EXCLUSIVE: How We Can Fix Victoria’s Regional Live Music Scene

Through our numerous visits to regional Victoria over the last four years, Music Victoria has discovered there's a lot of talent, incredible festivals, amazing venues, some local media support and a lot of good will, yet the sector wasn't as strong as it once was.

This was backed up by the first ever national study of the value of live music in 2009/10 which found that while Melbourne had the most venues of any city, Victoria (22% of industry output) lagged behind NSW (32%) and Queensland (24%) as the largest contributor to the venue-based live music industry.

Contributing to these results were strong regional touring circuits through our northern states, and in particular the strong Leagues Clubs scene. The NSW figures were also boosted by the strong all-ages touring scene through its Indent program, while the Victorian sector suffered from the ban of all ages gigs.

The touring circuit has also suffered ever since it became much more affordable for bands to fly interstate, making it easier for bands to fly rather than driving and playing shows on the way. There was also anecdotal evidence that many young music fans get their music fix at the plethora of vibrant regional festivals, at the expense of venue shows during the rest of the year.

It's important to further develop the scene not just so local bands and fans have somewhere to play and watch music, but for Melbourne bands to regularly tour. And the launching pad for any advocacy campaign is nailing down some data, so we conducted the first ever regional live music census, which we released in Ballarat today. The report, compiled over the last six months by Music Victoria in collaboration with NMIT, RMIT, Box Hill Institute, Victoria University and JMC Academy, produced some impressive figures: 

• Regional live music contributes $276.2 million to the state economy 
• There are 197 venues in regional Victoria identified as providing regular (2 per week) live performances.
• 3.8 million patrons attended small venues and festival gigs in regional areas.
• Live music performances in regional Victoria create 1,000 full time jobs and 300 full time equivalent jobs for venue staff
• It is estimated that regional festivals provide an additional 4,000 full time jobs 
• 37% of venues reported an increase in patronage in the last 12 months, 17% reported a decrease and 46% estimated their patronage level as the same.

But not all is rosy. When venue owners were also asked about problems preventing them carrying out business, the majority of them companied that they were impacted by regulatory issues: 74% licensing,
56% noise, 33% zoning, parking and development. 50% of those citing issues, reported that their impact had 'increased' during the last year.

Despite the goodwill, many councils don't know where to start. So the report also offers solutions to some of the problems, as well as recommendations for government support.

The first recommendation of this report is for each council to engage with its local industry to tailor its own Live Music Action Plan for their sector, based on the recently released Wollongong Live Music Action Plan, penned by the National Live Music Office co-director John Wardle.

Each scene needs its own report, because every scene is different – some have more venues than others, and different levels of council and media support. But one thing is constant – every town in Victoria has a music scene that needs support.

To catch up to the northern Leagues Clubs, we also want to encourage more pubs, clubs and RSLs to start putting on more local music, so with members of the State Government Live Music Roundtable we produced a Best Practice Guide which gives step by step tips on putting on live music.

We have also been busy working on the Roundtable to address faults in the regulatory system to make it easier to host live music. Legislation is set to be passed to de-regulate the all ages gigs market, which will introduce all ages gigs in Victoria after a 20-odd year ban, and cut costs and red tape to put on all ages events.

The government has also committed to introducing the Agent of Change Principle to protect existing venues from complaints from new residential apartments. The Department of Planning is developing tools for local councils to implement this, and we urge councils to take it onboard in their local planning schemes. 

We also introduced awards for best regional venue and band at the public-voted Age Music Victoria Awards to engender more pride in regional scenes and we are looking at helping run regional Victorian musician networking nights at Fitzroy's Workers Club.

Other recommendations include:

• The implementation on a Regional Live Music Plan with a dedicated regional live music office to act as a one-stop-shop to build relationships and liaise between musicians, venues and industry, including promoters and booking agents.
• Encourage the sector to apply for grants through the $1billion Regional Growth Fund for community-led ideas to build strong vibrant cities and country communities.
• Engage with Tourism Victoria's regional strategy to promote industry development and infrastructure support and utilise the Regional Tourism initiative to help better promote events.
• Work more closely with Regional Arts Victoria and VAPAC (Victorian Association Of Performing Arts Centres) to build economies of scale into the touring circuit.
• Support and utilise the Arts Atlas website and Melbourne Music City free app and gig guide to log regional events.
• Encourage the music sector to meet regularly at a live music venue to investigate issues facing the live music scene.
• Support regional all ages gigs based on new improved government conditions and reforms.
• Encourage councils to sign up to the implementation of Agent of Change principle to protect existing venues. 
• Reduce red tape and liquor licensing fees to make it easier to host original live music.
• Encourage independent mediation between venues and residents in the case of an amenity dispute.
• Investigate opportunities for improved transport at night and maintain existing services.

The quality of regional bands such as Stonefield, Goldfields and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard prove that there's a wealth of local talent with their own unique stories to tell.

And the long-term success of Victorian regional festivals, such as Meredith and Golden Plains, the Falls, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the Wangarratta Jazz and Blues Festival, as well as popular venues such as the Meeniyan Town Hall, Ballarat's Karova Lounge, Geelong's Barwon Club Hotel, Warrnambool's the Loft, San Remo's Westernport, and Castlemaine's Theatre Royale and Bridge Hotel, illustrate the strong demand for live music in the regions.

The sector just needs a little bit of love and care and more co-ordinated strategic support to help it fulfil its potential.

The exclusive opinion piece for theMusic.com.au was written by Music Victoria's CEO Patrick Donovan. Music Victoria's vital membership drive finished Friday 4 April.