20 September 2020
Urgent funding for live music venues, new grants to protect music jobs on stage and behind the scenes and an historic planning amendment to protect venues have been announced today to help the state’s music industry rebuild, recover and prepare for a summer like no other.
Melbourne Music Week Photo: Jess Middleton
106 live music venues across the state, including Northcote Social Club, Queenscliff’s Blues Train and Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal, will share in grants totalling $9 million through in the first tranche of the Victorian Live Music Venues program.
The grants will support venues, which have been closed since March, to cover urgent overheads and put COVIDSafe measures in place. They will also assist venues to reopen and host events, providing employment opportunities for artists, promoters, technicians and more, offsetting costs while patron caps are in place.
Under Victoria’s roadmaps for reopening, indoor live music venues can reopen at the Last Step with density quotients and patron caps in place. Patron caps will be lifted when the state moves to COVID Normal.
A state-first planning policy will further protect Victoria’s live music venues during the pandemic and beyond.
Proposed new permanent planning controls will allow councils across the state to identify significant live music precincts and consider the social, economic and cultural importance of live music venues as they make decisions on local planning permits.
This will mean that when a site that is home to a live music venue is slated for redevelopment, councils will have strengthened power to protect the music venue as part of any new proposal.
Musicians, music businesses and music industry workers will also receive support through a series of new initiatives.
A new grants program, the Victorian Music Industry Recovery program, will offer grants between $4,000 and $50,000 to support artists, managers, promoters, bookers, road crew and other workers to keep creating new music, undertake professional and business development activities and develop new COVIDSafe ways of working.
Recognising that summer is usually a bumper period for the music industry, the Victorian Music Industry Recovery program will support activities taking place from December onwards.
It includes will dedicated streams for First Peoples and Deaf and Disabled applicants. Applications will open at noon on Monday 21 September and close at 5pm, Thursday 22 October 2020.
A further $1.2 million has been allocated to ten music organisations and peak bodies to deliver professional and business development programs to a diverse range of Victorian music industry professionals.
This vital music industry support is part of the Victoria Government’s $90 million investment to help the state’s creative industries through the impacts of the pandemic.
The full list of music venues supported through tranche one of the Victorian Live Music Venues program and the industry partnership projects is listed below.
Find out more about the Victorian Music Industry Recovery program.
Grant recipients
Victorian Live Music Venues program – tranche one venues
170 Russell, MELBOURNE
24 Moons, NORTHCOTE
303, NORTHCOTE
Athenaeum Theatre, MELBOURNE
Bar Open, FITZROY
Bar Oussou, BRUNSWICK
Baxter's Lot, FITZROY
Beavs Lounge Bar, GEELONG
Bendigo Hotel Collingwood, COLLINGWOOD
Bloom Bar & Lounge, GEELONG
Bull and Mouth Hotel, HORSHAM
Cafe Gummo, THORNBURY
Chasers Venue, SOUTH YARRA
Circus Bar, SOUTH YARRA
Dogs Bar, ST KILDA
Elwood Lounge, ELWOOD
Empire Club, NARRE WARREN
Evelyn Hotel, FITZROY
Fitzroy Rainbow Hotel, FITZROY
Gods Kitchen, MORNINGTON
Grand Hotel Mornington, MORNINGTON
Hop Temple, BALLARAT CENTRAL
Hotel Warrnambool, WARRNAMBOOL
Howler, BRUNSWICK
Inflation Nightclub, MELBOURNE
Jimmy O'Neill's Whiskey and Alehouse, ST KILDA
John Curtin Hotel, CARLTON
Kanela Flamenco Bar, FITZROY
Kay Street Entertainment, TRARALGON
Labour in Vain, FITZROY
Laundry Bar, FITZROY
Lomond Hotel, BRUNSWICK EAST
Loop, MELBOURNE
Lulie Tavern, ABBOTSFORD
Mantra Studio Kitchen Bar, YARRAVILLE
Max Watt's Melbourne, MELBOURNE
Melbourne Central Lion, MELBOURNE
Memo Music Hall, ST KILDA
Nevermind Bar, HAWTHORN
New Guernica, MELBOURNE
Nighthawks Bar, COLLINGWOOD
Northcote Social Club, NORTHCOTE
Oak Tree Tavern, THE BASIN
Onesixone, PRAHRAN
Ontop Bar, ORMOND
Open Studio, NORTHCOTE
Paris Cat, MELBOURNE
Pawn & Co, Prahran
Paynesville Wine Bar, PAYNESVILLE
Piano Bar Geelong, GEELONG
Pig and Whistle, Main Ridge, MAIN RIDGE
Pistol Pete’s Food n Blues, GEELONG
Platform One, MELBOURNE
Pride of our Footscray Community Bar, FOOTSCRAY
Ragtime Tavern, PRESTON
Rising Sun Hotel, SOUTH MELBOURNE
Ronnie's Blue Bar, PRAHRAN
Rubix Warehouse, BRUNSWICK
Small Time, BRUNSWICK
Sooki Lounge, BELGRAVE
Soundbar, CAPEL SOUND
Stay Gold Melbourne, BRUNSWICK
Swamplands Bar, THORNBURY
Tempo Rubato, BRUNSWICK
The Archie's Creek Hotel, ARCHIES CREEK
The Blues Train, QUEENSCLIFF
The Bridge Hotel, CASTLEMAINE
The Butterfly Club, MELBOURNE
The Colonial Hotel, MELBOURNE
The Corner Hotel, RICHMOND
The Dart and Marlin, WARRNAMBOOL
The Eastern, BALLARAT EAST
The Gasometer Hotel, COLLINGWOOD
The Gem Bar & Dining Room, COLLINGWOOD
The Grace Darling Hotel, COLLINGWOOD
The Jazzlab, BRUNSWICK
The King Hotel, MELBOURNE
The Leadbeater Hotel, ABBOTSFORD
The Main Bar, BAKERY HILL
The Merri Creek Tavern, NORTHCOTE
The Night Heron, FOOTSCRAY
The Old Bar, COLLINGWOOD
The Post Office Hotel, COBURG
The Prince Bandroom, ST KILDA
The Red Hill Hotel Chewton, CHEWTON
The Retreat Hotel, BRUNSWICK
The Rooks Return, FITZROY
The Royal Melbourne Hotel, MELBOURNE
The Setts Mildura, MILDURA
The Third Day, NORTH MELBOURNE
The Toff in Town, MELBOURNE
The Workers Club, FITZROY
The Yarra Hotel, ABBOTSFORD
Theatre Royal Castlemaine, CASTLEMAINE
Tokyo Hustle, MELBOURNE
Tote Hotel, COLLINGWOOD
Trades Hall Ballarat, BALLARAT CENTRAL
Tramp Bar, MELBOURNE
Tramway Hotel, FITZROY NORTH
Uptown Jazz Café, FITZROY
Volta - Arts & Culture, BALLARAT CENTRAL
Wesley Anne, NORTHCOTE
Westernport Hotel - San Remo, SAN REMO
Whole Lotta Love, BRUNSWICK EAST
Wool Exchange Entertainment Complex, GEELONG
Yah Yah's, FITZROY
Strategic Partnership Projects
APRA AMCOS
In consultation with Multicultural Arts Victoria and songwriters from a range of cultural backgrounds, APRA AMCOS will design and pilot a new model of culturally safe, supportive and inclusive development programs for culturally diverse songwriters.
Arts Access Victoria
In partnership with the music industry, Arts Access Victoria will deliver a series of digital professional development workshops open to Victorian music artists and business people with disabilities with a focus on creating music and supporting new pathways to audiences.
Association of Artist Managers
The AAM will present two of their successful professional development programs for Victorian artist managers:
- Co-Pilot, a mentorship program that matches emerging artist managers with established and successful managers. This round will focus on emerging managers from groups currently underrepresented within Australian artist management.
- Grow a program to provide ongoing guidance and support for managers as they navigate the dramatic changes to the sector, their artists’ employment opportunities and their own businesses.
Australian Festivals Association
For targeted recovery initiatives that will provide resources, research and training opportunities for festival managers and workers. This work will also include a project to connect festivals with local First Nations mentors.
Australian Independent Recording Label Association (AIR)
In partnership with industry experts, AIR will deliver a three-part webinar series focussing on neighbouring rights, financial literacy and releasing music as an indie artist.
Bakehouse Studios
Ordinarily a site for recording and rehearsals, some 400 musicians visit and work at Bakehouse each week. Funding will assist Bakehouse to continue to support the music industry including working with underrepresented artists and acts.
CrewCare
CrewCare will deliver an innovative training program focused on wellbeing to upskill over 500 crew members within the Victorian live music industry. The program will be delivered in partnership with music industry organisations, Arts Centre Melbourne and RMIT.
Music Victoria / Regional Arts Victoria
For a project focused on music industry recovery in regional areas. The project will include the employment of three Regional Music Workers for 12 months in three regions across the state. These local music workers will work to develop projects and initiatives to support local music networks and activity as well as acting as broker to establish connections with music representatives in other parts of the state, local governments, arts bodies and other relevant stakeholders.
Songlines Aboriginal Music Corporation
Songlines will deliver three projects that will support First Nations music industry representatives to respond to the issues caused by the pandemic.
- First Nations Music Voice: Songlines will work to create connections across the First Nations music sector in order to develop strong collective aspirations and desires which will then be presented to government and funding bodies.
- Songlines First Nations Wellbeing Hubs: a series of wellbeing hubs that facilitate connections between musicians and industry professionals and creating links to support services to foster resilience within the First Nations music sector and encourage the industry to make wellbeing a key part of future ideas and business concepts.
- Songlines Song writing Sessions: Support to regional and metropolitan based artists to create new works in collaboration with peers and mentors.
The Push Inc
The Push will deliver two projects for young Victorians:
- Push Records - a youth-led record label that will work with artists to release their music, while upskilling young people in music business skills. This project will include a mentoring with established record labels.
- What is the future of Music? - an online campaign and ideas exchange event that will provide a platform for young people to share their ideas to create a plan for music industry recovery.