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Sounds Australia to keep funding after gov U-turn
The export office, recently faced with the prospect of losing its public subsidy, will receive nearly $1.2m through 2020, says arts minister Mitch Fifield
By IQ on 18 Nov 2016
Millgate (second from left) at this morning's Sounds Australia press conference in Melbourne
image © Carbie Warbie
Sounds Australia will no longer lose its public funding following a surprise about-face by the Australian government.
The music export office – which was controversially defunded in May’s federal budget, sparking a backlash from the Australian live industry – will receive A$1.16 million over the next four years, arts minister Mitch Fifield has announced.
The funding matches investment from the Australia Council for the Arts and PRO/collection society APRA AMCOS.
“The Australian music industry is full of talent, passion and innovation, and we’re ecstatic that we can continue sharing that with the world”
Millie Millgate, Sounds Australia’s executive producer, says: “Today’s news that the Department of Communications and the Arts is supporting Sounds Australia for the next four years is exactly the result we’ve been hoping for. It’s testament to the value of the national export platform and subsequent success Australian artists are enjoying around the world.
“We can’t thank the local and international industry enough for the support they’ve shown over the past months as we’ve worked towards a funding solution. The Australian music industry is full of talent, passion and innovation, and we’re ecstatic that we can continue sharing that with the world.”
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