Industry Throws Support Behind Initiative Calling For Corporate Aus To Support Local Music

Major players in the Australian music industry have put their support behind the Our Soundtrack Our Stories initiative which has launched today. 

The campaign is "an initiative to soundtrack Australian lives with Australian music" calling for greater support from corporate Australia for local artists by playing homegrown music in stores, businesses and during broadcasts after obtaining the correct licence to increase royalties paid to acts during limited touring. 

Our Soundtrack Our Stories comes just a week after local artist Jack River - aka Holly Rankin - posted an open letter asking for Channel 7 to play all Australian music during their Olympics coverage. 

"Dear Channel 7 and Corporate Aus," read the post, "How great would it be if you played all Australian music in your coverage of the Olympics? These are Australian moments, they deserve Australian music. 

"And while we're here, how good would it be to hear Aussie music in Coles, Woolies, Aldi, in banks, on hold, in stores and on ads being shown to Australians for the next few months?! 

"We need you more than ever. We wanna be your soundtrack." 

So how will Our Soundtrack Our Stories help artists? According to the campaign, "Greater support from corporate Australia means greater reach for our artists, which translates to everything from higher streams and new fans to increased royalty revenue. 

"That support could not come at a more important time, with over $64 million in revenue lost since 1 July 2021 among just 2,000 respondents to the I Lost My Gig survey. With 99% of that revenue revealed to be uninsurable, the real figure is significantly higher.  This push will invite everyday people to view Australian music in a new light."

Our Soundtrack Our Stories partners include AAM, AMPAL, APRA AMCOS, ARIA, Australian Festival Association, BMG, Bolster, Chugg Music, CMAA, Disco, Eleven, EMC, EMI, Habit Music, Hutch Collective, Inertia, John Watson Management, Kobalt Music, Lemontree Music, Level Two, Linktree, Live Music Office, Live Nation, Made In Katana MEAA, Mirror Music Group, Mushroom Labels and Mushroom Group, Music ACT, Music NSW, Music NT, Music SA, Music Victoria, Nightlife, PPCA, Q Music, Sony Music, Sony Music Publishing, Sounds Australia, Support Act, The Annex, The Process, TMWR, UNIFIED, Universal Music Group Australia, Universal Music Publishing Australia, Warner Music Australia and Warner Chappell Australia.

For more information on the initiative and how you can get involved - either as an artist, business or consumer - head here.