Youth broadcaster triple j Unearthed has shared the findings from the What’s Up In Australian Music? survey, check out the full report here.
Almost 1300 local artists from all around the country answered our big questions, gave their opinions and shared their thoughts on what it’s like to be an artist in the Australian music industry today.
triple j Unearthed executive producer Tommy Faith said: “Bringing this survey together was an eye-opening experience. To see how many artists were working second jobs or considering leaving music altogether was sobering information. Ultimately, we hope the wider music industry and music media (ourselves included) will look at these findings and use them to make empathetic decisions about artists and shape content and policy, knowing just how hard it is to be a music-maker in 2023.”
‘What’s Up In Australian Music?’ has provided valuable insights into Australian artists’ lives and experiences. Check out the key findings below:
- Nearly half of all artists have considered bailing on the music industry in the past year: 48 per cent of musicians thought about leaving the music industry in the last year, but 62 per cent of Australian artists still feel optimistic about the future of their music career.
- Social media dominance: Many respondents expressed their discontent with social media. Here’s what one artist had to say: “Labels are more likely to sign someone who is good at social media and assign people to help them make music, vs. sign someone who is good at music, and assign people to help them with social media.”
- Live gigs are the primary source of income for most artists: For a considerable proportion of respondents, playing live music makes up most of their earned income. Some 57.9 per cent of that income, in fact. Hip-hop is the only genre that bucks the trend, with streaming the number one source of income for artists in that genre.
- Most artists are working extra jobs: 83 per cent of artists who’ve earned money from their music over the past 12 months told us they work outside the industry, too. 78 per cent of that group said they make more from their non-music job than their music, and only 31 per cent of respondents earning money from their music believe they’ll eventually earn enough to get by.
- Bands are becoming the less popular route for younger artists: Most acts under 24 in the survey are solo artists, while those 25 and over opt to be part of a band. Things could be moving this way for a few reasons, including the after-effects of the global pandemic and the ability to keep recording time and touring costs down in a solo project.
- Music festivals are high up on the bucket list: Lots of musicians want to play at a festival like Splendour in the Grass, Glastonbury or Laneway, but only 27 per cent of them said they knew what they needed to do to be booked on a music festival line-up.
