The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts has released a new report, Am I Ever Gonna See You Live Again?, following its inquiry into the challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry.

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It draws on 18 public hearings held in Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and submissions from a wide range of stakeholders, including all levels of government, artists, broadcasters, promoters, venues, festivals, service providers and peak industry bodies.

Among the report’s recommendations are:

• That the Australian Government investigate the potential benefits of a tax offset for the live music industry and that Treasury, the Office of the Arts and Creative Australia should be tasked with developing a policy proposal for the Australian Government to consider.
• That consumer law be amended to better regulate the selling of tickets to live music, by improving the transparency of fees and charges within the price of tickets and limiting extreme variability in ticket prices caused by ‘dynamic pricing’.
• That a small levy should be added to the price of tickets to large music events to raise funds to support for small venues and grassroots...