Vote Music 2025: more Australian music, more jobs, stronger communities

Nineteen leading music organisations today launched Vote Music 2025, a national call to action urging all political parties to commit to a stronger future for Australian music, one that delivers more jobs, stronger communities, and ensures great Australian music is heard and celebrated at home and around the world.

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This election is a critical moment for the future of Australian music. The Australian music industry is calling for the next Parliament to build on recent progress and take the next big step so that Australian music is heard, valued, and supported across the country and globally.

Australian music is one of our greatest cultural assets. It drives jobs, tourism and hospitality. It tells our stories, brings communities together, and connects Australia to the world.

In recent years, successive Australian Governments have recognised this value, investing in the industry through COVID crisis support, establishingMusic Australia, and launching initiatives likeLive Music AustraliaandRevive Live. These investments have made a real and important difference.

But today, Australians are hearing less and less of their own music. Outdated regulations and policies, declining local airtime across platforms, and a fragile live music ecosystem are putting our next generation of artists and the thousands of jobs that rely on them at risk.

Vote Music 2025 is about futureproofing Australian music so it can continue to power jobs, build communities, and reach audiences at home and around the world.

The Kid LAROI, Rose, Troye Sivan, and Kylie Minogue are topping global charts. Our artists are headlining festivals and songwriters, composers and producers are shaping international pop, art music, screen, and gaming. Our global impact is growing, but without stronger domestic support, that success won’t last.

With the global music industry projected to reach US$163.7 billion by 2030, Australia has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a net exporter of music, creating jobs, growing our global voice, and enriching communities nationwide.

We imagine a future where Australian music fills our airwaves, our pubs and venues, our festivals, our classrooms and our global stages. Where artists and industry can build sustainable careers, and music continues to grow jobs and connect communities across the country.

The Australian Parliament’s recent inquiry into live music endorsed many of these priorities. The foundations are there. The momentum is real. Now is the time to act.

 Five Priorities to Secure the Future of Australian Music

1. Supercharge Investment in Live Music & Industry Growth

• Secure Music Australia’s future and increase funding to develop and promote artists, grow exports, drive innovation, collect research and deliver songwriting and recording initiatives in schools

• Tax rebates for venues, festivals, and touring artists to boost performances and local economies

• Revive Live expansion to support festivals, regional touring, improve venue infrastructure, and encourage all-ages gigs

• Music pathways for youth through education, touring support, and an under-25 ticket subsidy

2. Strengthen Creative Rights & Innovation

• Strengthen Copyright and Ensure AI Transparency to protect artists and ensure fair compensation

• Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property protections for First Nations music and culture

• Fairer radio royalties by removing outdated caps that limit artist earnings

  
  

3. Amplify Australian Music Locally and Globally

• Modernise content quotas to ensure local tunes get radio airplay when it counts and commercial radio plays more Australian music, no matter the format.

• Ensure prominence of Australian music across digital service providers in playlists and through passive listening

• Significant Australian Content (SAC) test and Australian Content and Children’s Television Standards (ACCTS) guidelines reviewed to incentivise screen composition and local music in Australian Government supported screen productions

• A commitment to a quota of Australian content on all streaming video on demand platforms in line with the Revive commitment of 2024.

• Global touring initiatives ensuring Australian audiences see more local artists supporting international acts - restoring a long-held industry norm

• Arena ticket levy to reinvest revenue from major events into grassroots live music

  
  

4. Strengthen Communities and Audience Growth

• Support Act investment over the forward estimates to fund mental health and crisis relief services for music professionals

• Digital inclusion programs ensuring all Australians, regardless of location, can access music and creative opportunities

• Public liability reform to help venues operate sustainably

• Workplace safety initiatives to create respectful workspaces for all artists and industry workers

5. Expand Global Exports & Cultural Diplomacy

• Reciprocal cultural programs strengthening ties with Indo-Pacific music markets

• Diplomatic and diaspora engagement leveraging global networks to promote Australian music

• Export grants and visa support making it easier for Australian artists to tour and build international careers