Dedicated support is finally coming to live music venues.
The support is here – after months of waiting, Victoria’s live music venues will receive support to the tune of $15 million as part of a support package announced by the state government.
The package is designed to help live music venues survive the lockdown while also aiding them with their return to business, providing employment opportunities for those who make live music happen – the artists, crew, bookers, promoters and more.
Titled the Victorian Live Music Venues Program, the initiative will cater for Victorian venues with a capacity of between 50 and 1,200 people and who have a solid reputation for “presenting original live music and demonstrate best practice in business operations”, as per a statement from Creative Victoria.
Creatives across the board have lost work as a result of the venue shutdowns and there has been a genuine risk of many live music venues faltering due to the severity of the situation.
The importance of Melbourne’s live music scene is evident by the numbers: More than 17.5 million people attend a gig in Victoria in a calendar year while in 2017, it was found by Music Victoria that $1.42 billion was spent in small venues and at concerts and festivals. There are 553 active live music venues in Greater Melbourne, hosting more than 73,000 gigs per year.
Melbourne is globally recognised as a live music capital and is home to more live music venues per capita than any other city in the world.
The announcement comes after a collective group of Victorian live music venues launched their own petition, titled ‘Save Our Scene’, which stood as an open plea to the government for support.
Find out more about the support package here. Applications for support are open from July 16 to August 6 and can be made here.
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