The South Australian music industry is set to benefit from suite of coordinated industry support as Music SA deliver annual data to evaluate the health of the industry with their Live Music Census, a thorough and up to date Live Music Toolkit for Councils, as well as expanding the Umbrella Festival to Regional South Australia and for the now 9th year, continuing the very successful Superloop Adelaide 500.
Live Music Census
Now in its 5th year, the May 2019 Live Music Census data shows the live music sector building on previous years, including:
- 1623 gigs in 309 licensed venues across the state. This extrapolates to nearly 20,000 gigs a year.
- Adelaide metro presented 1315 gigs across 211 licensed venues – a 23% increase in gigs from last year’s census. 39% of gigs were original and 61% were covers.
- Regional gigs increased 3% from 2018.
CEO of Music SA Lisa Bishop says “The live music census reveals that the level of gigging live in licensed venues in Adelaide is positive and we have witnessed sustained growth over the last 5 years. This is grass roots testament that contemporary musicians and bricks n’ mortar pubs are contributing to the mantel of Adelaide as a UNESCO City of Music. Look no further than the amazing number of bushfire fundraiser gigs in your local gig guide to see this in action.”
Click here for the Music SA Live Music Census 2019
Umbrella Festival
The 2020 Ubrella Festival is now set to expand to Regional South Australia. Established in 2016, Umbrella continues to grow in live music events by 30% each year and sees contemporary performances by local, national and international artists across pop, rock, hip hop, punk, jazz, world music, metal, folk, electronic and everything in between!
Umbrella grew 89% in registered events between 2018 and 2019, with 380 live music events all up across the 17 days. Now, in 2020, Umbrella has expanded to a 23 day festival (July 17 – Aug 9).
Registrations are now open – See link
Live Music Toolkit
In support of the 2020 regional expansion of the Umbrella Festival, Music SA has launched the first ever Live Music Toolkit, a practical resource to assist local and regional councils in activating more live music.
Made possible with a grant from the Local Government Association Research and Development Fund, the toolkit emphasises the economic and social benefits of live music to local communities.
“Live music is a tourism drawcard, provides economic benefits to local businesses, helps with the wellbeing and career aspirations of young people and has also been shown to connect Australians from diverse backgrounds living in multicultural communities,” Ms Bishop said.
The Live Music Office was also able to assist in the development of this resource,
Click here for the Music SA Live Music Toolkit
Superloop Adelaide 500
The 2020 Superloop Adelaide 500 will feature over 40 performances across 5 stages by local musicians, as well as the the race day concerts with national headliners, including SA’s own Hilltop Hoods. This is a big increase from 8 local acts in previous years, and will provide a fantastic opportunity for SA artists to perform to a wider audience in 2020.
