» Fans spend on overseas acts, attendance drops at local gigs

Attendance is declining for live music at pubs and clubs, fertile ground for local musicians to find and grow their audiences.

Festivals were also moving through a period of “significant adaptation”, facing changing patterns of audience behaviour and later purchasing of tickets, the report said. Dozens of music festivals have been cancelled since the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has also been a drop in the number of Australians featured on Australia’s ARIA charts and triple j’s Hottest 100.

“This changing behaviour corresponds with a spate of big international acts touring Australia after the pandemic and an excitement to get back to big, live events,” the report said.

The findings come on the eve of the election as the lobby group, Save Our Arts, has run a series of forums on the future of Australian music.

“We’ve seen Australian stories squeezed out of global streaming platforms with just 3 and 5 per cent Australian content there. Emerging Australian musicians are increasingly hard to find and buried in Spotify,” said campaign director David Latham.

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The report’s findings are based on four audience surveys and focus group studies with Australians, primarily aged 18-55.

Each survey – distributed via social media and other channels – garnered over 3500 respondents, skewing geographically to Victoria and female fans.

Half of those surveyed said they would like to attend more events featuring Australian artists but didn’t know where to find out about them.

Cost was the primary barrier: almost three-quarters (72 per cent) had saved up money to attend one or more major live music events in the past 12 months.

Director of Music Australia, Millie Millgate, said the research confirmed Australians valued live music, even in tough times.

“People still save for gigs that matter to them, showing there’s still strong appetite for live music – especially experiences that feel rare and bring people together.”

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