An appreciation of music is almost universal but what is music really worth?
That is the question the University of Tasmania is attempting to answer in a national research project, Cultural and Economic Contributions of Live Music Making in Australia, and music fans can help.
Led by University of Tasmania Lecturer in Music Technology Dr Dave Carter, the project aims to gather the data needed for policy makers and regulators to make informed decisions about live music.
“Music is an essential and incredibly valuable part of our lives – for individuals and communities,” Dr Carter said.
“However, we don’t have a lot of reliable data on live music in Australia; what’s there can be patchy and misses a lot of activity.
“Our hunch is that a rigorous cost-benefit analysis will demonstrate live music makes a significant economic and social contribution at very little cost to governments.”
The pilot study will be carried out in Hobart, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide through a survey of venue owners, booking agents and other organisers of live music events as well as live music fans all over the country.
“The views of fans are incredibly important to our work. We’ve had a reasonably strong response to the survey but the more data we have, the better,” Dr Carter said.
“We are very keen to hear from fans about what gigs they attend, why they go, how much they spend and what they think the value of live music is for them and the broader community.
“Understanding how much money is involved in live music and where it goes is important, but we also need to consider the value that live music brings to the wellbeing of audiences and what it would cost to replicate that value if venues suddenly went away.
“We hope this will help governments make informed decisions about music infrastructure, regulation and funding.”
Dr Carter said the team planned to make the methodology created for and tested through the project available to communities around the country.
“The goal is that everyone has access to cost-effective, reliable tools to understand the value of their live music scene.”
Funded by the Live Music Office along with the City of Sydney Council, the City of Melbourne Council and the South Australian Government, the project also involves researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and RMIT University.
The views of fans of live music are important. To get involved and add your voice to the research, complete the survey here.
Image credit: Kathryn Sprigg
