly in the live music and event industry.
“This doesn’t just make cultural sense, it makes economic sense. The arts and entertainment sector contributes around $15 billion per year in GDP and employing close to 200,000 highly-skilled Australians. Australia Institute research has found that for every million dollars in turnover, arts and entertainment produce nine jobs while the construction industry only produces around one job.
“We can’t afford to lose the skills and businesses of our sector. The result for Australia would be catastrophic."
