Item Details

Watching them walk out taller than they walked in: Sydney's venues in 2016

Issue: Vol 17 No. 2 (2016)

Abstract:

This article develops recent research in to the live music industry by examining the attitudes of Sydney venues towards the industry in which they work. Based on empirical research conducted on behalf of the City of Sydney Council, the article suggests that venues primarily see themselves as sites of cultural activity, rather than sites of commercial exploitation. The tension between artistic endeavour and commercial reality is evidenced throughout the article. In addition it is also shown that venues feel that politicians and the public have little understanding of this reality. It is further suggested that the notion of a live music ecology provides a useful means via which to understand the workings of the contemporary live music industry in Sydney.

Author: Martin Cloonan

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