In the new strategic plan, Music Victoria is trying to tackle some big issues, and as such, the organisation has identified the urgent need to have the voices of historically marginalised and underrepresented groups on our Board including People of Colour, Deaf/disabled people, and Trans and Gender Diverse people. We are delighted to see such a diverse range of nominees in 2021.
Click on the photos to get to know the members who have put their names forward for Board election.
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We also called for skills and/or experience as a practising musician, within education settings, in fundraising/corporate sponsorship, at a record label, at a digital service provider (DSP) and with social media/public relations/marketing skills.
If you are a member of Music Victoria, RSVP for the virtual Annual General Meeting through the member homepage. The AGM is taking place on Zoom at 6pm on Wednesday, December 15th. Members are invited to cast their votes for new Music Victoria board members. If you can’t make it, your vote can still count by nominating a proxy via the form in the member portal.
If you're not already a member and wish to attend the AGM, sign up here before 6pm on Monday, December 13th.
The inaugural Gold Sounds Music Conference was held on 19 - 21 November in Castlemaine and brought together musicians and music industry professionals from across Regional Victoria.
A dedicated Venues Day was attended by 15 professionals from 11 live music venues in Central Victoria, and featured sessions on accessibility, inclusion and moving forward beyond COVID-19. A dedicated Youth Program convened with the input of local FReeZA committees and featuring Dallas Woods and guests from The Push was attended by over 15 young people from Castlemaine and Bendigo.
The Industry Day was book-ended by rousing keynotes from Liz Stringer and Jen Cloher who shared invaluable thoughts and insights with the delegates. The conference also featured a detailed and inspiring presentation on Accessibility from Eliza Hull, engaging conversation with engineers Anna Laverty and Casey Rice, plus discussion panels on promotion, mental health, and connecting with audiences.
The event wrapped up with a gathering at Castlemaine's iconic Theatre Royal where attendees and speakers were able to continue networking and building relationships.
"A day well spent at Gold Sounds - plenty of great stories at the forum today and a dash of community resilience reminding us all what it is that we do what we love". - Conference Delegate
Music Victoria in conjunction with the Partners in Wellbeing Program is now offering the Victorian music community confidential mental health support services.
Adding further resources to enable the essential work of Support Act, Music Victoria's new team member, Bree Chapman-Stewart (pictured above) is a Mental Health Clinician/Consultant who will work alongside our team to deliver the new service.
The pandemic has been tough, it's important we get the jump on our mental health as we return to a new world of normal.
Bree offers free and confidential mental health support for you, your families, and your employees. Along with the one-to-one sessions, Bree can refer you to our free financial counselling and business advisory support services.
Bree's available for a chat Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Outside of Business Hours until 10pm, you can call the Partners in Wellbeing Helpline on 1300 375 330, or Support Act 24/7 on 1800 959 500.
You can self-refer by sending a confidential email to bree@musicvictoria.com.au or book directly here.
Let’s be real… COVID sucks. But we wanted to give you the chance to reach out and ask us questions. Can you rehearse? When can you tour? Do you need to get vaccinated? When is our freedom day?
Watch the video of our Where To From Here Information Session below where we answer all your questions around the roadmap.
Triple R's Radiothon 2021 kicked off on Friday 27 August and will run through to 5pm Wednesday 6 October. The Radiothon is both a celebration of community radio and a time for Triple R to ask its listeners and fellow music lovers to subscribe and donate. Triple R is listener-funded radio, which means the station is truly independent and can showcase music and opinions that may otherwise never be heard.
You can support Triple R by becoming a proud subscriber and donor.
Subscribers get a heap of great benefits that keep you connected to the station and the Triple R community including:
Everyone who subscribes during this time goes in the running to win one of the ripper Radiothon prizes too!
Ordinarily, Subscribers can also come to Triple R's super-special Live To Air shows in the station’s Performance Space. As soon as they can kick off again, you’ll be able to go in the running to get your name on the door. In the meantime, they're running virtual Live To Air events to keep you informed and entertained all year round.
There are a bunch of different categories you can subscribe under:
Passionate $150
Full $85
Concession/Strapped/Under 18 $40
Business $150
Band/Musician $85
DJ/Producer/Audiophile $85
Visual Artist/Designer $85
Pick whichever one suits you best!
Yesterday the Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino announced a new $250 million business support package, for small-medium size businesses including sole traders and events industry operators. Full details are still to come, but you can register to be notified here: https://business.vic.gov.au/grants-and-programs/circuit-breaker-business-support-package
While any support is greatly appreciated, Music Victoria are worried that many in our industry may still miss out due to anticipated eligibility requirements.
As such, we invite you to share with us the impact that this most recent Victorian Lockdown has had on your work in the Music Industry - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhAyOPchF84rZojR60YWeTEfOSajJgcN7_1fBFy7_moJWXRg/viewform
And if you need urgent financial assistance or just someone to talk too, please reach out to Support Act - https://supportact.org.au/
On the advice of our public health team, Victoria will move to circuit breaker restrictions from 11:59pm tonight. These settings will remain in place until 11:59pm on 3 June – but if we can end that sooner, we will.
As we've seen here, and across Australia, this kind of short, sharp action is effective in stopping this thing in its tracks.
Our public health experts’ prime concern: just how fast the B1.617.1 variant is moving.
Overseas, they haven’t been able to track how quickly this version of the virus can move. Here in Victoria, though, we’re seeing not only how quick it is – but how contagious it is too.
Our contract tracers are identifying and locking down first ring, second ring and third ring contacts within 24 hours. That’s faster than ever. And yet this variant is still moving faster.
The time between catching the virus and passing it on is tighter than ever. The ‘serial interval’ – how long it takes between the onset of symptoms in the first and secondary case – is in many cases just over a day.
And in just 24 hours, the number of cases has doubled.
It means that although these cases are all connected, this variant of the virus is making people more infectious, more quickly.
We’ve seen other countries come up against these variants and lose. Badly. Places like Taiwan that have gone from no or very low cases to skyrocketing numbers in the space of just days and weeks – and now are struggling to get it under control.
We also know our nation’s vaccine rollout has been slower than we’d hoped. And if more people were vaccinated, we might be facing a different set of circumstances. Sadly, we're not.
If we make the wrong choice now, if we wait too long, if we hesitate too much, this thing will get away from us. And lives will be at risk.
It’s why from 11:59pm tonight, there will be five reasons to leave home:
Food and supplies. Authorised work. Care and caregiving. Exercise, for up to two hours and with one other person. And getting vaccinated.
Exercise and shopping will be limited to five kilometres from home. If there’s no shops in your 5km radius, you can travel to the ones closest to you. Shopping is also limited to one person per day, per household.
Face masks will also need to be worn inside and outdoors – everywhere except your own home.
Private and public gatherings will not be permitted, although visiting your intimate partner continues to be okay. Single person bubbles will also be allowed.
Childcare and kinder will remain open, but schools will need to close other than for the children of authorised workers and vulnerable kids.
Shops like supermarkets, food stores, bottle shops, banks, petrol stations and pharmacies will also remain open. Cafes and restaurants will be able to offer take-away only. Gyms, hairdressers, community facilities and entertainment venues will all close. Non-essential retail may only open for click and collect.
Hotels and accommodation can only stay open to support guests already staying onsite. No new bookings can be made – unless it’s for one a permitted purpose, like authorised work.
Advice on who can open, and who can’t, will be made available online ahead of directions coming into place – as will the full list of authorised workers and workplaces.
It’s clear – more than ever – this virus isn’t going away. And vaccines are the only way we’ll ever get back to normal.
Without full vaccination, this virus will just keep mutating – and just keep making its way back in.
To that end, from tomorrow and dependent upon supply from the Federal Government, all Victorians over the age of 40 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
My message to those Victorians: if you’re eligible, get vaccinated. Make your plan today.
If someone you love is eligible, make a plan together.
Do it for yourself. Your family. Your friends. Your community. Whatever your motivation – please do it.
Because vaccination is our only real ticket out of this pandemic.
Click here for the link to the original statement.
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 5 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Freya Josephine Hollick – Live at Hotel Esplanade, St Kilda
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Nominated for Best Regional Act at the 2020 Music Victoria Awards, Ballarat’s Freya Josephine Hollick has been labeled by Double J as one of 5 acts leading the new country music renaissance.
Thanks to a significant grant from Creative Victoria, Freya traveled to California to record her 3rd album in 2019 with Lucinda Williams’ renowned band Buick 6 and guitarist Greg Leisz (known for his work with Beck, Eric Clapton, Aaron Neville, Sheryl Crow among many others). Arriving in Joshua Tree, Hollick, Thomas Brooks and Shane Reilly (Feral Fusion) met with Buick 6 in the desert at famed studio Rancho De La Luna, run by Eagles of Death Metal guitarist, Dave Catching. Here they recorded Hollick’s upcoming full-length album, a record saturated in the sounds of desert rock and cosmic country, inspired by the likes of Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint and Gene Clark. The third single from her forthcoming record is due for release in the coming months.
Catch a teaser of Freya Josephine Hollick's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Freya Josephine Hollick – Live at Hotel Esplanade, St Kilda is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
On the advice of public health experts, from 6pm tonight private gatherings in the home will be limited to five visitors per day, public gatherings will be limited to 30 people and face masks will need to be worn indoors, unless an exemption applies. The face mask requirement applies everyone aged 12 years and older.
These additional measures are an important extra precaution while we await the results of testing and undertake widespread contact tracing to stamp out the virus.
Schools and workplaces will remain open with the current restrictions that are in place. Depending on the workplace, this includes COVIDSafe measures and in some cases, a density requirement. There are no changes to existing density rules.
Victorians who live in Greater Melbourne and need to travel to regional Victoria can still do so however, the restrictions travel with them.
For example, if you visit someone outside of metropolitan Melbourne, they must not have more than five visitors to their home in that day. If you attend a public gathering outside of Greater Melbourne, it must not be bigger than 30 people.
Victorians visiting regional Victoria from Melbourne will also need to wear a face mask when indoors even when outside of metropolitan Melbourne, unless an exemption applies.
Keeping our more vulnerable community members safe is always our priority, which is why hospital and aged care visitor restrictions will also now apply state-wide.
Use of the Service Victoria QR code service will still be mandatory in all venues and facilities required to have mandatory electronic record keeping from Friday, 28 May.
However, due to the current circumstances, we will pause on the move to remove the density quotient in outdoor spaces and venues to a maximum of 200 people in spaces smaller than 400 sqm. Timing for this easing will be reassessed when public health advice indicates it is appropriate to do so.
The Public Health Advisory Panel will provide advice as soon as possible to upcoming Tier 1 and Tier 2 events if any modifications will be required for the event to proceed.
We urge all Victorians to maintain COVIDSafe behaviours to keep our community safe and most importantly, if you are unwell, get tested as soon as possible and stay isolated until you receive a negative result.
All eligible Victorians are also urged to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Appointments are available at sites across the state and at participating GP clinics, walk ins are also accepted at many sites. Check your eligibility and your nearest site now.
For more information about current COVIDSafe settings, Victoria’s travel permit system and the vaccine program, please visit .
Quotes attributable to Acting Premier James Merlino
“These additional measures are about keeping Victorians safe while our coronavirus detectives work to track down any additional cases and stamp out the spread of this deadly virus.”
“If you’re eligible to get vaccinated, don’t wait. Make an appointment or walk up to a vaccination site today. It’s the best way to protect yourself and your family.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health Martin Foley
“We’re asking anyone who has been to any of the listed exposure sites, to please get tested and isolate as required – and that all Victorians stick to these additional measures so we can continue to stay safe and stay open.”
“These cases are an important reminder that until the majority of Australians have been vaccinated, and as we move into winter, we cannot let any complacency creep in, and we need to keep up our COVIDSafe behaviours.”
In late 2020, select nominees of the Music Victoria Awards were given the opportunity for a paid and professionally filmed livestream event, thanks to funding from the Victorian Government’s Victoria Together Program.
These live-streamed concerts will provide a valuable income and promotional stream for the nine lucky recipients, along with providing income and networks to the crew behind the scenes.
Each Tuesday for the following 6 weeks, Music Victoria will introduce you to a new award-nominated artist, via live performances filmed at some of Victoria’s most iconic music venues, exclusively for Victoria Together.
Music Victoria presents Kee’ahn – Live at The Thornbury Theatre
Presented by Music Victoria
Still and Video Production by Semiconductor Media
Winner of the 2020 Music Victoria Awards’ Archie Roach Foundation Award for Emerging Talent, Kee’ahn is a proud Kuku Yalanji, Jirrbal, Zenadth Kes song woman who has recently ventured from her home town in North Queensland, to pursue her dream in the Kulin Nation (Melbourne, Australia). With a name coming from the Wik people, meaning to dance, to sing, to play, Kee’ahn aims to honour her name and Ancestors through her soulful music that weaves lush melodies and words reminiscent of heartbreak and healing.
At 22 years of age, Kee’ahn already has an impressive number of performance credits to her name including: featuring at St Kilda Festival and at the Laneway Festival 2019 alongside Courtney Barnett, Cry Club, Jungle Cuffs, Kalyani amd Thelma Plum; as a feature artist with the Homelands Collecitve at National, Woodford and Cygnet Folk Festivals and Yirramboi First Nations Festival; and with DRMNGNOW at Golden Plains, St Kilda Festival, BIGSOUND, Splendour In The Grass Forum and Dark Mofo.
2021 sees Kee’ahn in the studio working on her first album ‘In Full Bloom’. Debut single ‘Better Things’ is out now.
Catch a teaser of Kee'ahn's set below and keep checking in weekly for the other concerts on Victoria Together's website.
Artist Social Media
Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp
Kee'ahn: Music Victoria Awards 2020 showcase from Victoria Together on Vimeo.
Kee’ahn – Live at The Thornbury Theatre is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria