Sign up for IQ Index
The latest industry news to your inbox.
Laneway Festival has wrapped its biggest edition yet, drawing over 200,000 fans to sold-out shows across six cities, plus an additional 40,000 at sideshows.
The 20th anniversary of the much-loved Australasian touring festival saw artists including Charli XCX, Clairo, BICEP, Beabadoobee, Olivia Dean, Remi Wolf, and Skegss perform in Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.
Co-founders Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio believe that the record sell-out is a testament to the quality of the lineup: “The team puts so much effort into making sure both our punters and artists have an incredible experience and it is such a joy to see it all come together.
“We’re not sure how we’re going to top this one”
“We’re not sure how we’re going to top this one, but our firm belief is that the quality of the line-up will be the thing to keep fans, and artists, coming back. This was a record for the festival and we’re confident that 2025 will continue its 20-plus years of success.”
Laneway, in full St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, was founded in 2005 as a Melbourne street party and has grown into a respected festival of domestic and international music, with events in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The company also has a touring arm, Laneway Presents.
In 2021, Sydney-based TEG acquired a majority stake in the event, with founders Borazio and Rogers staying on as co-managing directors and “substantial owners”.
Laneway is one of the last festivals of its kind in a rapidly shrinking Australian live landscape. Last month, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo were both canned for the second year in a row, in addition to Hello Sunshine, Chapel Street and Souled Out.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
The Australian state of Victoria is offering grants of up to AU$ 50,000 to local festival organisers.
Operators of festivals with more than 1,000 attendees will be eligible to apply for a grant from 25 February as part of a new round of the Labor Government’s Live Music Festivals Fund delivered by Music Victoria.
The first round of the Fund in 2024 awarded grants to 22 festivals, with almost two-thirds from regional Victoria.
“Victoria’s music festivals are the lifeblood of communities across our state,” says minister for creative industries Colin Brooks.
“They provide jobs for event workers, they’re a rite of passage for young music lovers, and they provide real opportunity for artists to build their careers. Music festivals across the country have faced a challenging time, and we are proud to back our much-loved local festivals and the communities that host them.”
The news arrives after the cancellation of at least three Victoria festivals: Hello Sunshine, Chapel Street and Souled Out.
The cancellation of the R&B-focused touring festival Souled Out was announced today, just weeks before it was due to kick off.
Organisers noted that the festival “did not reach the level of support needed to remain financially viable”.
Souled Out was due to visit Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with a range of American headliners including Jhené Aiko, Don Toliver, Vince Staples and 6lack.
“Music festivals across the country have faced a challenging time”
Family-friendly event Hello Sunshine was set to return to Melbourne for its third year and debut on the Gold Coast this March.
Organisers cited low ticket sales and rising production costs as reasons for the cancellation.
Stone Temple Pilots, Smash Mouth, Wolfmother, Kasey Chambers, Rogue Traders, and Drapht were on tap to headline the event.
The long-awaited revival of Melbourne’s Chapel Street Festival was axed just weeks before it was due to take place, though a reason wasn’t given.
“This decision reflects our determination to create a festival that not only meets but exceeds expectations for our vibrant community,” said organisers in a statement.
Last held in 2000, the Chapel Street Festival was initially planned to return in 2023 but was ultimately not held as planned. Its latest revival was announced in November, with organisers expecting roughly 100,000 visitors to the precinct.
The Australian festival business has experienced a turbulent couple of years with rafts of cancellations across the board.
Hopes that the crisis-hit sector could reverse course were squashed at the beginning of this year when two major festivals, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin The Moo, announced they would forego another festival season.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Groovin The Moo, an annual Australian festival that has booked acts including Billie Eilish, alt-J and Wolf Alice during its 19-year history, has been shelved for a second consecutive year.
“Groovin the Moo won’t be happening in 2025, while we work on finding the most sustainable model for Australia’s most loved regional touring festival,” the organisers said in a statement, posted today.
“We will really miss seeing the smiling faces of all our beloved Moo Crew … In the meantime, which artist would you most like to see on a GTM lineup?”
In February 2024, Groovin the Moo cancelled all six of its dates two months before the festival was due to kick off, saying ticket sales had “not been sufficient to deliver a regional festival of this kind”.
Australian Festival Association managing director, Olly Arkins, commented on the fresh cancellation: “Regional festivals like Groovin the Moo play a vital role in connecting audiences with live music outside of major cities, providing opportunities for artists, local businesses, and festival workers. But like many events across the country, the rising costs of production and ongoing challenges in the industry have made it increasingly difficult to operate.”
“But like many events across the country, the rising costs of production and ongoing challenges in the industry have made it increasingly difficult to operate”
“This cancellation highlights the urgent need for the federal government to extend Revive Live [a live music grants program which issued $7.7 million as part of the 2024-5 budget] funding to ensure festivals of all sizes can continue to thrive,” he added.
The news comes weeks after Splendour in the Grass, the long-running New South Wales festival staged by Live Nation-backed Secret Sounds, was cancelled for a second consecutive year.
The two cancellations hint at another turbulent year for Australia’s festival sector, which suffered a number of casualties in 2024. Events including Harvest Rock, Spilt Milk, You & Me, Promise Village, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays were axed due to either financial difficulties amid the cost-of-living crisis or slow ticket sales.
In other news for the Australian business, TEG CEO Geoff Jones has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2025 Australia Day Honours List for his “significant contributions” to the live entertainment industry in Australia, and on the global stage.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
A number of fans were injured after a section of the ceiling collapsed into the crowd at a Bad Omens concert in Australia.
The US heavy metal band were finishing up their set on the opening night of their sold-out double-header at the Festival Hall in Melbourne on Wednesday (22 January), when the incident occurred.
Wall of Sound reports that a confetti cannon was fired into the air and appeared to dislodge pieces of the ceiling at the 1,741-cap venue, which then fell onto the audience below.
Festival Hall has issued a response, but denies claims reports that anyone lost consciousness as a result of the incident.
We have conducted an immediate review of the special effects vendor and additional safety checks
“Festival Hall want to thank our onsite first aid team who responded quickly,” adds a statement by the venue. “We have conducted an immediate review of the special effects vendor and additional safety checks.”
Bad Omens frontman Noah Sebastian addressed the incident during last night’s second gig, which went ahead as planned, and expressed his sympathy for those injured, requesting a moment of silence for the victims.
“I’m so glad everyone is okay,” he said. “First of all, I didn’t see that happen, okay, I want to make that very clear.
“[I was] in the zone, doing my thing, I was not expecting a ceiling tile to fall. It’s definitely not the way you want to end a concert, ending up in hospital.”
Acts set to play the venue in the coming months include Rudimental, The Flaming Lips, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Cat Power, Neck Deep and Pixies.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Hopes that the crisis-hit Australian festival business can reverse course on a turbulent couple of years have suffered a major blow after it was announced that Splendour in the Grass (SITG) will not return in 2025.
Organisers of the long-running NSW festival, which was cancelled last year, confirmed it would not be returning this year as “it needs a little more time to recharge”.
“Think of it as a breather so we can come back even bigger and better when the time is right,” the statement continues. “Lots of other huge events on the horizon so keep an ear to the ground in the coming months.”
According to the Australian Festival Association, more than 25 music festivals across the country have been axed since 2022, with this year’s casualties so far including Hello Sunshine, Nowhere Festival and Chapel Street.
Allied to SITG’s second successive cancellation, the direction has sparked fears the sector could be in line for another year of misery. The Australian Greens have called on the government for a ‘reform and revive’ package for festivals in 2025 to help turn the tide.
“Reform is urgently needed if we are to revive our local music and festival culture”
“We can’t afford another year of festival cancellations in the cost of living crisis,” the party said in a statement. “We’ve seen this sad movie before and it’s a warning to policymakers that unless we see reform that can actually revive the live music sector, 2025 could be another wipeout year of festival cancellations.
“Reform is urgently needed if we are to revive our local music and festival culture. We need to look at funding, tax and insurance reforms and the Greens stand ready to work with the government to deliver a package that can stem the cancellations and allow new and independent operations to flourish.”
SITG, which is staged by Live Nation-backed Secret Sounds, was to feature the likes of Kylie Minogue, G Flip, Tash Sultana and Fontaines D.C. in 2004, but was axed less than a week after tickets went on sale. Organisers cited “unexpected events” as the reason behind the cancellation.
The previous year, then co-producer Jessica Ducrou reported a 30% drop in sales from 50,000 tickets to 35,000, while the 2022 instalment was hit with the worst weather in the festival’s 20-plus-year history, resulting in the cancellation of its first day. The 42,500-capacity festival, which launched in 2001, typically takes place at North Byron Parklands in Yelgun.
In addition to Splendour, Live Nation owns some of Australia’s largest music festivals, including Spilt Milk, the Falls Festival and Harvest Rock – none of which went ahead last year. It is yet to be established whether the events will return in 2025.
You & Me, Promise Village, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays and Groovin the Moo were also cancelled last year, all of which referenced either financial difficulties amid the cost-of-living crisis or slow ticket sales.
“I believe the major shakeout in the festival market has already occurred”
Lack of funding and grants was the second most cited barrier to running music festivals in last year’s Creative Australia report, after rising operational costs. However, there are some good news stories to be found, with some festivals still managing to thrive in the face of higher costs – notably those curated by independently owned promoters.
In the last couple of years, Untitled Group has gone from strength to strength with its stable of such as Beyond The Valley and Wildlands. Co-founder Nicholas Greco puts much of the festival market’s turbulent 2024 down to a lack of headline talent capable of driving ticket sales, but is hopeful the worst is over.
“Many artists are opting for major headline tours instead, where they have full creative control over their shows, essentially creating a festival-like experience on their own terms,” he tells IQ.
“That said, I believe the major shakeout in the festival market has already occurred,” continues Greco. “The brands that remain have proven their ability to resonate with the new generation of festivalgoers. These are the events that artists want to align with because they hold cultural significance and deeply connect with the communities they’ve built.
“Of course, the cost-of-living crisis remains a significant challenge. It hasn’t improved over the past year, which makes ticket pricing a critical consideration for us.”
“It’s a tragedy seeing Splendour in the Grass and others bite the dust because we need those events”
Laneway Festival, the much-loved Australasian touring festival, has also enjoyed record sales for its upcoming 2025 edition. The touring festival, which this year features the likes of Charli XCX, Beabadoobee and Clairo, saw its Sydney and Melbourne dates sell out in one day.
“This was a record for the festival,” said organisers. “And we’re confident that 2025 will continue its 20-plus years of success.”
Meanwhile, Byron Bay Bluesfest’s Peter Noble revealed to IQ last month that his curtain call was largely a ploy to attract the attention of the state government, which he says declined to invest in Bluesfest during a difficult time for the economy.
“It’s a tragedy seeing Splendour in the Grass and others bite the dust because we need those events,” he says. “The real efforts need to be squarely put in the hands of government. At the federal level, there is $6.6 million for festivals nationally that can be awarded in grants. Put another zero behind that, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Two zeros behind it might actually make a difference and keep our industry working.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
The launch of a landmark new pill-testing trial at Australia’s Beyond The Valley has been hailed as a huge success by promoter Untitled Group.
The festival – which took place from 28 December to 1 January at Hesse’s Barunah Plains Homestead some 125km from Melbourne’s central business district – was chosen as the first of ten events that will host the estimated $4m trial over the next two summers.
The pill-testing service was available to an estimated 35,000 festivalgoers who attended Beyond The Valley across the four days, making it the largest-ever event in Australia to provide access to pill testing.
The mobile site was staffed by 16 chemists, health and support workers who utilised “world-leading technology to test the make-up of most pills, capsules, powders, crystals, or liquids and identify harmful chemicals that can lead to death”.
Festivalgoers could drop by a testing tent between 1 pm and 7 pm each day, where their substances would be tested and they’d receive health information to help them make “better decisions”.
More than 700 people accessed the confidential service, with early data revealing that nearly 40% planned to take less of their drugs after testing. Over 70% reported it was their first “open, judgment-free discussion about drug and alcohol safety with a health professional”.
“The feedback from the BTV community has been resoundingly positive”
“The feedback from the BTV community has been resoundingly positive,” Nicholas Greco, co-founder & managing partner of Untitled Group, tells IQ. “We are proud to have facilitated this in collaboration with the Victorian Government, the Department of Health, YSAS, The Loop Australia, and Harm Reduction Victoria.”
In the wider industry, the Australian Festival Association hailed the trial a “significant win” for harm reduction strategies and festival safety.
“Victoria’s first pill-testing trial at Beyond The Valley has set a new benchmark for harm reduction at festivals, delivering outstanding results,” the association said.
With a successful trial under their belt, Greco says Untitled Group “would welcome drug-checking at our festivals in the future, including in Victoria”.
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan has already announced that a fixed pill testing site is set to be established and opened by mid-2025 in inner Melbourne.
“This is not a trial to decide if Victoria will implement pill testing. It’s a trial to understand how to implement it,” she said in a statement.
Beyond The Valley organisers touted the sold-out 2024 edition as the “best festival yet” with standout performances from Natasha Bedingfield, Royel Otis, Tinashe, Lola Young, Teenage Dads and The Rions.
The Australian Festival Association hailed the trial a “significant win” for harm reduction strategies and festival safety
“The incredible turnout at Beyond The Valley this year is a huge validation of what we’ve been building over the years,” Greco tells IQ. “With our 10th anniversary coming up next, it’s deeply satisfying to see all the hard work pay off and to witness the impact the festival has had on culture and trends.
“We’ve never witnessed such an impact of this scale in post-event user-generated content, we’re seeing Beyond The Valley trending globally on TikTok right now. Ultimately the attendance reaffirms that we’re on the right path and drives us to keep elevating the experience year after year.”
This year, BTV organisers focused on evolving the festival experience by reimaging the site layout and elevating their partnerships and activations.
“It’s been rewarding to see how well those changes resonated,” adds Greco. “New hubs like the expanded Dr Dan’s area, and hosted activations like Poof Doof Pride parties and the Schmall Klub, were always busy and had a lot of energy throughout the entire weekend.
“Schmall Klub was reimagined with Smirnoff as a hidden party behind fridge doors in an aesthetic Cornerstore, featuring DJs and surprise sets and Red Bull also delivered with their ‘Unforeseen’ activation – a train station where attendees could discover a party behind the carriage doors.”
Beyond The Valley’s 10th anniversary edition will take place between 28 December 2025 and 1 January 2026.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Robbie Williams has performed a free pop-up concert in Melbourne – the city where his new biopic Better Man was filmed.
The British singer played a nine-song set at 5pm local time today (2 January) in Federation Square, hosted by iHeartLIVE and GOLD104.3. The show followed his New Year’s Eve performance outside Sydney Opera House, which was televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
The 50-year-old is currently on the promotional trail in Australia following Better Man‘s Boxing Day release. The film, which sees Williams portrayed as a chimpanzee in CGI form, was made by Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman.
Williams is set to embark on a mammoth European stadium tour later this year
Better Man was shot in the state of Victoria in 2022 with financial support from the government-backed Victorian Screen Incentive.
According to the city of Melbourne, the production created 2,920 jobs and generated A$142 million (€86m) for the state’s economy, leading Williams to be awarded the key to the city by the Lord Mayor on stage during today’s 8,000-cap gig.
Williams, who is represented by X-ray Touring’s Ian Huffam, will play three concerts in South Africa later this month before embarking on a mammoth European stadium tour from May to October. The star last toured Australasia in 2022 as part of his XXV outing.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Australia’s Untitled Group has vowed to keep “pushing boundaries” as it celebrates its first 10 years of operations.
The Melbourne-based independent promoter’s camping festival Beyond The Valley is coming up in Hesse, Victoria from 28 December to 1 January, with acts such as Fisher, Ice Spice, Chase & Status, Marlon Hoffstadt, Tinashe and Royel Otis.
“We wanted to create a four-day camping festival over New Year’s Eve that stood apart from others in the market,” explains Untitled co-founder and managing partner Nicholas Greco. “Our focus was on creating a highly curated experience centred around electronic music, combined with an elevated emphasis on production, staging and immersive site design.
“We wanted every aspect, from the lineup to the overall creative direction of the site to feel intentional.”
The event’s 2014 launch actually preceded the formation of Untitled.
“Untitled Group back then was just Beyond The Valley and a single club night,” explains Greco. “Now it’s grown into a national festival touring circuit over New Year’s Eve featuring flagship events like Beyond The Valley and Wildlands.”
“The decision to start touring our own artists was a major turning point”
A sister festival to Beyond The Valley, Wildlands will visit Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide in late December/early January. Greco considers its launch a “key moment”.
“It allowed us to establish a national festival touring circuit over New Year’s Eve, which has enabled us to bring bigger international talent into Australia during that period,” he says.
A second multi-day camping festival, Pitch Music & Arts, returns to the heart of the Grampian Plains in Victoria for its eighth edition from 7-11 March, while the firm has also developed a major touring division, bringing artists such as Dom Dolla, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Kaytranada, Christina Aguilera and Zach Bryan to Australia.
“The decision to start touring our own artists was a major turning point,” contends Greco. “It transformed us from festival promoters into globally recognised concert promoters. In the beginning, we were building momentum and riding the wave without a clearly defined vision. We were somewhat winging it and figuring things out as we went along.
“Today we have a much more deliberate focus. Our vision is more refined, we know the markets we want to target, the artists and genres we want to hone in on, and what our core business offerings are.”
While the pandemic shutdown was a devastating period for many within the live industry, the company maximised the unexpected downtime.
“Covid was a real catalyst for growth,” he says. “For the first time, we were forced to pause running events and reflect on our business, where we wanted to go, and how we wanted to grow. Although it was an incredibly tough two years, it allowed us to build a strong foundation for the future.”
“The collapse of so many major festivals over the past year has been a stark reminder that we can never afford to be complacent”
The Australian festival scene has endured a turbulent year, with several major festivals like Splendour in the Grass, Groovin the Moo, and Return to Rio calling it quits for the 2024/25 season.
“The collapse of so many major festivals over the past year has been a stark reminder that we can never afford to be complacent,” remarks Greco. “It’s reinforced the importance of constantly striving to improve and adapt. Audiences are evolving faster than ever whether in terms of their expectations, tastes, or how they engage with events. If you don’t keep up with those shifts, you risk falling behind.
“It’s a challenging landscape, but it’s also an opportunity to innovate and raise the bar across everything we do.”
Greco has detected a growing shift towards electronic music at festivals and events across Australia.
“This surge in demand has made booking electronic talent increasingly competitive, creating challenges in securing the right acts and driving up costs,” he observes. “Another trend is the rise in artists opting for headline tours rather than festival appearances which can reduce the talent pool available for festival programming, forcing festivals to rethink how they build their lineups.”
In addition, Greco suggests the business is still adapting to the tastes of the new generation of festivalgoers.
“The 18-25 demographic is drinking significantly less at shows, which is impacting margins,” he notes. “This shift is making it harder for venues to remain profitable and as a result we’re seeing more closures in the industry. This trend highlights the need to explore alternative revenue streams and rethink the traditional venue business model to ensure sustainability.
“Young people are increasingly spending time online and therefore discovering new music and experiences through digital platforms. This shift in mindset means our events need to adapt to meet them where they are. TikTok, in particular, has rapidly accelerated the globalisation of music trends, making it essential for us to stay ahead of the curve not just locally in Australia, but on a global scale.”
“Ten years ago, we could never have imagined the company would grow to where it is today”
A standout moment for the promoter in 2024 was the Dom Dolla b2b Solomun show at Melbourne’s 5,000-cap The Wool Store.
“It took us five years to get the venue permitted again, so to host such an iconic event with two artists who have played pivotal roles in the Untitled Group story was a full circle moment,” says Greco. “Dom has been part of our journey from the beginning, playing our club nights before we were festival promoters, performing at the very first Beyond The Valley, and returning for eight more editions since then.
“Solomun also holds a special place in our history. He was the very first artist to play The Wool Store back in 2018. That event has become legendary and part of Melbourne nightlife ‘lore’. From his set to the afterparties where he DJed on an ironing board at one of our interns’ houses until the power had to be switched off.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Greco says Untitled is excited to continue to build on the legacy it has created over the past decade.
“Our goal is to keep pushing boundaries while staying true to what we do best,” he adds. “Ten years ago, we could never have imagined the company would grow to where it is today, so the prospect of where we could be in another decade is incredibly exciting.
“We’re committed to continuing to deliver world-class experiences with world-class artists, constantly evolving to meet the changing demands of audiences and the industry. The focus will always be on creating unforgettable moments and maintaining our passion for pushing the live music scene forward.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Bluesfest organiser Peter Noble has performed a U-turn on the fate of the Australian institution, revealing its immediate future is safe amid its best sales yet.
In August, the Byron Bay festival director announced that the event’s 2025 edition would be its “final curtain call”, only to leave the door open for its return just a few weeks later.
Now, Noble tells IQ that his clarion call was largely a ploy to attract the attention of the state government, which he says declined to invest in Bluesfest during a difficult time for the economy.
“August was a time of great disappointment,” explains Noble. “We had said to the government ‘Look, we need investment at this time, the cost of living crisis is really affecting events and there are cancellations everywhere’.
“They sent me a Dear John letter saying we’ve decided not to invest in you. During the last 12 years, Bluesfest brought $1.1 billion to our state through inbound tourism. That is a tsunami of gold but it seemingly doesn’t count. The [state government] just wanted to put it in their coffers and not take responsibility for Australia’s great events.”
“Due to my clarion call, we’re potentially going to have our most successful festival yet”
He continues: “Meanwhile, South by Southwest (SXSW) was brought down here and had a lot of money invested in it. And whilst I don’t say that the government doesn’t have the right to invest in imported events, when I see them doing that and not investing in major Australian events, I think that’s wrong.
“So what do we have to do? Do we have to say it’s the last Bluesfest to get people to focus on us? Are we the long-suffering wife and South by Southwest is the mistress who gets the diamond rings? All we’ve asked our state to do is to show us that they care about the most highly awarded event in the history of Australian music. Regardless, I will always find a way for Bluesfest to go forward – that is my job.”
As of yesterday, Bluesfest is back in discussions with the government about potential support, which Noble believes is a direct result of the media hubbub around the festival’s future. But while the state government has been slow to act on his call to arms, there has been a groundswell of support from the general public.
“Due to my clarion call, we’re potentially going to have our most successful festival yet,” notes Noble. “We’re on the path to selling out, with 89,000 passes sold and I’m sure we’ll go past 90,000 after [yesterday’s] artist announcement. We’re probably the best-selling festival in Australia at the moment. We’ve been shown that people care about events and culture.”
“I think the next move should be that festivals announce at least some of their headline talent for the following year at their current festival”
In fact, Noble is already booking Bluesfest’s 2026 edition and says he currently has around 152 artists on offer.
“I think the next move should be that festivals announce at least some of their headline talent for the following year at their current festival,” he says. “There are 100,000 people on site. That’s your opportunity to sell your next event. Let’s get together as industry and do this. Agents, sell me the talent now for 2026 and I’ll buy it and announce it.”
While the gathering’s future is secure for now, a raft of other Australian festivals are battling for survival. This year has been littered with high-profile casualties such as Splendour in the Grass, Spilt Milk, Harvest Rock, Groovin The Moo, Coastal Jam, Summerground, Vintage Vibes, Tent Pole: A Musical Jamboree and ValleyWays.
The sector has been beleaguered with a laundry list of challenges including bushfires, floods, the pandemic, rising insurance costs, the cost-of-living crisis, state regulations and enduring interest rates.
These woes were distilled in a Creative Australia report that revealed that only half of the country’s festivals are profitable. Australia’s House of Representatives has responded to the plight of the festival sector – and the music industry as a whole – with a new inquiry but Noble says the government needs to do more.
“I’m trying to get some degree of an understanding with the new government that festivals have a great cultural value”
“It’s a tragedy seeing Splendour in the Grass and others bite the dust because we need those events,” he says. “The real efforts need to be squarely put in the hands of government. At the federal level, there is $6.6 million for festivals nationally that can be awarded in grants. Put another zero behind that, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Two zeros behind it might actually make a difference and keep our industry working.
“I’m trying to get some degree of an understanding with the new government that festivals have a great cultural value, but underneath that is this great economic stimulus that occurs and the government needs to recognise that in times of difficulty.”
Bluesfest 2025 takes place from 17-20 April 2025 with a line-up including Crowded House, Crowded House, Vance Joy, Tones and I, Ocean Alley, Here Come The Mummies, The California Honeydrops, Taj Farrant, Cimafunk, Neal Francis, Pierce Brothers, WILSN, and 19-Twenty.
A previous version of this article erroneously stated that at the federal level, there is $6.6 billion for festivals nationally. The correct amount is $6.6 million.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Live Performance Australia (LPA), the peak body for Australia’s live performance industry, has appointed Eric Lassen as CEO.
Lassen brings experience as the former CEO of PayPal Australia and senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Live Nation Entertainment.
In addition to those roles, Lassen has served on several not-for-profit boards, including as the president of the Music Forward Foundation.
He succeeds Evelyn Richardson who announced in June that she would step down from her role at the end of the year after an 18-year tenure.
“Australia is home to some of the world’s best creative talent and arts and business leaders, and I’m keen to work alongside them in building and advocating for a sustainable, successful and growing industry which will excite, engage and entertain current and future generations of Australian and international audiences,” says Lassen.
“Australia is home to some of the world’s best creative talent and arts and business leaders, and I’m keen to work alongside them”
Live Performance Australia president Richard Evans added, “While audiences have returned in strong numbers since COVID, our Members are rebuilding and adapting to the post-pandemic environment, and dealing with a challenging economic and business environment, as well as managing policy and regulatory change.
“Eric’s demonstrated leadership experience and ability to successfully navigate complex business, policy and regulatory issues will ensure that LPA stays at the forefront in representing our Members’ best interests and supporting their growth and success.”
Evelyn Richardson adds: “The industry has grown strongly and evolved significantly over the past couple of decades, notwithstanding the disruption inflicted by the pandemic and other challenges along the way.
“It is driven by the passion and resilience of those who create, produce and present live performance. While the current economic and business climate continues to pose challenges, I have every confidence the industry has a bright future and that LPA will continue to play a leading role as its advocate and champion.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.