EDITOR’S LEAD IN
T
here’sa dearthoflivemusicinAustralia,andit’snot
becausewedon’thaveanymusicians,orbecause
Australiansdon’twanttohearlivemusic.It’sbecause
ofpoliticians,bureaucracy,localcouncilsandtheintol-
eranceofordinaryAustralians.It’sgettingsobadthat
abouttheonlywayyoucanhearlivemusicnowis to
coughupa coupleofhundredbuckstovisitoneofthe‘sanctioned’(as
in‘wemakea lotofcontributionstopoliticalparties’)commercialven-
uesinyourcapitalcity,orhopintoyourcaranddriveseveralhours
outintothecountrysidetoattenda musicfestival...exceptthatin
NSW,youwon’tevenbeabletothat,becausetheBerejikliangovern-
menthasintroducednewlicensingrequirementsthatmakeit virtually
impossibleforsuchfestivalstocontinueinNSW.
Butbyfarandawaythebiggestproblemfacinglivemusicin
Australiancitiesis thatit’snowillegaltomake‘loud’sounds.If you
turnupthevolumeonyourstereoinmyneckofthesuburbanwoods,
you’llsoonbegettinga knockonthedoorfroma representativeof
yourlocalconstabularytellingyouto‘turnit down.’Andthere’s
nothingatallyoucandoaboutit.I wasrecentlyonthereceiving
endofjustsucha visit,andwhenI protestedthatthesoundwasnot
loud,whichI couldproveasI hada soundpressurelevelmeter,I was
informedthatthepolicemanstandinginfrontofmewasthesole
arbiterofwhatconstituted‘loud’sound.WhenI presumedtodebate
thispointwithhim,I wascurtlywarnedthatif I continuedtoargue
I wouldbearrested.Atleastturningdownthesounddidn’tcostme
anything.If I hadhireda livebandI wouldhavebeenoutthemoney
I hadpaidthem.
Andif youthinkthattherearedifferentrulesforcommercialven-
ues,you’donlybehalfright.I recentlyheardofa hotelinSydneythat
hadbeenhavingregularjazzafternoonsinitsbeergardenformore
thantwentyyears.Thenthelong-termresidentinthehousenext-
doortothehotelmovedout.Guesswhatthenewtenantscomplained
about?Yep,gotit inone.Thenoisefromthejazzband.Andguess
what?Thecouncilruledinfavourofthenewtenantsandthatwasthe
endofSaturdayafternoonjazzatthathotel.
Thenthere’sthenewrulethatsaysif yourvenueprovidesenter-
tainment,youhavetoprovidesecurityguards.Thismeans,according
toonepublican,that‘If I havea ukuleleplayerin a barattracting 20 or
30 peopleona Saturdayafternoon,I alsohaveto wearthecostof twosecu-
rityguardsfromhalfanhourbeforethemusicstartsuntilanhourafterit
ends.’ Andguesswhat?Unlikemostsemi-professionalmusicians,even
part-timesecurityguardsgetpaidawardrates.
Sohowis livemusicmanagedinEurope?Obviouslymuchbetter
thanit is here.Livemusicis everywhereinEurope—inrestaurants,
hotels,bars,coffeeshops,parks,streetcornersandprivateresidences.
Therearemusicianseverywhere.InDenmarkthere’sevena lawthat
thegovernmentmustprovidea grantofmoneytoanybodywho
wishestoestablisha school,cluborsimilarorganisationwheremusic
willbetaughtorrehearsed.Theresultofthisfar-sightedpolicyis that
therearemorechoirsinDenmark(percapita) thanthereareinany
othercountryintheworld.Howmany?Atlastcount,justa fewshyof
12,000! greg borrowmanDEATH OF A
THOUSAND CUTS
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