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: Identical Aussie twins have gone ridiculously viral in the US after giving an interview following a horror carjacking spree. Words by Ella McIlveen. Source: News.com.au.
🎵 Music: ‘It’s urgent that we send a message to our politicians’: Major Australian musicians turn out for ‘Vote Climate’ event. Words by Neil Griffiths. Source: Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
📰 Media: Netflix ANZ director of content Que Minh Luu has stepped down from her role after five years at the streamer. Source: AdNews.
💰 Advertising: Australian agencies and brands need to make work that isn't designed to primarily win awards, holds onto a streak of “mongrel” defiance, and shapes “culture culture” not “LinkedIn culture”, leading CCOs and CSOs from Droga5, Special, BMF, Ogilvy, and DDB have implored. Words by Brittney Rigby. Source: Little Black Book.
📲 Tech: Google says its AI-powered search has accelerated shopping behaviours — as boundaries blur between online activities — but marketers on the ground have offered a contradictory viewpoint. Words by Nathan Jolly. Source: Mumbrella.
📜 Government: The podcast company associated with the satirical news publication Betoota Advocate has been quietly contracted to run an election podcast strategy for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on behalf of the Labor Party. Words by Tynan King. Source: ABC News.
🌶️ Spicy: The Liberal Party has removed a social media post after a Gold Coast influencer threatened to sue the Federal opposition for allegedly twisting a pro-Greens video to attack the minor party. Words by Calum Jaspan. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.
Strength: Putting Money Where Your Music Is
With the Federal Election just around the corner, it seems like the music industry’s future is finally a talking point, and monetary commitments are starting to come through.
👉 Current Minister for the Arts Tony Burke has made a $16.4 million election commitment to extend 'Revive Live', noting that "Venues and festivals are under huge pressure at the moment".
👉 Senator Hanson-Young and the Australian Greens, meanwhile, have unveiled a $20 million-a-year plan to keep the country's live music scene alive in the face of skyrocketing insurance costs, extreme weather and the cost-of-living crunch.
👉 And outside of the Federal jurisdiction, NSW's Minister for Music and the Night-Time Economy (among other things), John Graham, has announced over $2 million in emergency funding for five music festivals.
👉 The funding is the first round to come from the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund, which was established in September last year, and will be distributed across Bluesfest (Byron Bay), Lost Paradise (Central Coast), Yours And Owls (Wollongong), Listen Out (Sydney) and Field Day (Sydney).
Weakness: A Pause On Celebrations
Sad news emerged this week that the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) will not go ahead in 2025.
👉 Commercial Radio and Audio has told its members that the ACRAs won't proceed this year, however they have promised the event will return in 2026.
👉 CRA cited the need to reallocate resources in 2025 across "crucial priorities, including significant cost pressures incurred from ongoing legal matters with the PPCA".
👉 As Mumbrella’s Nathan Jolly explains: “The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) and CRA have been battling over the Fair Pay for Radio Play Bill 2023. The bill would remove the existing royalty cap paid by Australian commercial radio stations. Current copyright legislation caps the total to 1% of a station’s yearly revenue.”
👉 CRA did promise it would use the lull to "reimagine how we recognise excellence in Australian audio", and would "review and refresh our awards categories, judging process, and events execution".
Opportunity: More Support For The Creative Industries
Workers in creative fields can now capitalise on the opportunity to look after themselves more and be heard, in an increasingly complex and chaotic industry.
👉 Mental health support is now available to all creative industries workers, including those working across music, screen, literature, theatre and visual arts.
👉 The support comes via the Support Act Wellbeing Helpline, which has been expanded following industry consultation and Government support via Creative Workplaces, after initially being set up for the music industry.
👉 The need for the Helpline is supported by findings from the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Music and Creative Arts Survey from late last year.
👉 The survey of 1,518 people working professionally across the music and creative arts industries, found 53.5% had high or very high levels of psychological distress, almost four times the general Australian population, among some other alarming statistics.
Threat: AI On The Airwaves
It was the story everyone was talking about this week…
👉 It emerged late last week that ARN’s youth-skewing audio offering CADA, was using AI as a Workday announcer.
👉 Questions were first asked by Stephanie Coombes via her Substack newsletter, The Carpet, where she noted: “If Thy isn’t real, this is a profound misstep by CADA and their parent company of ARN. Like many Australian media companies, ARN has a very white on-air talent lineup. How white? Well, I looked through the host lineup for KIIS, GOLD and CADA – ARN’s three major radio brands which broadcast around the country. Across nine stations, it seems that there’s only one person who outwardly presents as diverse.”
👉 Stephanie concluded: “If we can’t look to radio, print or television as a trusted authority on what is real and what is computer generated, then we will have nowhere left to turn.”
👉 Once it was confirmed that the presenter ‘Thy’ wasn’t a real person, mainstream media coverage started (and then went bananas), and questions were asked (but not necessarily answered) about media transparency, ethical broadcasting, the future of radio announcers, and how far is too far.
The Fun Stuff
Quote of the Week: “You’re telling me all this time people could just watch one movie and be like ‘Yeah that should win all the awards’. Were they just voting on vibes?” – People reacting to the news that those determining the winners of the Oscars will now actually have to watch all the films in a category before casting their vote.
🗓️ Event of the Week: The inaugural Music Data and Insights Summit will take place on 28-29 April at Collingwood Yards. The event, from the Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) will focus on the intersection of data, policy and culture, and will aim to equip music professionals, academics and policymakers with cutting-edge research and insights to shape the future of the local music industry. You can view the full program and register here.
🌏 Team Tidbit: Sound Story's Melbourne-based contingent Jane and Geoff were behind the scenes of the launch of Green Music Australia's NO MUSIC ON A DEAD PLANET live billboard last week at Richmond's Corner Hotel. The event saw Missy Higgins, Sam Teskey, Angie McMahon and more pledge their support to the campaign, and was also attended by some of the team at UNIFIED Music Group including CEO and Founder Jaddan Comerford, who lent his own signature to the cause.
