The collapse of Splendour in the Grass before it reached the starting gates has been blamed on a lot of things, including the cost of living, Taylor Swift, the weather, ticket prices, millennial laziness, Kylie Minogue and inadequate government support. The event joins a growing list of major music events to be cancelled. So what do taxpayers owe music festival culture in Australia, if anything?
With all eyes on Bluesfest as the last behemoth standing in the (muddy) NSW regional music festival paddock, there were huge digital slides beside the stages all weekend asking punters to advocate for the music industry’s future, by urging state and federal governments to invest more in its growth. ‘Support the life-blood of Australian culture by providing financial aid to major, long-standing music events. Make your voice heard.’
A big QR code led to a petition aimed at the government in aid of ‘over 2,100 professionals and 700 artists and crew members at the heart of this extraordinary event’.
Money for nothing?
The fact is that after extensive lobbying from the late Michael Gudinski and others, under the current state and federal Labor governments there is already substantial public support flowing to the popular live music sector, after years of neglect from the Coalition, which favoured ballet and opera.
Splendour in the Grass, for example, was the beneficiary of $100,000 announced with great fanfare earlier this year by Richmond MP Justine Elliot and the Albanese Government. There’s no word on whether this will be repaid. In January, $2.5m of federal money was allocated to music festivals across the country under the Live Music Australia program, with more funding rounds to follow.
After the news about Splendour last week, John Graham, the NSW State Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy (as well as Jobs and Tourism), said the cancellation was devastating news, noting that the festival industry was under ‘extreme pressure’, and he was deeply worried about the health of the festival scene in NSW.
Mr Graham said the state government offered financial support to help Splendour proceed in 2024, but apparently it was not enough. Another NSW government initiative to keep the live music industry alive after COVID was Great Southern Nights, bringing Australian artists to regional and city audiences.
In 2021, the music industry charity Support Act welcomed $20m in emergency aid from the federal government to those who had lost work due to lockdowns and restrictions.
More recently, music fan and PM Anthony Albanese has driven millions of dollars worth of arts funding announcements, including support for the live music industry, but little of this seems to have dribbled down to actual musicians, many of whom are unable to survive beneath the twin attacks of streaming and dwindling live performance opportunities.
Am I ever gonna see your face again?
It’s a strange time for live music here, with visiting megastars like Taylor Swift able to fill arenas and ask anything they want for tickets, while the once-thriving Australian pub music scene is under threat like never before.
That other sector of the entertainment industry, sport, still receives a greater share of government funding than the arts, with live music a subset of that, although more people attend arts events and concerts than sporting events, and the flow-through positive economic effects of live music are substantial, even without considering the more intangible psychological and community benefits.
In terms of festivals, many commentators have said Splendour simply became too big. Smaller, more niche festivals are managing to survive despite the many challenges of the sector. Perhaps the mega-festivals will need to return to their humble roots if they are to have a future.
Climate change is beginning to bite the outdoor live music scene too. After contending with extreme heat waves this year, Womadelaide may have to move to a different time of year. Splendour turned to chaotic mud in 2022. The Pitch Music Festival in Victoria was cancelled a few weeks ago due to bushfire risk.
It’s a growing problem. Between 2013 and 2019, ten Australian music festivals were affected by extreme weather, but in 2022-2023 at least 22 music festivals were cancelled or disrupted in this way.
The Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, who approved the massive Maules Creek coal mine in a previous incarnation, has just announced an inquiry into the challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry.
Submissions are open until the end of April.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning film-maker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
Long ago, he did work experience in Parliament House with Mungo MacCallum.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
