Photo: Allbackgrounds.com
In July 2012, Music Victoria released a position paper called The Case for Regulatory Reform. Written in conjunction with members of fellow advocacy groups Save Live Australia’s Music and FairGo4LiveMusic, it detailed a broken regulatory system that was failing the live music industry, which contributes $1billion to the economy.
The paper, which identified problems and offered detailed solutions, was presented to the newly formed Premier’s Live Music Roundtable, and then we set about with gusto to work through the problems with government.
Less than two years down the track, the live music industry – and indeed the entire performing arts sector – is in much better shape through this work because of these reforms:
- The reversal of liquor licensing policy that linked live music to high risk and recognition of live music in liquor legislation
- A Live Music Best Practice Guide to assist venues
- The return of all ages gigs
- Government commitment to strengthen the Agent of Change principle in planning law to protect venues
- A forthcoming review of the State Environment Protection Policy N-2 that will also help to protect venues
There is a still some work to do to ensure planning and EPA laws and regulations are brought up to date to better balance Victoria’s vibrant cultural economy and population explosion in the inner city, but the will is there from the Government and negotiations are advanced. It looks like common sense will prevail; after all, why should Victorians be muzzled from complaining about the noise emanating from Formula One racing cars, yet new residents can complain about existing venues that were complying with noise standards until they moved in?
These reforms will be a win-win for residents and music lovers, because laws will ensure that the buildings they move into will have to be properly sound attenuated, and they will be warned that they are moving into a cultural hub. And any new venues will also have to be properly attenuated when setting up in residential areas.The next step is to ensure there is a two-tiered approach to noise standards through the long overdue review of the EPA’s SEPP-N2 standards, because residents in inner city cultural hubs should expect a different level of amenity to residents in the leafy suburbs.
Music Victoria is also concerned about the end of the Palace Theatre’s 150 year reign as a cultural landmark, even though the landlord’s plans to replace the grandiose theatre with another hotel have been knocked back by the Planning Minister. These grand dames of buildings are a dying breed, and without heritage protection they will be replaced with generic hotels and apartment buildings. If we are not careful, there will be none left in ten years, and then where will all of the residents and tourists staying in the city to be close to the action go for a uniquely Melbourne cultural experience?
But we cannot get complacent. Reforms will simply fix the broken regulatory system that was failing the music industry.
So Music Victoria has launched its follow up paper – Position and Priorities – which identifies further opportunities for the Government to engage with the music industry, and proposes 19 recommendations that offer economic and social dividends to the state.
In the paper, Music Victoria urges the Government to take a holistic approach to deliver positive outcomes for the music sector, which in turn will deliver broad economic and social benefits. The recommendations fall across not just the arts portfolio but a multitude of interconnected portfolios including Regional and Rural Development, Tourism and Major Events, Innovation Services and Small Business, and Employment and Trade.
The recommendations include:
- Apply for Melbourne to become a UNESCO City of Music
- Establish a Contemporary Music Centre with an interactive Hall of Fame
- Establish a Regional Live Music Office and Strategy
- Establish a Quick Response Grant Program for career-defining opportunities
- Promote the Melbourne Music City brand to the world
- Introduce two-tiered noise standards to differentiate between cultural clusters and quieter neighbourhoods
Music Victoria is heartened by recent meetings with the Government attended by three Ministers. It is acknowledgement of the holistic approach needed to fulfil the potential of one of the state’s greatest assets: music.
The paper’s recommendations vary from requesting more support from portfolios such as Tourism Victoria and Regional Development, to some interconnected big ticket items such as the commitment to apply for a UNESCO City of Music status, and the establishment of a contemporary music Hall of Fame and music hub.
While we would rather resources going directly to benefit artists than spent on big new buildings, we have seen the amazing support that flowed onto the literary sector after gaining the UNESCO City of Literature status, with the Wheeler Centre and the Premier’s Literary Awards. We have also learnt from the mistakes after the $40million plus State Government investment into the Docklands (film and TV) Studios. Visitation at Docklands is not what it could have been because there is not enough for the public to see. Our plans for a Hall of Fame/hub would have interactive, educational and performance value adds that would bring in tourists from all around the world. We have the figures to prove that Melbourne is one of the music capitals of the world – it’s time the sector received the same levels of support as film, TV and literature.
If you support what we have achieved, and our vision for the music industry’s future, you can join up for as little as $33 at Music Victoria.
