Regional Radio Station Launches Patreon To Buy Equipment To Record Local Musicians

GoldMX, a regional radio station in Albany, Western Australia, has launched a Patreon crowdfunding campaign to help local musicians get their music out there.

With the help of regular listeners and interested music lovers, GoldMX aims to buy recording equipment and help local musicians record their music, as well as promote local artists.

The Patreon campaign currently only has one membership tier, Local Music Lover, which asks for an $8.50 monthly membership.

Former GoldMX announcer and current owner Samele Haell wrote in the official announcement on Patreon:

“The greater South Coast has an amazing array of amazingly talented musicians and performing artists, but you would hardly know it without a local media outlet who is keenly focused on the local scene, this is vital work for our community.”

Haell then mentioned the station’s passion and focus for local music, as well as the challenges of running a “small, regional radio station”. GoldMX is after some help “to keep those airwaves zinging with local talent”.

Haell added, “We are constantly looking for better ways to highlight and promote our local musicians, and we have some big ideas, like our own listening app, to live streaming mini-desk concerts, podcasts of interviews and in-studio performances and so on... but we need your help to make this happen.

“The next step towards this goal is to raise funds for the equipment needed to be able to achieve these goals, that's where you can help!

“A monthly contribution will give us the surety to move forward, knowing that you the listener WANT us to keep up this vital work!” You can make your donation here.

Last week, the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) revealed that it also wants to help local musicians whose music plays on the radio, albeit on a larger scale.

The PPCA started a petition demanding fairer royalties payments for songs played on the radio. More specifically, it asked for the removal of radio payment caps.

The organisation explained in a series of slides that the ABC and profitable radio are exempt from paying a fair market rate, as set by a legislated cap that began over 50 years ago.

“Artificial caps, set in the Copyright Act over 50 years ago, limit how much radio stations pay to play music (specifically sound recordings),” the PPCA’s petition statement reads.

“The radio caps are unfair and anti-competitive. The caps should be removed allowing the market to determine an appropriate rate so artists and rightsholders are paid fairly for their music.”

For these reasons, the PPCA is petitioning the Australian House of Representatives to “remove the broadcast radio caps on sound recordings from the Copyright Act, to ensure artists and rightsholders are paid fairly for the use of their music.”

The petition has 21 days to go, with a closing date of 28 April at 11:59 pm AEST. You can sign the petition here.