The Victorian music scene is thriving, and Melbourne has the title of the live music capital of the world, but it’s a difficult industry to crack.
With Music Victoria behind you – as a music industry professional or general music lover – the industry doesn’t seem like such a dark and scary place.
“We try to remind people of the value of our input to the community, to remind them how we can help them – and how they can get involved,” Musician and Music Victoria Project/Marketing Manager, Laura Imbruglia tells us.
Music Victoria has been around for almost ten years, and this year’s membership drive comes with a few shakeups – including the revamping of Music Victoria’s membership categories.
“We’ve listened to members and opened up a bunch of new memberships that more accurately reflect the music industry,” Imbruglia says. There are brand spanking new memberships, one of which is an under 18s membership – which is completely free – and includes all the member benefits. “We’re just trying to get the youth involved in the music community and support them when they’re starting out,” Imbruglia says.
“Speaking as a musician who works for Music Victoria, I think the value proposition is a really key reason to sign up … the discounts that are available to you can end up saving you several thousand dollars,” Imbruglia explains.
There’s an abundance of discounts on offer for Music Victoria members, making signing up seriously worthwhile, while there are other measures in place to make it more available. Notably, Music Vic have introduced ten per cent off Auslan services. “I had to get a grant to be able to do it,” Imbruglia admits. “It’ll be cool to be able to offer something to help people make their shows more accessible.”
For all you musos in the western suburbs, Music Victoria is introducing more discounts to places like Kindred Studios, White Rabbit Record Bar, and Commercial Hotel in Yarraville. “There’s a huge music community in the western suburbs,” Imbruglia says. “We’re just listening to our members and trying to service them as best we can.”
All memberships have access to free professional development workshops which range from pitching music for radio, running budgets and balancing books, writing grant applications, and everything in between. “For all of these workshops, we get experts from each of these fields – that work with this stuff everyday – coming in and sharing their knowledge and helping artists know how to move forward,” Imbruglia explains.
“There’s a lot of DIY required in this modern age of music and it’s really important that artists equip themselves with knowledge, and that’s one of the things we help people do.” There are several new projects in the works this year, including an all-female leadership program, Cultivate, and the Live Music Professionals coaching program through the State Government.
As if these incentives weren’t enough, artists who sign up under the musician membership can get their songs put on Music Victoria’s Spotify playlist, which gets shared with international delegates looking for good local music.
There are also prize packs to be won if you sign up or renew your membership during the drive. Each prize is appropriate for each member tier, for example, music lovers get a dinner and a double pass to a well-known music venue, musician members get access to press shoots and music videos, and venue members get a quarter page ad in Beat Magazine.
“The Victorian music industry is world famous, we’re known for having a really thriving community, and part of that is to do with Music Victoria’s work.”
Music Victoria’s Membership Drive is open from Monday April 8 to Thursday April 18. Head to the Music Victoria website for instructions on how to sign up.
