Research

Live music dollars boost the Australian economy three times over 

National research conducted by the University of Tasmania and released Wednesday 12 August, 2015 by the Live Music Office shows the live music sector contributed $15.7 billion of value to the Australian community in 2014, providing vital commercial, individual and civic benefits.

The report, The Economic and Cultural Value of Live Music in Australia 2014, set out to value the economic, social and cultural contribution of the Australian live music industry with both a national consumer survey undertaken alongside a survey of venues in Hobart, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. This is the first research of this scale completed since 2011.

This research was undertaken in partnership with the University of Tasmania, City of Sydney Council, City of Melbourne, The Government of South Australia, and The Live Music Office as an initiative of the City of Sydney Live Music and Performance Taskforce.

“Our research shows that for every dollar spent on live music, three dollars of benefit is returned to the wider community. This is a significant, and unrecognised, contribution that includes the dollars that flow to the national economy as well as the ways experiencing live music enriches people’s lives.” – Dr. Dave Carter, Lecturer in Music Technology at University of Tasmania.

Other key findings from the research include:

The research also investigated many long-standing industry perceptions. In Sydney for example, barriers to live music sustainability included licensing conditions, sound abatement and direct and indirect costs, particularly rent.

Venues in Melbourne scored competition, market saturation, location and gentrification as barriers.

Venues in Adelaide scored gentrification as the biggest barrier, while in Hobart, relative isolation was the main barrier to commercial success.

“This research is an important milestone for the Australian live music industry. We’ve created a benchmark for governments and the community to understand the importance of live music to Australian culture, community and the economy.” – John Wardle, Policy Director at the Live Music Office.

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