City of Fremantle suggests government subsidy for live music venues

The City of Fremantle has highlighted the ongoing challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry in its delivery of a list of priorities at a federal parliamentary inquiry.

Representatives from the City's Arts and Culture team appeared at a public hearing in Perth last Thursday. The City of Fremantle was the only local government to appear at the Perth hearing, and was joined by the WA Government, the WA Music Industry Association, musicians, DJs, promoters, agents and venues.

City of Fremantle Director of Creative Arts and Community Pete Stone said local government plays a critical role in supporting the live music industry and showcasing local emerging artists.

Stone advised "Fremantle is a cultural hub with a unique and genuinely authentic live music scene. We, as a local government, felt obliged to advocate for what is such a big part of our community and identity as a city.

"We asked the government to invest and partner in initiatives to ensure that Freo’s grassroots live music economy is healthy and sustainable. This will have a positive flow-on effect to the rest of the industry.

"As well as support for venue infrastructure, we suggested a government subsidy for live music venues to offset spiralling costs and help support a diverse annual program.

"We would welcome further assistance by way of incentives to attract touring acts, due to the high travel costs to WA, which would help with the programming of major touring venues such as the Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle Prison, Freo Social and Mojo's.”

Some of the themes from the national hearings have included the high cost of putting on live music affecting venues and artists, change of ticket buying behaviour, competition in the market with international touring artists not supporting local artists.

Support for audience development campaigns, marketing the live music experience is key with live music consumption changing.

Stone added "some audiences unplugged during the pandemic, and we need to re-engage and help people plug back in. We do this by refreshing our programming, but a targeted campaign is needed to bring audiences back.”

In preparing its written submission, the City sat down with representatives from the live music community, with diverse skillsets and experience, to dissect the issues specific to Fremantle and Western Australia.

As well as being the birthplace of many nationally and internationally renowned musical acts, Fremantle is also home to a wealth of long-running live music institutions, recording studios, record labels and music promoters.

A strength of the Fremantle music community is the artistic knowledge cultivated and passed on through generations, and a preparedness to collaborate, often born out of necessity.

The next generation of musical talent is being nurtured in educational facilities located in Fremantle, like John Curtin College of the Arts, Fremantle College and Hilton Primary School.

The City emphasised the importance of local government working in collaboration with schools, citing the example of the City-produced 'Future Treasures' industry development program that has provided a pathway for young musicians.

The House of Representatives Committee will prepare a report for the Australian Government to consider.