Gold Coast music: Council forms Music Advisory Group to bring more live acts to the city
Gold Coast City Council has set up a Music Advisory Group to foster grassroot acts and bring more live music to the city. These are its members.
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GOLD Coast City Council has set up a Music Advisory Group to foster grassroot acts and help bring more live gigs to the city.
The nine-member body follows the council’s Music Action Plan 2021, which provides recommendations on how to promote Gold Coast music and build stronger partnerships across all tiers of government, peak bodies and private enterprise.
The new Music Advisory Group includes venue manager and promoter Mark Duckworth, town planning consultant Matthew Schneider, music publicist Kylie Cobb, music event and project specialist Graham Ashton, record producer Brad Hosking, IVEY band member Lachlan McGuffie, Oztix senior business development manager Brad Hinds and record label owner Denise Foley. It will be chaired by Southern Cross University chief marketing officer Dean Gould.
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The Gold Coast music industry is said to generate more than $2 million sales.
“What we really want to do is create an environment in the city that enables us to foster music careers,” Mr Gould said.
“We have venue operators, industry professionals, performers and administrative experts. We will be looking to utilise their skills, networks and connections of those advisory members in formal meetings.”
The members will be meeting “several times a year” at different locations across the Gold Coast. The first meeting will be on January 20 at the council headquarters.
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In September last year Mayor Tom Tate said the first task he would like the Music Advisory Group to tackle is if the city needed a boutique music hub seating up to 10,000 people, or if a venue needed revamping.
Tourism Minister Kate Jones told the Bulletin late last month she was in negotiation with one of Australia’s biggest music promoters Live Nation to make the stadium a reality.
Mr Gould said it would probably be one of the first things the group would discuss in the meeting but did not believe it was needed.
“That’s not going to solve the problem. That’s focusing on an international level,” he said.
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“What we really want to do is create an environment in the city that enables music careers to foster. And that happens having a progression of venues.
“What we don’t have enough of at the moment is the mid-range (venue for) 200 to 1000 (people).”
However, music publicist Kylie Cobb felt a stadium was viable for the city.
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“We want to make sure the Gold Coast is on the international touring map,” she said.
“That’s part of a thriving music scene. If we can host major artists here, our emerging bands will get to go on tour with them.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said 2020 would be a big year for the Gold Coast music industry.
“It is fantastic to see the calibre of people we have on board as part of the group to help steer our music industry,” he said.
“2020 is going to be a golden year for music on the Gold Coast as we start to see the Music Action Plan in full swing and starting the New Year with international artists such as Queen.
“I’ll also continue my pursuit of the boutique stadium.”
Gold Coast’s entertainment king Billy Cross said: “The advisory group are amazing people. There’s a good mix of people and everyone had their strengths. I think it’s a positive thing.”
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