Push to end Aussie artists being robbed of support act roles in tours of international stars

Leaders in Australia’s music industry are backing calls for a new rule to stop homegrown talent missing out on support act roles, with Taylor Swift’s Eras tour cited as a recent example of a huge missed opportunity.

The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is backing calls for international musicians and promoters to put Aussies on the big stage in support act roles when big-name artists visit the country.

It comes after the Association of Artist Managers said it wanted promoters to show greater support for Aussie artists as the collapse of festivals and lack of playlist and radio play further plunges the local scene into crisis.

“Michael’s Rule” is named after Michael McMartin, who managed the Hoodoo Gurus for 40 years before his death last month and co-founded the AAM.

It calls for every international artist to include an Australian opening act and for the local performer to appear on the same stage as the headliner “using reasonable sound and lighting.”

“The Australian artist must be announced at the same time as the tour so that they benefit from all the marketing and promotion,” the final request under Michael’s Rule states.

Taylor Swift performs with Sabrina Carpenter at Accor Stadium on February 23, 2024 in Sydney. Picture: Don Arnold/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

ARIA agreed that a code of conduct should be reinstated ensuring local artists are represented when international tours visit Australia.

They said every international artist must include an Australian artist among their opening acts when on tour in the country, with the Aussie talent appearing on the same stage with reasonable sound and lighting.

The Australian artist must also be announced at the same time as the tour so they benefit from all the marketing and promotion, the organisation said.

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said: “Tours play massive roles in discovery and provide important support slots for Aussie artists to connect with new fans. Taylor Swift, the 1975, Harry Styles and Ed Sheehan all rocketed up the charts with multiple albums the weeks they were in the country recently.

“At the local level, these tours provide huge opportunities for Australian artist via support slots, which can connect our artists with whole new fan bases. Doing whatever we can to get our local artists in front of new audiences is the most important issue facing our local industry, and as such the Michael’s Rule is a fantastic initiative, which we are confident can be implemented in a way that doesn’t impact the viability of international touring.

“Other initiatives, including looking to broaden venues like sports stadiums to multi-use facilities in NSW is a really important step to increase the availability of entertainment for everyone outside of sport, and continue to increase opportunities to see local artists alongside global icons.”

John Watson, who manages Missy Higgins, Birds of Tokyo, Peter Garrett and Cold Chisel said the recent Taylor Swift tour, which was opened by Sabrina Carpenter, represented a lost opportunity for a local artist to have performed in front of hundreds of thousands of Australian music fans.

Carpenter, a friend of Swift’s, enjoyed a huge surge in her popularity and streams thanks to her presence on our stadium stages.

Swift hasn’t booked an Australian act to open here since Vance Joy for her 1989 shows in 2015. His appearance on those concerts made him a global star with his song Riptide still in the charts here and overseas almost a decade later.

“These are rules we used to have (in place with promoters) and it’s a shame it has been left to fall off the radar,” he said.

Watson said when Higgins scored the opening slot on Ed Sheeran’s record-breaking Australian tour in 2018 – which played to more than one million fans around the country – it completely reignited her pop career.

“It’s a great example of how big the impact a tour like that can have,” Watson said.

“It reconnected Missy with one million fans and the song she released around that tour, Futon Couch, became the biggest hit she’d had in a decade.

“With Australian music not on the biggest playlists or the radio, it’s doubly important that at each one of these large tours, there’s an Australian presence so we can connect our artists with fans.”

Chris Martin of Coldplay performs on stage at Optus Stadium on November 18, 2023 in Perth. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

P!nk and her Aussie manager Roger Davies insisted Tones and I open at every one of her 20 stadium concerts resulting in a huge boost in the Dance Monkey artist’s popularity ahead of a new album release.

The “agreement” between promoters and local industry advocates has been eroded by the global touring companies bringing in “package” tours where the support act, usually British or American, is also on their roster.

There is no legislative requirement that requires a local support act, only a broad based net employment benefit that needs to be satisfied under immigration visa rules.

Only a handful of upcoming international tours have booked or announced local support acts for their shows including Coldplay (Emmanuel Kelly), Teddy Swims (Meg Mac) and James Blunt (Pierce Brothers).

Those who have yet to reveal their opening act or are bringing another international performer include Niall Horan (Birdy), Pearl Jam (Pixies), Take That (Sophie Ellis-Bextor), J Balvin (Sofi Tukker), Chris Stapleton (Marcus King) and Billie Eilish (TBA).

Originally published as Push to end Aussie artists being robbed of support act roles in tours of international stars