The future of live music in Australia has been left looking uncertain after a string of festivals were axed this year amid low ticket sales and the cost-of-living crisis.
Splendour In The Grass and Groovin the Moo were among the popular festivals to suddenly get the axe this year in a huge blow, with their return dates not known.
The string of cancellations have prompted growing fears about Australia’s local live music scene, while globally famous artists like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Childish Gambino continue to thrive Down Under.
And now the Association of Artist Managers (AAM) has called for global support in the face of the Australian industry crisis.
Maggie Collins, the Executive Director of the AAM, exclusively told Daily Mail Australia: ‘As our world grows smaller with globalisation, it has its unique effects on certain markets across the world.
The future of live music in Australia has been left looking uncertain after a string of festivals were axed this year, while global stars such as Taylor Swift continue to sell-out their gigs
‘The Australian music industry is experiencing an upheaval unlike any it has ever seen before, and the result is that less Australians are listening to less Australian music.’
The AAM’s artist manager membership represents some of Australia’s biggest names including Tame Impala, Vance Joy and G Flip, and they have advocated for international stars supporting more local talents.
They called for the music industry to introduce a new rule to ensure that local artists are promoted by international talents during their tours Down Under.
Named after the late Hoodoo Gurus manager, Michael’s Rule would mandate that local stars would have to open for every international tour visiting Australia.
It argues that the Aussie artist should appear on stage at the same time as the main artist, while their involvement should be announced at the same time as the tour.
The AAM – which represents stars including G Flip – called for a new rule to be introduced to ensure that local artists are promoted by international talents during their tours Down Under
‘There are an array of environmental, geographical and market factors that have brought us to this point, but The Association of Artist Managers has highlighted one solution in particular that has received support across the board.
‘That solution is to ensure all international acts coming to Australia have an Australian act somewhere on their line-up. We’re calling it ‘Michael’s Rule’ in dedication to the late, great artist manager Michael McMartin.
‘We are calling on international artists wanting to perform to their Aussie fans, to consider and support the local music scene, much like they would consider cultural, ethical, and environmental factors of a market they plan to tour in.’
A-list pop stars have started to flock back to Australia this year after Covid cancellations and other issues, securing huge sell-out gigs around the country.
However, their huge success amid the struggling music landscape has only added to concerns, with local artists urging them to do more to support Aussie talents.
Splendour In The Grass (pictured) and Groovin the Moo were among the popular festivals to suddenly get the axe this year in a huge blow, with their return dates not known
Taylor Swift recently performed for more than 600,000 Aussies across her seven sold-out Eras concerts, while thousands more fans were unable to even get tickets.
Pink and Fred Again also took Australia by storm as they performed at a string of gigs around the country earlier this year, with huge numbers of fans flocking to see them live.
Olivia Rodrigo sent fans wild in recent weeks as she confirmed her first Australian tour and almost immediately sold-out her eight shows in Sydney and Melbourne.
Meanwhile, Childish Gambino has also proved hugely popular as he has booked in six shows around the country for February 2025, with some tickets still up for grabs.
Elsewhere this year, Coldplay, Take That, Iron Maiden and James Blunt are amongst the globally recognised names set to travel Down Under for a string of huge shows.
But their success comes amid the struggling local music scene, with global artists continuing to sell huge numbers of tickets while festivals have been canned amid low ticket sales.
Amid the difficult time in the music industry, the international stars have come under fire for not supporting Aussie musicians while taking to the stage Down Under.
While Olivia, 21, signed up New Zealand singer Benee to warm up the crowds on her Aussie Guts tour and Pink was recently supported by Tones and I, most artists have opted for international talents, rather than promoting locally known talents.
Taylor, 34, was accompanied by American megastar Sabrina Carpenter and didn’t perform any Aussie music, while Childish Gambino will be supported by US singer-songwriter Amaarae next year.
Calls have increased for the huge stars to show their support for local talents on their sell-out tours, with Aussie indie-pop group Angus and Julia sharing their thoughts.
The success of global names such as Taylor Swift amid the struggling music landscape has only added to concerns, with local artists urging them to do more to support Aussie talents
The sibling duo said they understand singers rejecting festival gigs because they can make more money at their own shows, but stressed the importance of bolstering local talents.
‘International artists obviously are saying no to festivals now because they can make more money doing their own shows, which is, you know, fair enough, that’s up to them as a business,’ Julia told ABC News earlier this month.
‘It is important that they have local support, particularly in a country like Australia that’s so geographically far away.’
‘When things start to fail, there’s this urgency for change,’ she added, while her brother Angus voiced the importance of Australians ‘backing’ one another.
Fears have been rising about the future of live music in Australia, with Tones and I issuing a dire warning on the topic after the cancellation of Splendour In The Grass.
While Olivia Rodrigo has signed up New Zealand singer Benee to warm up the crowds, most artists have opted for international talents, rather than promoting locally known talents
Childish Gambino (pictured in 2018) has booked in six shows around the country for February 2025 and will be supported by US singer-songwriter Amaarae
She urged fans to support local artists and events as well as international talents as she warned that Australia won’t ‘have any festivals’ left amid the cancellations.
She said on Instagram at the time: ‘Splendour in the Grass 2024 has been cancelled and it’s pretty sad as we also lost Groovin the Moo and Falls Festival in the past few years and we don’t know if it’s going to come back.
‘I think that it’s important now more than ever to buy tickets to your favourite bands, go to live shows, go to festivals even if you just love the atmosphere, because these guys aren’t coming back – some of these festivals can’t and they need that support.
‘I understand that everyone gets so excited when overseas artists come over, and that’s really exciting, but soon we’re really not going to have any festivals left, which is not only going to deter overseas acts from coming over but it’s really going to hinder the up-and-coming Australian live music scene.
‘Do your best to support local artists and local festivals in your own country if you can.’
Tones and I previously performed at Splendour in the Grass in 2019, when she rose to global fame with her smash hit Dance Monkey.
Australian rapper Illy also took to Instagram amid the string of festival cancellations to comment on how Aussie music culture has become ‘broken’ in recent years.
Aussie indie-pop group Angus and Julia called on international artists to show their support for local talents on their sell-out tours Down Under in a bid to improve the local music scene
The rapper, from Frankston, Victoria, drew comparisons between the success of global artists in Australia compared to local talents as he made his opinions clear.
Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – he said in March: ‘Yes Falls, Groovin, and now Splendour (not to mention countless smaller ones) go under, but Pink just did 20 stadium shows, Taylor Swift did 600,000+ tix, Fred again 100,000+ in a day.. it’s both, but it’s more cultural than cost of living.’
‘You can’t blame people for not wanting to spend money to go see acts they don’t want to. But the societal problem of resources being more and more concentrated applies to music too,’ he went on.
Pink (pictured in October in Arizona) recently took Australia by storm during her tour and she was supported by local talent Tones and I during the string of gigs
‘It’s why Taylor Swift has five of the top 10 albums on the aria chart for MONTHS (she’s great, and go Swifties, but that should be straight up embarrassing for all Australians).
‘I don’t know how you fix it but it’s totally cooked and I feel so bad for Australian artists on their come up because it’s so much harder than ever to break out.
‘Australian music hasn’t suddenly got worse but the level of support around it compared to pre-Covid provably, drastically, has. This is just the latest example.’
Elsewhere, Tones and I issued a dire warning on the topic after the cancellation of Splendour In The Grass as she urged Aussies to support local artists as well as international names
The concerns about the future of live music in Australia come after a huge number of festivals were shockingly cancelled at the last minute this year in a major blow.
Groovin The Moo is one of Australia’s largest music festivals and has been running every year since 2005, apart from 2020 and 2021, when it was halted due to Covid.
This year, the music extravaganza had been set to tour cities including Wayville, Canberra, Bendigo, Newcastle and the Sunshine Coast between April 25 and May 11.
The concerns about the future of live music in Australia come after a huge number of festivals were cancelled at the last minute this year, including Splendour In The Grass (pictured)
However, in February, organisers announced that the 2024 festival had been forced to cancel, just two months before it was set to kick off.
Just one week after tickets went on sale, organisers confirmed the regional shows would no longer be going ahead this year, citing poor ticket sales.
Splendour in the Grass had also been due to take place from July 19 to 21 at the North Byron Parklands, with Kylie Minogue headlining.
But the 2024 event was cancelled just weeks after the line-up was announced, with organisers citing ‘unexpected events’ as the reason behind the decision as its future remains uncertain.
Kylie Minogue had been set to headline the three-day music event in July, but organisers have confirmed that they had had to cancel the 2024 festival due to ‘unexpected events’
NYE In The Park collapsed after it was unable to pay its debts, while ValleyWays and Tent Pole Music Festival were also cancelled amid the ‘impossible’ economic climate.
NSW festival Return to Rio was also cancelled in May due to rising costs as they shared their hopes of returning in 2025.
They claimed that additional costs imposed by NSW Police and Health to cover policing and medical services have made it ‘almost impossible’ to run the event.
Pandemonium Rocks became one of the few festivals to go ahead with Alice Cooper and Blondie taking to the stage in April, though it was reduced to a one-stage event with a smaller line-up.
Meanwhile, Volume 2024 recently announced some big names amongst its line-up as it looks set to go ahead in a matter of weeks despite the string of cancellations.
Groovin The Moo (pictured in 2019) is one of Australia’s largest music festivals and has been running every year since 2005, but was cancelled this year due to poor ticket sales
Pandemonium Rocks became one of the few festivals to go ahead with Alice Cooper and Blondie taking to the stage, though it was reduced to a one-stage event with a smaller line-up
Volume, which will run from July 5 to 21, will be headlined by four artists including 48-year-old American rapper and singer-songwriter Andre 3000.
Former Sonic Youth guitarist and vocalist Kim Gordon, 71, will take to the stage for the first time in Australia since 2022.
Seven time ARIA award-winning local artist Genesis Owusu, 26, and Zimbawean-born singer-songwriter Tkay Maidza, 28, will also be headlining.
The festival will be held at the Art Gallery of NSW’s former WWII Oil Tank, a transformed performance space, following a successful stint last year.
