Welcome to SWOT by Sound Story, your inside track on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats looming for the creative industries.
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⚡ Trending: Please listen to Mark Zuckerberg performing ‘Get Low’ with T-Pain. Words by Jessica Bursztynsky. Source: Fast Company.
🎵 Music: The White Stripes drop lawsuit against Trump campaign for unauthorised ‘Seven Nation Army’ use. Words by Laura Snapes. Source: The Guardian.
📰 Media: ‘We hold ourselves to account’: Seven CEO addresses workplace misconduct and controversy during Upfront. Words by Neil Griffiths. Source: Mumbrella.
💰 Advertising: ‘There were some difficult conversations’ – How Abbie Chatfield’s ‘risqué’ content proved to be a hit for Tourism NT. Words by Neil Griffiths. Source: Mumbrella.
📲 Tech: OpenAI just won a copyright battle brought by two news outlets. What could this mean for the music industry’s lawsuits against AI firms? Words by Daniel Tencer. Source: Music Business Worldwide.
📜 Government: ‘The drafting should already be taking place’: Social media ban for children may start before Christmas. Words by Nathan Jolly. Source: Mumbrella.
🌶️ Spicy: Wicked movie caught in X-rated p*rn disaster. Words by Christine Estera. Source: News.com.au.
Strength: Aussie Music Takes the Stage
There’s a lot going on for Aussie musicians at the moment, if the raft of recent announcements and accolades are anything to go by.
👉 A number of Aussie acts are up for 2025 Grammy Awards.
👉 People seem particularly thrilled for Aussie export Troye Sivan, who is up for Best Pop Dance Recording.
👉 And speaking of awards, the ARIA Awards has announced its hosting lineup, spearheaded by Nova Drive Co-Host, Tim Blackwell.
👉 Plus, triple j and Double J have revealed this year's J Awards nominees.
👉 The list includes the likes of Amyl And The Sniffers, SPEED, and Emily Wurramara, among others.
Weakness: Airlines, Again
Australians love to fly, both domestically and internationally. So why do our local airlines continually find themselves on the receiving end of bad headlines, bad consumer perceptions and bad vibes?
👉 Well, mostly, because they keep doing things wrong, to an infuriating degree.
👉 But beyond that, they have also done some woeful storytelling in recent weeks.
👉 Why, for example, did they think it was a good idea to blame Coldplay and footy finals (some of our favourite things) for their own high airfare prices?
👉 Qantas is already in the spotlight for its apparent undue influence on politics, politicians and policy, so did they really think this narrative would land?
👉 With some reports saying “There’s little reason to be optimistic about things changing anytime soon” when it comes to ticket price surges, we imagine the airlines will have an uphill battle to win over consumers in the months ahead.
Opportunity: A New Record Label?
A beer brand has launched a record label. Wait, what?
👉 Local beer brand, and start-up success story, Heaps Normal has announced an in-house record label and artist support program.
👉 Heaps Normal CEO and co-founder, Andy Miller, said: “We want to bring together all of our work in and with the music industry, to build on the investments we’ve made in the music industry over the past four years, to make the records that might not have otherwise been made and give a leg up to musicians building their profiles,”
👉 He added: “It’s tough right now in Australia for musicians to break through and find a sustainable footing in the music business. There isn’t always a clear path forward, and navigating the systemic and financial barriers standing between an artist and a thriving career is challenging to say the least. And let’s face it, our live music industry needs more support. Venues, in particular, have borne the brunt of rising costs of compliance, promotion and production, hamstringing their ability to support live music in the way they might want to.”
👉 The venture is backed by UNIFIED Music Group’s recently launched Community Music, which will support Heaps Normal Records’ artists with digital distribution and digital channel management, including its first roster signing, Sydney heavy metal band, Barb.
👉 Plus, Miraval is offering free studio time at Brightside Studios in November for musicians.
Threat: Trade Press Troubles
There was a trade press story this week which caught our attention, and it seems we’re not the only ones.
👉 Unmade had a tasty headline on Tuesday: ‘How a spat between a minnow publisher and computing giant showcases the existential threat faced by the trade press’.
👉 This tasty headline was based on an even spicier post from slightly outside our daily reading rituals. SMB Tech had posted an article titled ‘Dirty Dell: A Lesson in How NOT To Do PR & Marketing’.
👉 The original blog post is actually quite confronting. It charts a journalist’s struggles with getting the very brands he writes about to support his venture, and also explores how brands communicate with trade press and niche publications, as well as doing the ‘right’ thing versus the ‘legal’ thing.
👉 Tim Burrowes called it a “primal scream from the trade press”.
👉 It also asked the poignant question: “The question for those better-paid PR professionals: If people like Nick Ross are all driven off the beat, what happens to your job?”
The Fun Stuff
Quote of the Week: "After more than 15 years in the Oz music scene and annoying artists for interviews (and free tickets!), I can say with confidence that our country is home to some of the world's most outstanding musical talent. We punch above our weight, hard! I'm thrilled to be part of the ARIAs and to help celebrate that talent this year," this year’s ARIA Awards host, Tim Blackwell on landing his dream gig.
📺 Show of the Week: Some of the Sound Story team are obsessed with the headlines, quotes and storylines coming out of Martha on Netflix. With the documentary on Martha Stewart generating headlines like these, who can blame them?
