Our Soundtrack Our Stories, launched Thursday 5 August 2021, is an initiative to soundtrack Australian lives with Australian music. It’s that simple. But one simple move will have a monumental impact on the lives of our homegrown, globally-loved, local artists whose livelihoods have been rocked by the ongoing pandemic. This campaign is about celebrating Australian music and the people making it.
What is ‘Our Soundtrack Our Story’?
Our Soundtrack Our Stories is an open invitation from our country's music community to the rest of Australia to discover, champion, share, and consume more local music. It exists to promote our artists, promote the enormous economic and cultural contribution of local music, and ensure a bright, bold, diverse and exciting future for the next generation of musicians and music lovers alike. The initiative arrives exactly one week after Jack River, real name Holly Rankin, posted the now viral call-to-arms for Australian media and business to get behind homegrown music as it struggles under the pressure of a new wave of lockdowns – all but eliminating prospects for live touring for the foreseeable future – the initiative calls for public commitment to increase the inclusion of diverse Australian artists in the commercial and mainstream landscape.
How will ‘Our Soundtrack Our Story’ help homegrown artists?
Greater support from corporate Australia means greater reach for our artists, which translates to everything from higher streams, new fans and increased royalty revenue. That support could not come at a more important time, with over $64,000,000 in revenue lost since 1 July 2021 among just 2,000 respondents to the I Lost My Gig survey. With 99% of that revenue revealed to be uninsurable, the real figure is significantly higher. This push will invite everyday people to view Australian music in a new light.
How Do I Get Involved?
How can I get involved in ‘Our Soundtrack Our Story’?
I am an Aussie musician - how do I make sure that I am getting paid if my music is played?
If you release recorded music in Australia, there are two copyrights attached to those recordings: one for the composition and one for the recording. The composition’s rights are overseen by APRA AMCOs, while the recording's rights are handled by PPCA. It is free to register with both organisations and only takes a few minutes.
Find out more from APRA AMCOS and PPCA.
I am a local business owner, how can I support ‘Our Soundtrack Our Story’?
What do you mean by local/homegrown/Australian Artists?
Whilst we appreciate the cultural impact of music released in the past few decades of Australian music this initiative puts particular emphasis on championing artists from a diverse range of genres and backgrounds, with a push towards music released in the past decade.
What is a Background Music Supplier?
There are a number of different Background Music Suppliers in Australia who are able to create playlists that are best suited to your customers and update these playlists so that the music they supply you with is kept fresh. Some of these suppliers will have existing licences with organisations such as One Music so that the fees can be accurately distributed to the creators of the music.
Costs range between around $35 and $200 a month, excluding music licensing fees, depending on the supplier and what other services and hardware are included. If you are a retailer, Service provider or dining establishment your OneMusic Australia music licence fees can also be bundled into the overall fees charged by the supplier.
For more information visit OneMusic Australia.
Why do I need a music licence to play music / why can’t I use my preferred streaming platform in my shop?
Due to the way music is licenced by streaming services such as; Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Youtube music, these services are only for personal and non-commercial use. This means that you are not allowed to use these services to broadcast or play music publicly in any business ie. Schools, Bars, Restaurants, Dance Studio, Stores, Salons and Radio Stations. By obtaining the correct music licence or enlisting the help of background music suppliers you can make sure that the artists you are playing are getting paid correctly.
Why can’t these businesses just change the music they play?
Whilst we would love for these businesses to start playing local music over night in some cases, in particular with larger businesses, there are existing licensing deals in place that directly relate to the music they play in-store, or on their hold music. That is why it is important to approach this initiative on every level so that we can preserve these existing relationships whilst making local music more accessible and these businesses accountable.
AAM, AMPAL, APRA AMCOS, ARIA, Australian Festival Association, BMG, Eleven, EMC, EMI, Hutch Collective, Inertia, John Watson Management, Kobalt, Lemontree Music, Live Music Office, Live Nation, MEAA, Mushroom Labels and Mushroom Group, Music ACT, Music NSW, Music NT, Music SA, Music Victoria, Nightlife, PPCA, Q Music, Sony Music, Sony Music Publishing, Sounds Australia, Support Act, The Process, TMWR, Unified, Universal Music Group Australia, Warner Music Australia, Warner Chappel Australia.
