It’s not just grumpy old men who want mobile phones banned at concerts; at least 27% of those aged 16-30 also support the move. 37% in favour say phones are distracting, 34% say they take away from the experience, 20% think they block the view of the act, and 8% consider them disrespectful to the act. But of the 74% who use their phones, 62% want to capture the experience to relive it, 24% want to share on social media, and 13% think it’s their right as ticket buyers. The survey was conducted by UK ticketing platform Skiddle.
Not only did Earthcore face having to cancel its shows in two other states because of low ticket sales, but the show in Victoria left the blueys fuming. One in 11 drivers tested for drugs afterwards tested positive, with 38 facing prosecution. Senior Sergeant Ian Brooks said 430 drugs tests and 1420 preliminary breath tests were conducted. Two punters were also done for drunk driving.
The Victorian Government’s latest round of grants, totalling $550,000 through its $22.2 million Music Works program, saw 50 acts able to tour abroad and locally, and make and/or market recordings. A number of organisations also got moolah to continue their work. These included Girls Rock Melbourne ($22,500) for a five-day music camp for female, trans, and gender diverse youth (aged 10-17 years); The Push ($28,750) to stage events and activities; Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio ($30,000) for tuition and masterclasses in production and composition; 3PBS ($6,000) to broadcast 15 emerging acts on Drive Live; and City of Maribyrnong’s Bandmates ($10,000) which pairs people with disabilities and mental health with volunteers to see gigs together. See full list at creative.vic.gov.au/news.
Streaming has made songwriting the fastest growing export. APRA AMCOS reported foreign royalties collected have doubled in the past two years to $43.5 million. French DJ Kungs’ remix of Melbourne band Cookin’ On 3 Burners’ 2009 song ‘This Girl’ generated one billion streams in 18 months.
At the Electronic Music Conference in Sydney last week, it seemed the EDM community is moving to set up its own lobby group as, it claims, ARIA and AIR don’t address their issues.
Fun and games on the red carpet at the ARIAs. While most of the attention was on Kirin J Callinan lifting his kilt to flash his dick for a few seconds (something about making an anarchist statement on the media’s obsession with the ARIAs), triple j’s Ben & Liam turned up with a car of doppelgangers imitating Meg Mac, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Peking Duk’s Adam Hyde to fool the photographers and journos. Apparently one TV guy was scammed by “Kevin Parker” babbling on about once seeing Daryl Braithwaite in concert.
New Signings: Melbourne multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter and vocalist Running Touch (also a founder of Ocean Grove) signed a worldwide music publishing deal with BMG, 123 Agency added breakout star Midas.Gold to its books.
