Australian managers propose ‘support act rule’

Australia’s Association of Artist Managers (AAM) has unveiled a policy called Michael’s Rule, which would ensure international tours include at least one local artist among the support acts.

The campaign bears the name of Michael McMartin, the legendary artist manager who guided the career of Sydney-hailing rock band Hoodoo Gurus for more than 40 years.

Michael’s Rule is broken down into three main tenets: every international artist must include an Australian artist among their opening acts; the Australian artist must appear on the same stage as the international artist using reasonable sound and lighting; and the Australian artist must be announced at the same time as the tour so that they benefit from all the marketing and promotion.

The policy was presented at the 2024 AAM Awards by its executive director, Maggie Collins, who said: “Promoters received significant public funding during the pandemic and they understandably continue to receive public support for some of their major events. We think it is only reasonable that, in return, they should ‘do their bit’ to help give Australian artists a leg up by the simple means of including at least one local act on every international tour.

“We need more Australians loving more Australian music”

“If there’s one overarching issue that managers have been flagging time and time again, it is this: we need more Australians loving more Australian music. We have a major discoverability problem and if we don’t solve this issue, which is both economical and cultural.

“Had Michael’s Rule existed for major international tours, such as Taylor Swift’s seven-date The Eras Tour, which visited Sydney and Melbourne in 2023, how many more fans could we have introduced to a local artist and started creating our own megastar of the future?”

The Support Act rule had once been a widely accepted industry code after lobbying by artist managers in the early 2000s.

With the launch of Michael’s Rule, a voluntary code, senior artist managers call for its reintroduction “at this time of crisis for Australian music,” reads a statement from AAM.

The trade body, which represents more than 300 artist managers, says that if promoters don’t cooperate, it will make formal representations for federal government to step in and make it a condition of issuing visas to international artists touring Australia.

Coldplay are already ahead of the game, having last year launched a competition to find a homegrown support act for their sold-out shows in Perth, Australia.

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