A levy on tickets, discounts for young fans: Live music probe makes recommendations

Musicians could be eligible for a tax offset similar to the one that underwrites film and television production in Australia, and young festival goers could receive subsidised or even free tickets to encourage them to attend events if the recommendations of a federal parliamentary inquiry are adopted.

The House of Representatives inquiry into the challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry tabled its final report on Friday. Headed Am I Ever Gonna See You Live Again? – a reference to the Angels’ 1976 hit Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again? – the report included 20 recommendations that ranged from the reasonably straightforward to the truly radical in scope.

Music fans flocked to Laneway Festival at Centennial Park in Sydney last month.Credit: Edwina Pickles

The inquiry was launched in August 2024 in response to a string of failures in the live music industry, especially in the festival sector.

Through more than 120 submissions and dozens of in-person appearances, the committee heard that the industry faced a vast range of concerns, including venue licensing laws that deter young people from seeing their favourite acts; changed drinking and ticket purchasing habits affecting the economics of the industry; astronomical insurance costs; a concentration of power in the hands of a small coterie of major promoters and ticketing agencies; an unfavourable exchange rate that acts as a deterrent to booking international acts; the rapid pace of music discovery via social media; and the uncertainty and risk of cancellation caused by extreme weather events.

Though there have been some signs that the sector has stabilised slightly since the worst moments of 2024, the fragility of live music was underscored by the cancellation of the Esoteric Festival on Thursday, the day before it was due to start, due to the host council’s decision not to grant a permit to organisers on health and safety grounds.

“We’re undoubtedly seeing tectonic shifts in the economics of music and in the relationships between fans and musicians, largely driven by technological disruption,” wrote committee chair Brian Mitchell in his introduction to the report. “But there’s also [an] opportunity, and young, innovative artists are finding their way to make a living.

Amyl and the Sniffers in action in Melbourne on January 24.Credit: Richard Clifford

“The big commercial festivals are falling over, but many smaller, grassroots, community-led festivals are flourishing. The challenge is how to encourage this while ensuring the musicians who play at them do so in a way that allows them to pay their bills.”

To that end, the committee’s recommendations target both supply and demand elements of the live music economy, encourage stronger monitoring against “anticompetitive conduct”, and advocate for the wider teaching of music.

“Of all the recommendations we’ve made, that to me is the most important: teach kids how to play music, not just how to stick AirPods in their ears,” Mitchell wrote.

Topping the list of recommendations is the introduction of a “tax offset for the live music industry”.

Falls Festival, shown here in 2022, is one of many to have cancelled in recent years.Credit: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

The report does not suggest a precise model – urging only that “the Australian government investigate the potential benefits of a tax offset” – but it did cite a submission from APRA/AMCOS (which administers royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers) that claimed: “A combined venue offset (of 5 per cent of expenses …) would boost the incomes of musicians and artists by $205 million per year with an additional 203,200 gigs”.

The report also suggested that such a tax offset might also be extended to “other art forms, such as theatre”.

The possibility of “a rebate or voucher scheme to incentivise younger audiences to attend live music” was also floated, with the target audience those aged “from under 18s to early 30s – the demographic in most significant decline amongst live music audiences”.

Research is urged into the “viability of a self-insurance or mutual insurance models” for the live music industry, while a levy imposed on tickets for large events could be used to support grassroots music. Major international touring artists would also be obliged to engage Australian supporting acts.

The report also proposes introducing designated entertainment precincts, affording venues “exemptions to trading hour restrictions, concessional liquor excise rates and differentiated noise complaint processes”.

Olly Arkins, managing director of the Australian Festival Association, welcomed the report.

“The Live Music Inquiry has highlighted a number of issues for [the] government to better support the industry,” they said. “This includes the federal government expanding Revive Live funding, introducing a tax offset, and ticket rebates for young people to attend live music, which we welcome.”

Arkins also welcomed the recommendation that states work to reduce or abolish user-pays police costs and to move towards “a more consistent regulatory system”.

“Inconsistent approvals processes in Victoria are a giant handbrake on the live music industry in the supposed live music capital of Australia,” they said.

Comment was sought from Arts Minister Tony Burke.

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