The Australian music industry is something that I try and keep up to date with, and it’s something that I, being an Australian, am proud of. This article, written by Adam Kelly from Tone Deaf, an Australian website based on local and internation music and culture, was written in response to the article 6 Reasons Why The Australian Music Industry Is Currently The Worst In The World. The original article was posted on the website What Culture, which is a UK website featuring music, film and televison news, among other things.

Tone Deaf describes the article as “Viewed over 135,000 times the piece was written by Aussie Brad Lee, who draws upon his experience  as “roadie to frontman, from major distribution to retail”, he explains just why he thinks we haven’t seen an iconic Australian band to breakthrough since the likes AC/DC, Nick Cave and other classic local acts. Lee cites unoriginal local acts, talent shows, Triple J, the Australian public and even poker machines as just some of the reasons why he thinks the local music industry is the world’s worst.” (Kelly, 2014)

Currently, the Australian music industry is proving to be very influential on an international scale, with many young bands fast becoming recognised overseas. A large number of these bands are also independent and rely heavily on their online fan base. Some bands that come to mind are Sticky Fingers, Bad//Dreems, Dune Rats, Violent Soho and Pond. Even though many Australian artists to come out of shows such as the X Factor could be described as copies of every generic teen act in the world, there are so many artists that are making their own way both nationally and internationally. 

In the article, Kelly makes a good point in saying “But as much as the Australian music industry isn’t Reese Mastin (and thank God for that), it also isn’t AC/DC. Where as once upon a time Australia relied on a specific type of music in order to garner international success, now we are exporting artists from genres so diverse we couldn’t even name them all if we tried. And that is a good thing!”(Kelly, 2014) 

As Maria von Trapp once said,

“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”

Music is a universal fascination; it’s extremely broad and has the power to unite people from all walks of life. Music means different things to different people, and it varies from person to person, country to country. For example, earlier this month the BBC launched their new website BBC Music through a YouTube video featuring many important artists from different decades and genres of music coming together and covering God Only Knows by The Beach Boys.

This example shows exactly how significant music is to people from all walks of life, and how much of an impact it has on our world. 

 Music also creates strong feelings and inspires many people, and is a crucial tool for group building and bonding. We use music to regulate our own emotions and those of others. There are chants and dances for spiritual purposes, or songs for relaxing and relieving stress. There are upbeat songs to make tedious tasks more bearable. There are marches and songs to prepare for battle, and there are lullabies to soothe each other to sleep. Music brings people pleasure, and it also shapes our personalities and how we view one another.  

On this blog I will share my favourite music and artists, news, and my experiences at gigs. The most recent concert I went to was Sticky Fingers at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Bunbury. This concert was very different to any other one that I’d ever been to. My friend and I decided to take the trip down to Bunbury as the first Perth show had sold out and we were looking to do something different. The whole vibe was exciting, overwhelming and a little bit scary; the room was packed with sweaty teenagers trying (and failing) to crowdsurf and it stank of beer. Sticky Fingers were so fast paced and electric and not one person was standing still.

  (Sticky Fingers, Prince of Wales Hotel 17/09/14)

Music is something that is very important in my life, and it’s something that I am very passionate about. I have always been interested in music and all the different genres, and I was raised in a household where there was always music playing or the family were having some kind of discussion about a song or an artist. My parents encouraged me from a young age to be involved in music, and I played the piano for a number of years before I decided that I’d rather listen to music instead of play it, mainly because of my impatience and hatred of theory. 

As I have grown up and changed over the years, so too has my taste in music. When I was young, I loved listening to whatever my parents were listening, and as my Dad has told me, I took quite a liking to bands like INXS and the Hoodoo Gurus. Of course when I got older and music became a factor in popularity and reputation, my taste changed to whatever was playing on either 92.9 or Nova 93.7, and the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus became my pop idols. Looking back, the idea of only liking and listening to the music everyone else was listening to seems silly, but music still played an important part in my life and was significant in shaping my personality. 

 After the awkward teenage phase, my music taste thankfully evolved into more alternative tastes, and it hasn’t changed much since. Bands such as Arctic Monkeys and Foals will forever be my favourite, and have actually led to me making friends that I would have never met if it wasn’t for these bands.

Over the past year or so I have become a lot more open minded and accepting of different genres, and I’m generally happy to listen to most types of music, with some of my new found favourites taking me by surprise. 

(My photos of the Arctic Monkeys concert, Perth 13/05/14)

Hello to everyone,