NSW Labor Reveals 'Game-changer' Pre-election Promise For Contemporary Music

NSW Labor has delivered an ambitious election promise to the New South Wales music scene if elected next month.

NSW Labor is pledging $100 million to assist the state's music scene, decimated by years of lockout laws and then Covid-19 lockdowns, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Opposition plans to construct double the music venues NSW currently has - 133 venues. Working with Create NSW, the Chris Minns-led party will introduce Sound NSW, a program modelled after similar ones in other states that will form a 10-year Contemporary Music Strategy.

Labor’s arts and nighttime economy representative John Graham tweeted this morning, "NSW has lost more than half its music venues under this Government according to new data. A decade of lockouts and lockdowns has taken its toll. This is our plan to build those venues back."

Chris Minns is unveiling the complete policy at the Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney today.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, this $100 million election promise outsized the $70 million the federal government allocated to music in its recent national cultural policy and transcended the $34 million Victorian Labor pledged ahead of the 2022 state election.

Dean Ormston, Chief Executive APRA AMCOS, has labelled NSW Labor's pledge "historic". 

In a statement this morning, Ormston said, "This level of investment will put NSW on par with some of the great music jurisdictions of the world; Quebec, Canada, Liverpool, England and Seoul, South Korea."

Ormston added, "NSW is a key engine room for the nation’s music industry and the launching pad for so many of Australia’s extraordinary artists. Despite this, it has long been the victim of over-zealous regulations and a long-held misunderstanding of the economic, social and cultural value we give to the state.

"The music economy is global, and competition is fierce. A Goldman Sachs report into the international music market estimates total music revenue to double to about $131 billion by 2030.

"If NSW wants a piece of that pie, we need the state government working in partnership with artists, industry workers and business to get the investment, regulation and policy settings right.

Ormston concluded, "This commitment from NSW Labor includes the necessary investment and policy priorities to supercharge music in NSW and return an economic, cultural, and social dividend for the state. This plan hits all the right notes by investing in artists, supporting venues, overhauling local regulations and getting serious about industry strategy."

ARIA and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) also welcomed the pledge. 

The CEO, Annabelle Herd, commented, "This strong focus on the contemporary music industry in NSW is a very welcome commitment from a major party. Ahead of the election, it is vital that all parties recognise the huge cultural and economic potential that music can offer the state, provided it is given considered support. We urge all parties to follow suit so music in NSW can flourish."