Music SA

Music SA, formerly AusMusicSA and also known as South Australian Contemporary Music Company Ltd, is a non-profit organisation whose aims are to promote, support and develop contemporary music in South Australia, which it does by providing training at many levels, professional development advice and live performance opportunities.

It presents the annual South Australian Music Awards, puts on the two-week celebration of live music, Umbrella: Winter City Sounds, and organises a number of other musical events throughout the year.

History

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AusMusicSA was established on 23 July 1997 as the South Australian Contemporary Music Development Company, trading as AusMusic SA. In 2004, Music SA Online was established, and in 2005 the organisation started the Contemporary Music Program in 29 secondary schools. From 2007 to 2010, it ran the Louder Than Words Festival in regional SA, and from 2008 to 2012 the Coopers Alive Festival. It also managed the Fuse Festival.[1]

In 2010, Music SA became a Registered Training Organisation, and in the same year Ausmusic SA was re-branded as Music SA. The organisation engaged in several collaborations with other partners, such as Flinders University, the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Awards, and local radio stations, and has also published several guides relevant to the contemporary music industry.[1]

In 2015 Lisa Bishop (who is also deputy chair of Adelaide Fringe and a film producer), became CEO/general manager of Music SA.[2][3][4]

In 2015 Music SA took over responsibility for the Fowlers Live Music Awards, renamed the South Australian Music Awards (or SA Music Awards).[1]

Umbrella: Winter City Sounds, a two-week live music festival, was launched in 2016, which in 2017 put on 300 events, funded by the Australia Council and the South Australian Tourism Commission and has been an annual event,[1] until the cancellation in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] It was scheduled to run from mid-July in 2021, but 80 live music events in the first week had to be cancelled owing to a 7-day lockdown across the state.[6][7]

In 2017 Music SA launched the Girls to the Front music education program for teenage girls.[1] Owing to complicated funding rules introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Music SA did not spend its entire budget provision for the 2022–23 financial year. With audiences not back to their pre-pandemic levels, the organisation feared that around A$6m of spending allocated for the live music sector had been taken back by the government.[8]

Description and governance

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Music SA's focus has broadened since its inception, from an organisation with a focus on music courses in schools to a nationally recognised industry body which "educates,...advocates, promotes, mentors, supports and markets artists and industry personnel and focusses on building a thriving contemporary music community in SA".[1]

From sometime before 2007 until 2015, Music SA was located on Level 1 of the Lion Arts Centre, with the address given as "Fowlers Building" for some of that time.[9][10][11] From 2015 and as of August 2020 it is situated in St Paul's Creative Centre in Pulteney Street.[12]

Christine Schloithe was appointed CEO in May 2022,[13] and is still in the position as of June 2023.[8]

Activities

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Music SA's activities are aimed at benefiting the music industry in South Australia. To that end, it manages an informative SA music website; runs contemporary music workshops and training programs in schools; provides professional development services for artists and practitioners; runs music business events and seminars; provides opportunities for live performances; runs an accredited music business training program; runs Vocational Education Training (VET) programs for secondary schools; and since 2015 has been responsible for the SA Music Awards.[12]

In collaboration with the Live Music Office, it creates the Live Music Census, which analyses the music supply chain in South Australia, including song-writing, retail, manufacturing, recording studios, dedicated music media, education, and live music gigs and festivals.[14]

In addition to these, it puts on a number of events and programs: Umbrella: Winter City Sounds, a two-week festival; Adelaide Sounds, a live music series performed at Adelaide Airport every Friday afternoon and alternate Saturdays and Sundays since 2013;[15] Bands On Track, a competition in which the winners get to play as support acts at the Superloop Adelaide 500 after-race concerts,[16] and Clip It! music video competition.[12] Umbrella: Winter City Sounds 2019 featured hundreds of acts in small venues across greater Adelaide.[17]

In July 2017, Music SA created an event known as Scouted, an event run as part of Umbrella: Winter City Sounds and in conjunction with Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR), with the aim of giving a platform to some of South Australia's most prominent unsigned musical talents, spread across venues in Adelaide's East End. The first event featured electronic duo Electric Fields, Young Offenders, Bec Stevens, Alana Jagt, Timberwolf, Heaps Good Friends and others.[18][19] The event helped to boost the participants' careers, and the 2018 event was held at around the same time as the AIR Awards and Indie-Con.[20]

In the summer of 2018, Music SA and the City of Adelaide presented a series six of lunchtime and early evening concerts, called Rock The Square to showcase up-and-coming music talent in Adelaide. Lunchtime and evening concerts in Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga featured newcomers Kashaguava, Camp Coyote, Naomi Keyte, Cowboys of Love, hot mess, Madura Green, Alana Jagt, and Corey Theatre Music.[21]

In 2023, Music SA launched Good Music Month, with 2,000 artists participating in 650 live music events. The concerts put on as part of the Adelaide 500 car race fall within the month, which in 2024 include The Cruel Sea, Crowded House, Ocean Alley, Cold Chisel, Meg Mac, The Superjesus, Tonix, and J-Milla. The SA Music Awards at the Dom Polski Centre on 7 November include live shows by West Thebarton and other local acts, and Guy Sebastian will be performing. Finishing off the month will be Notestock, a mini-festival launched by The Note in 2023, based at UniBar on 29 November.[22][23]

South Australian Music Awards

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Main article: South Australian Music Awards

Background

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Fowler's Live Music Awards started in 2012, and these were renamed the South Australian Music Awards (or SA Music Awards or SAM Awards[24]) when custodianship was handed to Music SA in 2015.[1][25]

Funding

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As of August 2019, Music SA receives funding from the Government of South Australia, previously through Arts South Australia and since 2018, through the Department of Innovation and Skills. It also receives project funding from the City of Adelaide, the Australian Hotels Association (SA Branch), APRA, AMCOS and the Live Music Events Fund. It also receives support from a range of commercial sponsors.[12]

In November 2018, after Minister for Industry and Skills David Pisoni had attended the 2018 SA Music Awards, the Government announced more than A$500,000 in funding to support the growth of live music in South Australia. Pisoni praised Music SA for its work in raising the profile of the awards and the local music industry.[24]

Funding for Indigenous musicians

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In January 2019, Music SA announced the establishment of a new scholarship and internship plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians, made possible by the support of an anonymous donor, whose contribution was matched by Music SA.[26]

In April 2019, just before the election, the federal government announced its Australian Music Industry Package, which included A$22.5 million to provide small businesses with grants, capped at A$10,000 and spread over four years, to fund artist programming and improving infrastructure for live performances. With this package came a commitment to establishing a national development program to help Indigenous musicians and groups tour and record, with the program and funding to be administered by Music SA.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Walter, Skye (9 October 2017). "Twenty Years of Music SA!". MusicSA. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Lisa Bishop". LinkedIn. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  3. ^ Czuchwicki, Jonty (16 February 2015). "Taking On The Wider Music Industry Issues". The Music. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  4. ^ Kahl, Brittney (21 March 2017). "A Week In The Life Of… Lisa Bishop, General Manager of MusicSA". Music Industry Inside Out. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Umbrella Festival Returns In 2021". Scenestr. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Umbrella Festival - Family Friendly Events - 16 Jul - 8 Aug 2021". Play & Go Adelaide. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  7. ^ Keen, Suzie (20 July 2021). "Lockdown a major blow for Adelaide's winter festivals". InDaily. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b Willis, Belinda (19 June 2023). "Plug pulled on live music and arts as sport takes centre stage". InDaily. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Contact". MusicSA. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Contact". MusicSA. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Contact". MusicSA. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d "About". MusicSA. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Green Room: Animated art, Bakehouse auction". InDaily. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  14. ^ "2017 Adelaide Live Music Census". Live Music Office. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Adelaide Sounds". Cities of music network. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Local bands announced to open Superloop Adelaide 500 After Race Concert Series" (PDF). Music SA. 15 February 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  17. ^ "2019 Program". Umbrella Winter City Sounds 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Music Sa Launches - Scouted: A Music Showcase Across Adelaide's East-End". ATG. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  19. ^ John, Brandon (13 July 2017). "Seven of the best unsigned acts in Adelaide right now with Music SA's Lisa Bishop". Tone Deaf. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  20. ^ "How Music SA's Scouted is helping take Adelaide bands to the next level". The Music. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Music SA and the City of Adelaide present: Rock The Square - Summer In The City". Yewth. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  22. ^ Sutton, Malcolm (31 October 2024). "Good Music Month to blast Adelaide with live music in bid to draw punters to venues". ABC News. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  23. ^ "About GMM". Good Music Month. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  24. ^ a b Pisoni, David (9 November 2019). "Govt support for homegrown talent and live music". Government of South Australia. Steven Marshall, Premier. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  25. ^ "sam awards 2015 winners announced". Music SA. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  26. ^ Marsh, Walter (15 January 2019). "New industry scholarship announced for Indigenous musicians". Adelaide Review. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  27. ^ Marsh, Walter (1 April 2019). "$31 million national live music plan to include Music SA-run Indigenous program". Adelaide Review. Retrieved 10 August 2019.


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