Combining the almighty powers of the City Of Sydney and MusicNSW has resulted in the birth of an exciting new grants program to help create more all-ages music events in inner Sydney.
The new initiative is called All Ages Access Grants (AAA Grants) and will provide funding to cover necessary gig-related things like artist fees, production fees and promotion costs at inner-Sydney events. The aim of the initiative is to encourage venues, booking agents, musicians and artist managers to create shows which are accessible to all music lovers, not just the ones who are 18+, between February and June 2017, ’cause if City Of Sydney and MusicNSW are picking up the cheque, why the hell not?
Not only does attending live music offer a whole lotta’ awesome general-happiness-related benefits, but offering under-age folks the chance to emerge themselves in live music has the potential to do wonders for our community at large.
The beauty of all-ages shows is the fact that they allow our youth the opportunity to explore and develop their passion for live music in spaces where they feel safe and secure. Not only that, but broadening audiences at gigs to include underage punters is a pretty valuable investment in growing the future of live music audiences.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore explains that the City Of Sydney is committed to giving young musos the opportunity to rehearse and to play live shows. “Live music and performance enriches our city’s cultural life and contributes to the local creative economy, there’s no question our community supports it,” she says.
“Reviving Sydney’s live music scene is a challenge that will require long-term investment from all levels of government but we’ve committed to taking immediate action wherever we can.”
14-year-old advocate of all-ages shows Isabella Moore wrote an opinion piece on this very topic for Music Feeds earlier this year, explaining:
“Live music is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever had the joy of experiencing. For the most part religion, sexuality, skin colour, gender all goes out the window when you’re in a raging mosh pit stacked with grins and sweaty armpits. I’ve never felt more free and like myself than when I’ve been surrounded by odorous bodies, watching an artist I admire. Unfortunately, more often than not I miss out on this liberating and soul-rejuvenating experience purely because of my age, and I’m not the only one.
“Putting on more all-ages gigs would benefit the industry. Letting the next generation of music journalists, artists, promoters, managers etc. see and experience the inspiration and bliss that comes along with live music would help the music industry flourish in the years to come. As well as this, it would expose a younger audience to something un-debatably incredible and perspective-altering.”
Applications for the new AAA Grants are now open, and close at 5pm on Monday, 16th January 2017. For more information or to grab an application form head to the MusicNSW website.
