Cultural Industry or Social Problem? The Case of Australian Live Music

Abstract

The live music pub and club scene has historically been regarded as the source of a distinctively Australian rock/jazz culture, and the basis for global recording success. This paper examines the history of live venue practices as a case study of a local cultural industry that often existed outside of traditional policy structures and meanings of the arts industries. Confronted with a loss of performance opportunities for local musicians, it is argued that traditional cultural policy mechanisms and platforms used for cultural nationalist outcomes are no longer relevant. Rather, policy intervention must engage with administrative obstacles to live creativity, specifically the series of local regulations that have diminished the viability of live venues. The decline of the rock/jazz pub continues in the face of current federal government support for touring musicians. A closer inspection of the local administration of cultural practice remains the best means of understanding the devaluation of the social and industrial value of live performance.

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