Music Victoria CEO, Simone Schinkel, has announced her decision to finish with the organisation at the end of this year.
During her almost four-year term and having started in the midst of the pandemic, Schinkel has led Music Victoria by guiding crucial advocacy and vital change, including securing over $88m in direct sector investment from the Victorian Government.
Throughout Schinkel’s leadership, Music Victoria has delivered a solid program that includes research, industry resources, professional development opportunities, targeted promotion, a help desk as well as ongoing industry engagement and advocacy.
Some of Schinkel’s key achievements for Music Victoria include:
Schinkel explained that she proudly supported and represented the Victorian music industry, “My journey at Music Victoria was made possible through an incredible and inspiring community alliance. We have achieved some great outcomes and it is a bittersweet moment that I announce my departure.”
“While the landscape has changed during my time at Music Victoria, the power of music remains strong. We have continued to shape a more sustainable and equitable future. The Victorian music industry will continue to soar,” Schinkel highlighted.
“Our work is a collective effort and I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to engage with some incredible people to achieve our vision to champion for the entire Victorian music sector,” said Schinkel.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our 5,000+ members, our dedicated staff and Board – both past and present – and our partners, industry advisors, fellow peak bodies and collaborators,” Schinkel acknowledged.
Kutcha Edwards, Mutti Mutti musician and Music Victoria Hall of Fame inductee, remarked, “During Simone’s time as CEO, Music Victoria has emerged as an engaged and effective partner with First Nations music mob and community across the state. This is a testament to her commitment to deep listening, reflecting and learning, while consistently creating connection and representation time and time again.”
Sophie Paten, Music Australia Board Member, award-winning artist, and beloved Aussie export, Gordi, commented, “Simone has made an invaluable contribution to music in Victoria. She led through a particularly difficult period during the pandemic and was able to navigate conversations with stakeholders and government in a way that united and motivated the industry.”
Eliza Hull, a musical artist, writer, journalist, and disability advocate shared “I always felt truly heard, respected, and valued by Simone. Her passion for Victorian music, local artists and the local industry was evident in every decision she made. She has always had her heart in the right place, remaining focused on the bigger picture, championing accessibility, inclusion and equity in every way. While I’m sad to see her go, I have no doubt she’ll continue to accomplish incredible things. A true advocate for all of us!"
Jaddan Comerford, UNIFIED Music Group Founder and CEO, said, “We greatly value the important role that Music Victoria plays in supporting our local music industry. Thank you Simone, for guiding our peak body through a very challenging time and doing so with integrity and passion.”
Chris O’Neill, Chair of the Music Victoria Board, added that Schinkel has demonstrated incredible passion and dedication as CEO over the past four years, “Simone’s collaborative efforts with the Victorian Government have been instrumental in securing essential funding, supporting our diverse membership through the pandemic and the challenging times that have followed.”
“Through her hard work, Simone has transformed Music Victoria’s operations, strengthened internal procedures and cultivated a positive, inclusive culture within our growing team. We extend our deepest thanks to Simone for her commitment and wish her every success in her future endeavours,” O’Neill concluded.
Schinkel will finish at Music Victoria on 20 December 2024 and the Board will now commence recruitment for its next CEO.
We take our advocacy work very seriously. By advocating on behalf of the broader music community, we push beyond any one individual's needs towards a thriving ecology that is reaching its full potential, often working behind the scenes, but always making things happen, we hold the government, and each other, to account.
Music Victoria has joined Rock Posters and other Melbourne businesses to launch a vaccination campaign to encourage Melburnians to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The month-long 'Mighty V' campaign will be visible on advertisement sites across Melbourne due to contributions of over $10,000 made by 22 partner organisations, including Music Victoria. The campaign will aid Support Act and its crisis relief program, which brings much-needed support to those in the music industry who have lost work, gigs and their livelihoods due to the pandemic.
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In early August, Support Act announced it received an additional $20 million in funding from the Australian Government. The organisation will expand its outreach beyond the music industry to support artists, creatives, production and technical crew working across the broader arts sector from 23 August.
The Mighty V campaign is one of two vaccination campaigns Music Victoria helped launch this month. On August 20, Music Victoria launched #GetVaxxed4Vic, an online campaign to encourage the music industry and music lovers to get vaccinated to aid the Victorian live music scene in reopening.
You can also support artists and music workers by donating to Support Act here or Music Victoria here.
In 2018 Victoria had more venues per capita than anywhere in the world. Fast forward to February 2021 and 3 in 5 workers are considering leaving the music industry as live music trades at under 4% of pre-COVID levels. Every person that gets vaccinated brings us a step closer to reopening and saving Victoria's live music scene.
Along with getting vaxxed, you can support Victoria's live music industry by updating your Facebook profile picture with the campaign frame to encourage others to get vaxxed too.
Step 1: Click on the links below to download a campaign frame
Facebook profile picture frame
Instagram or Facebook post frame
Instagram story frame
TikTok frame
Facebook video frame
Facebook cover image (no editing required)
Twitter header (no editing required)
Email signature (no editing required)
Step 2: Use your image editing tool of choice to put the frame on a photo of yourself
Don't worry, you don't need any design skills! You can use this free, easy-to-use site called Canva and follow the steps below.
This afternoon brings more devasting news as Victoria prepares to enter Lockdown 6.0 at 8pm tonight which means more lost gigs and income for the Victorian Music Industry.
We are still working with the Australian Music Industry Network and the Australian Festival Association to tally the impact of lost gigs across Victoria so we can help find ways to support people and businesses who have been affected. The I LOST MY GIG survey has received 2, 526 responses so far but we know there are so many more people who have been affected by lost gigs. If you lost a gig due to COVID-19 in 2021, please fill out the survey now.
You can read the data collected from the survey so far below.
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.
The Victorian Music Industry is currently facing one of the toughest times in history.
Unfortunately, it’s not until a crisis that people really start to understand what an organisation like Music Victoria does – we fight for music.
Our most recent work has been squarely focused on advocating for financial support, for better conditions (including the easing of restrictions), and more generally providing information, advice and friendly faces for music makers, music workers, and music lovers in Victoria.
If you value this work, then please consider making an end-of-financial year donation here.
Every dollar donated will help Music Victoria to deliver more advocacy campaigns, more services and more professional development opportunities - all designed to support musicians, music businesses, music professionals, music venues, music festivals and music lovers across the contemporary Victorian music community.
Music Victoria is an independent organisation, registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (making all donations of $2+ tax-deductible), set up to specifically service the music sector.
Music is always there for us – will you be there for music?
With deep gratitude,
Simone Schinkel
Chief Executive Officer
Dear Members and the greater Victorian music industry,
With many of you feeling the pressure at a whole new level, I write to share the work we at Music Victoria are currently doing on your behalf.
It can be quite hard to explain advocacy, but essentially, our job is to listen to you and to pass the collective sentiment of our members on to government, including solutions to the problem of the day.
At this very moment, I am hyper-aware of the implications of lockdown and the 1600 gigs that are lost across the state each and every week that this continues.
I also know that many of you are tired of fighting – for support, for understanding, for recognition. If this is you, please look after yourself first and foremost.
In the meantime, here is what Music Victoria is doing:
Prior to this we had been working tirelessly to remove the capacity restrictions and were finally seeing some wins – which we will be picking right back up again, as soon as this most immediate challenge is done.
We certainly won’t always win, but we will keep working and fighting for the Victorian music industry.
Finally, if you think we have missed something – please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are here to represent you!
Warmly,
Simone Schinkel
CEO