Never stop dreaming, never stop learning, laughter is a cure ... - APRA

Newsletter of the Australasian Performing Right Association >> July 2005 

>> Photo by Edwina Pickles 

“Never stop dreaming, 

never stop learning, 

laughter is a cure for all. 

Help your fellow man, 

never stop loving 

and go to the health farm 

at least once a year!” 

Promoter and charity fundraiser, Michael Chugg, receives 

the 2005 Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Services To Music 

from Billy Thorpe at the APRA Awards.

Editor’s Wrap 

It’s telling that this year’s APRA Song 

of the Year and Breakthrough Awards 

were won by Missy Higgins. 

Sebastian Chase, one of the 

interviewees in our feature article 

this issue (You can go your own 

way, page 8), would recognise 

her story immediately as one of 

evolving partnerships. Chase says 

all artists start out independent 

– as Missy did till her discovery 

on Triple J Unearthed. He says the 

artist’s journey is one from self-belief to success. Independent 

or major doesn’t matter: what matters is the partnerships you 

make to promote your music along the way. 

WHAT’S MY SCENE 

GOING GLOBAL: THE CAT EMPIRE 

AUSTRALIAN MUSIC ONLINE, IN TIME 

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 

Contents>> 

>> Photo by: Bridget Elliot 

Missy’s story fits this plotline perfectly. From independent 

roots her partnerships evolved: a partnership with John 

Watson of John Watson Management, a record deal with local 

label Eleven (backed by the significant distribution engine of 

Virgin/EMI), to the 2002 international deal with Warner Bros 

Records. 

The route from self-belief to success is one that interests a 

lot of members – more than 500 people attended APRA’s 

recent Indie Roadshow in Melbourne. You can read what our 

panelists said on page 8. 

Also this issue, a beautiful tribute on Paul Hester, of Crowded 

House, by Deborah Conway (page 10); a wrap up of the 

APRA Awards, courtesy of the inimitable Jonathan Biggins 

(page 12); an update on APRA’s background music licence 

negotiations (page 15) and Scot Morris’s promised follow up 

on the FTA (page 13) – this time focusing on new performer’s 

rights and moral rights. And all the other usual suspects. 

Enjoy – we’ll be back again in December. 

Kirti Jacobs 

PDA POSTCARDS 

YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY 

REMEMBERING PAUL HESTER 

2005 APRA MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS 

THE VIEW FROM THE STAGE 

To The Point 

APRA honoured the songwriters and publishers whose works 

were most performed over the previous year at the recent 

APRA Music Awards held in Sydney. We extend our sincere 

congratulations to all the winners and nominees and thanks 

to the organisers and participants for delivering a most 

memorable evening. We now look forward to honouring 

our classical composers at the Classical Music Awards to be 

presented by APRA and the Australian Music Centre on 18 

July at the Sydney Conservatorium. 

While the art and business of music continues unabated, 

there’s a new development on the legal front which poses 

serious questions for copyright owners. The Government has 

called for submissions on the proposed inclusion of US-style 

Fair Use exemptions in the Australian Copyright Act. Their 

discussion paper raises the possibility of the introduction of 

a royalty-based licence for private copying. 

It’s timely to be looking at this issue because with the 

proliferation of devices such as iPods and Foxtel’s PVR in 

the market, private copying of music is as widespread as 

it ever was. Everyone agrees that it’s ridiculous to have a 

law which makes an infringer out of anyone who copies into 

another device a piece of music they’ve already bought as 

a CD, for example. What’s uncertain is to what extent that 

private copying should be free or 

renumerated. 

APRA’s view is that there is a 

clear and compelling moral case 

for access to be accompanied 

by compensation. A broad-based 

licence for private copying is a 

workable solution that will benefit 

the composer and the music user. 

In the months ahead, APRA will be 

strongly arguing this case on behalf 

of its songwriter, composer and 

publisher members. 

Brett Cottle, CEO APRA 

INTERNATIONAL NOTES 

MEMBER NEWS 

BACKGROUND MUSIC: WHAT’S IT WORTH 

PUBLISHER NEWS 

SCREENRAP 

MUSIC TO WATCH PICTURES BY 

SONGWRITERS SPEAK 

WHAT’S HAPPENING 

APRA NZ 

FOCUS ON TAS MUSIC 


JIM KEAYS >> The Mustangs >> Masters Apprentices >> Cotton Keays & Morris 

What are you currently working on? 

I’m working with Russell Morris on material for our live 

shows with Cotton Keays & Morris. One song, Hard To Take 

It Easy, is already included in the set. I have also just written 

Melbourne Victory’s new soccer anthem. I’m also about to 

finish the last couple of songs for my new album, Caledonia. 

What are you listening to? 

Some new stuff, some old stuff and stuff in between. The 

new stuff includes Audioslave, Evermore and Powderfinger. 

The old stuff includes Little Feat, Dylan, Muddy Waters and 

Elmore James. The stuff in between includes Willie De Ville, 

and Paul Rodgers (Tribute to Muddy Waters). 

What is your favourite book about music? 

Ian McFarlane’s Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop. 

John Lennon’s Spaniard in the Works, and In His Own Write 

and my own, His Master’s Voice. 

What is your favourite film that is about music or is it a 

musical? 

Spinal Tap. Everything in it has happened to me at some 

time. Hard Day’s Night & Leningrad Cowboys Do America. 

What is your favourite music website? 

Don’t do websites except for music memorabilia on ebay. 

What is the best live gig you’ve ever been to, whether you 

were on the bill or not? 

Lots! Beatles at Centennial Hall, Adelaide 1964; Stones at 

Centennial Hall, Adelaide 1965; Free at Lyceum, London 1970; 

Pink Floyd at Hyde Park, London 1970; Jethro Tull at Festival 

Hall, Melbourne 1972. Plus honorable mentions to Bob Dylan, 

Who, Easybeats, Tom Waites, Yes, Yardbirds & Warren Zevon. 

What is the quickest song you have written and which song 

took the longest to write? 

Turn Up Your Radio. It only took about 20 minutes. The slowest 

was This Song which took about three years. 

Who have been your greatest musical influences? 

Early rock & roll performers Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, 

Eddie Cochrane, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Elvis, etc. Then 

Beatles, Stones, Dylan... the usual suspects. 

What do you enjoy the most about co-writing? 

It takes the song away from your singular point of view and 

transports it to places you never think of on your own. 

Who would you most like to collaborate with and why? 

I’m fundamentally a lyricist so I’d prefer to collaborate with a 

guitar player or keyboard player – someone like Pete Townsend 

or Eric Clapton. But Nic Cester from Jet would be cool, too. 

What’s your favourite song (that you’ve written)? 

Because I Love You – it has become an evergreen / classic. 

Waiting For The Big One – many people comment that it sounds 

familiar despite having never heard it before; and Love Is, an 

overlooked Masters song from the Panama Red album. 

What song written by another writer do you wish you had 

written, and why? 

Like A Rolling Stone – spoke to a generation of kids trying 

to find their way in a whole new post-war world. 

What lyric can’t you get out of your head? 

“Do what you wanna do, be what you wanna be, yea”. 

What is the best career advice you were ever given? 

Being a rock musician was definitely not seen as a career 

so there was nobody before me to get advice from!! But 

my advice to others is to WRITE SONGS. The songwriter 

supports the entire music industry despite what record 

companies, managers, agents, etc. may tell you. 

If you were not a songwriter, what might you have ended 

up doing? 

Probably a painter. I still love painting and try to do it 

whenever I get a break from gigging. If it wasn’t for music 

and art, I’d probably be in jail!! 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 0 2

Tania 

Australian music online, 

in time 

Singer, writer, artistic director, and public 

advocate of the arts, ROBYN ARCHER AO, 

spoke at the launch of the Australian 

National Library’s ambitious new project: 

www.musicaustralia.org 

Here, Robyn discusses the goals of the 

new site and its implications for creators 

and users of Australian music. Robyn 

is currently Artistic Director, Liverpool 

European Capital of Culture 2008. 

By Kathy Grant, Manager, 

Performance Verification, APRA 

Summer 2002 in California. 

The rolling green hills of 

America’s wine country. 

Six-piece Melbourne 

band, The Cat Empire, 

are playing their first 

ever overseas gig – all 

expenses paid, with wine 

and food laid on! Several 

months earlier, while 

roughing it at the Adelaide 

Fringe Festival the band 

were approached by a 

stranger with an American 

accent. He promised to 

fly them to Napa Valley 

CA to play at his wine 

auction – But he was true 

to his word and here they 

were living it up in the 

sunshine, playing to some 

of America’s wealthiest 

wine moguls. A classy 

OS debut indeed! 

Cut to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 

a few months later. It’s 3:00 am in the 

dim, smoky confines of Late‘N’Live, a 

stand up comedy room notorious for 

its drunken hecklers. The Cat Empire 

have begun their first gig of a 15- 

nights-in-a-row marathon booking. 

Not quite what they were expecting, 

but they turn each night into a 

party. Word travels and suddenly 

Late‘N’Live becomes THE packed out 

place to be for a culturally diverse 

mix of Festival goers finishing their 

night on an energetic high. 

The Cat Empire’s genre-jumping 

music has been described as “a 

jazz-soul-hip-hop-Cuban-reggaegypsy 

amalgamation’ or more 

succinctly, “a cultural melting pot 

stirred with a drum stick”. Starting 

out as a trio, then growing to a 

six-piece combo, they’ve built their 

sound through live performances at 

the tiny jazz clubs of Melbourne, 

moved on to larger venues, then to 

big festival stages. 

After three years of playing together 

live, The Cat Empire decided to 

commit their sound to CD in 2003. 

The debut album, made with the 

help of family and friends, took 

eight months and was recorded in 

a variety of locations including a 

country house on a macadamia nut 

farm outside Byron Bay. All tracks 

were recorded live in a vocal booth 

fashioned out of mattresses. In 

keeping with the band’s trademark 

spontaneity, the recording included 

the occasional sound of crickets 

chirping in the warm night air. 

While recording the album, The 

Cat Empire played a large number 

of shows around Byron Bay. They 

rented a Tarago, toured the east 

coast of Australia and played their 

first WOMAD – WOMADelaide, thus 

making an entry into this prestigious 

circuit of world music festivals. 

Tarago touring soon gave way to 

international flights and gigs around 

the globe: the UK, USA, Kuala 

Lumpur, Singapore. An extensive 

tour of Europe in mid 2004 took 

the band from the Netherlands to 

France, Switzerland and Austria, 

followed by a road trip through 

Italy to Spain where they played 

in Barcelona and at the Kesse 

World Music Festival. The return 

journey included gigs at the 

Three Elephants Festival in Lassay 

les Chateaux, plus Karlsruhe in 

Germany, and ended with another 

Edinburgh Fringe. The venue this 

time was The Famous Spiegeltent. 

Back in Australia the group were 

invited to open the 2004 APRA 

Music Awards in Melbourne and 

their self-titled debut album went 

double platinum and earned six 

ARIA nominations. In November 

2004 the band headed back to 

the studio – the Egrem recording 

studio in Havana, Cuba, that is, 

where Buena Vista Social Club, 

Cubanismo and many other legends 

have made musical history. 

The album, Two Shoes, had to be 

recorded in 28 days. Things began 

well with drums, bass, percussion, 

piano and trumpet recorded live 

together in the first couple of weeks. 

But dinner at a dodgy diner caused 

food poisoning which floored every 

member of the band for several days, 

cutting into time for vocals and over 

dubs. In the end it was all grist for the 

mill for The Cat Empire – Two Shoes 

was released in April 2005. 

There’s no stopping them now. At 

the time of writing the Empire had 

two more shows to go in the US. 

New York was sold out with over 18 

record labels confirmed to attend. 

Now that’s Empire building! 

The line up 

Felix Riebl percussion, vocals 

- does most of the writing 

Ollie McGill piano, melodica, banjo 

Ryan Monro double bass, guitar 

Will Hull-Brown drums 

Jamshid ‘Jumps’ Khadiwala 

DJ, percussion 

recently spoke at the launch of Music Australia at the Australian National Library 

I in Canberra. It was a lively event, hosted by Library Chair Sir James Gobbo and 

featuring performances by Col Joye, the Stiff Gins, and the Australian Youth Orchestra 

amongst others. Arts Minister Rod Kemp officially launched the new website. 

Why was I there? There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have a long association 

with the Australian National Library to which I have been donating my papers for 

many years. We often think of the Library as a repository of things we may wish to 

research, but the fact is that the ANL can be a huge resource for us personally. As 

performing artists, the things we do are entirely transitory, and while we may have 

scores and CDs, DVDs and even vinyl to record what we have done in our music, 

it’s never quite the whole picture. The ANL gets interested in papers, photographs, 

posters, hand drafts of songs, correspondence - the kinds of things which simply 

rot in a garage somewhere unless someone catalogues and stores them properly. 

This service means that if we, or someone else wishes to research our careers, there 

is material evidence. This resource combined with the Australian Music and Sound 

Archive (also in Canberra) means that all those years of performances that came and 

went can be well documented. 

Secondly, Robyn Holmes, Music Curator for the ANL, showed me Music Australia 

during its development, and asked if I would be interested in having my website (www. 

robynarcher.com.au) archived. I readily agreed. Robyn explained they wished to have 

a comprehensive record of all music in Australia. While Music Australia is currently 

and understandably weighted towards the past, the desire is for this website to 

document all music from all fields including the most contemporary, and the more 

scores, histories of bands, songs etc they have the better. We all know that some 

projects we do, some bands, have a short time-span even when we wish them to 

go on for years. By placing copies of CDs and documentation with the Library, and 

archiving websites on Music Australia, there is a permanent record of what a band 

or writer or performer was doing. 

Imagine a film, theatre or advertising producer, from anywhere in the world, 

searching Music Australia for ideas. This person, who is deliberately not going for 

the high priced mainstream, comes across something you wrote ten years ago for 

a band now vanished, and likes it. Bingo – a new opportunity has been created. 

Even if that seems too good to be true, you can direct interested parties to where 

they will find evidence of your work, and even at the research level, your work is 

there to be included as a part of the history, present and future of Australian music. 

I’m sure most APRA members would be delighted to think that their work has been 

noticed somewhere. 

Many artists have a reluctance 

simply to hand over scores and 

websites, but I believe that in this 

instance the value of preserving 

what you have done and expanding 

your profile to a national and 

historical stage, far outweighs 

any danger of inappropriate use 

in the is context. In any case, 

you can always offer something 

representative but perhaps sitting 

in the dark drawer and no longer 

of commercial value anyway. 

Music Australia is an ambitious 

project that shows collections 

from all libraries and resources 

throughout Australia. Its intention 

is to demonstrate the breadth and 

depth of Australian music from 

start to present and already has 

admirable records of composers, 

single songs, musicals and 

performers from classical to 

contemporary. In that history, and 

that company, it is an honour 

to be able to type in your name 

and see what work or evidence of 

yours in held by which collections 

in Australia, and an even greater 

thrill for others to be able to get 

a comprehensive look at what you 

do, and even see scores online. 

I’ve been an APRA member for many 

years. I know both the energy and 

concerns of our membership, and I 

have no hesitation in recommending 

Music Australia to you, as a 

resource and a service. Have a look 

at the site (www.musicaustralia.org). 

If you’re not there, or something’s 

missing, then only you can help it 

get better. 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 0 4

CHRISTOPHER 

TONKIN 

Classical Music 

For the past six months, I have been 

attending classes at IRCAM in Paris as 

part of a one-year course in computer 

music composition. With nine other 

students from eight countries I spend 

the hours between 10am and 6pm, 

Monday to Friday in a room full of 

computers receiving instruction from 

IRCAM’s pedagogy team of Andrew 

Gerzso, Emmanuel Jourdan, Jean Lochard 

and Mikail Malt. The course covers realtime 

applications of computers for live 

music performance, an area that has 

been the focus of IRCAM since the early 

1980s. We have covered, among other 

things, real-time signal processing, 

control, and sound-spatialisation, and 

their application to composition and 

live performance, developing our own 

approaches within the software and 

programming environments developed 

at IRCAM. 

There have been many visiting 

composers, among then Brian 

Ferneyhough, Tristan Murail, François 

Bernhard-Mâche, and Marc Stroppa. 

They have met with students privately 

and collectively giving presentations on 

how their work relates to technology. 

There are also many concerts and 

festivals throughout the year both 

at IRCAM and in Paris, all of which 

provides a rich set of perspectives and 

experiences. 

We are now nearing the end of the first 

part of the course, after which the group 

will work independently upon individual 

final projects. The final project is to 

compose a new work for performer 

and live computer processing that 

incorporates what we have learnt during 

the classes. The ten new works will be 

presented in a two concert series on 13 

and 14 October 2005 at the conclusion 

of our residency here. Until then I have 

virtually unlimited access 24 hours a day 

to the resources at IRCAM to develop 

this project. 

The piece I have proposed is for 

percussion and live six-channel computer 

processing and spatialisation, working 

with a young French percussionist, Abel 

Billard. I have already completed a 

short sketch in preparation for this and 

given an informal airing in March with 

promising results. Now I am focusing 

all of my energy into this new work and 

another for computer and eight-channel 

sound that I have been working away at 

since I arrived. 

Our Professional Development 

Award winners report on how 

the APRA PDA grant has helped 

them achieve their music career 

ambitions. This issue features 

postcards from classical winner, 

Christopher Tonkin; country 

music writer, Dianna Corcoran 

and pop music writer, Vassy. 

After the concert in October, I will 

present the work I have done here as 

part of the orientation for the ten new 

students who will do the course next 

year. 

The experience of being at IRCAM, 

with the resources and time to focus 

on computer music, has enabled me 

to become quite adept in the field 

of computer music composition and 

technology. 

I definitely feel I now have the skills to 

work independently on any project. To 

reach this point has been a goal of mine 

for several years. 

Paris is an expensive city and IRCAM 

does not provide financial assistance to 

students, I would not have been able 

to take up this opportunity without the 

support of APRA. 

The PDA covered over half my expenses 

for the entire year. I will always be 

very grateful to APRA for this support. 

The time that I have spent here has 

positively changed my creative outlook 

and resources more significantly than 

any other period in my career. I will 

try to honour this with focused creative 

work and to pass on what I have learned 

to others interested in incorporating 

computers and technology into their 

own work. 

Thank you, APRA, for making this 

possible. 

DIANNA CORCORAN 

Country Music 

Wow! Where do I start? What an 

unbelievable year! 

I couldn’t have won the PDA grant at a 

more perfect time. I was just starting to 

gather material for my second record, 

and being a relatively new songwriter, 

I felt I needed to get a little more 

experience in order to make a great 

album. This next project will be the 

first album recorded under my record 

company’s label, and having a support 

VASSY 

Popular Contemporary 

Music 

Winning the APRA Professional 

Development Award was a true blessing. 

It has contributed immensely to the 

development of my career over the 

past year. The grant gave me financial 

assistance to do things that have 

furthered my career over the last 12 

months in Australia and overseas. Just 

as important is the recognition and 

respect that goes with winning an award 

such as this. It is highly regarded in the 

music industry and winning it has been a 

particularly humbling experience. 

I made an effort to spend my grant 

over 12 months so that the funds would 

last as long as possible. It has financed 

several trips to the US and Europe 

where I have spent most of last year 

working on my album. 

The first thing I did when I won the 

grant was to buy myself a laptop and a 

few other audio devices that have been 

my tools for writing, recording and 

developing ideas while on the road. I 

now demo all my songs on my laptop 

team behind me this time, I have all the 

opportunities that I never had before 

and I want to make sure it’s my best 

work. 

Being a country singer, I have always 

wanted to visit Nashville, Tennessee: 

‘Music Capital of the world’. I never 

thought I would get to go so soon, 

but winning the APRA grant saw me 

experience Nashville for a whole month 

in October last year. 

What an eye opener! I met some of the 

most amazing people and wrote songs 

with some of the best songwriters in the 

world including: 

• Jerry Salley, writer for Reba McEntire, 

Patty Loveless, Toby Keith, Loretta 

Lynn and many others 

• Steve Werfel, writer for Tina Arena, 

The Commodores, Rick Price 

• Bob Regan, writer for…well, Bob has 

written for almost every major artist in 

country music! 

I spent almost every day writing and, on 

the days I didn’t write, I was networking 

and getting to know some of the people 

that make things happen. 

and all the songs on my debut album, 

My Affection, were initiated from this 

set up. 

I’m able to record directly into my 

laptop wherever I am, even in a park in 

Sydney, and then email the ideas to a 

producer in New York. This investment 

has opened up a whole new world of 

creative collaborations with people on 

the other side of the globe. I travel a lot 

for work and so this set up has become 

an invaluable asset. 

The grant financed most of my travels 

last year. I went on a writing trip to 

New York, Philadelphia and Paris. This 

trip was very successful and was then 

followed with a second trip where I 

went back to actually work on the songs 

and record them. While I was overseas I 

developed many relationships and have 

since strengthened them by keeping 

in touch and following up with a third 

visit. It has always been my desire to 

be a global artist and I intend to keep 

pursuing this. 

I feel that when you win something it only 

motivates you to work harder to achieve 

your dreams. All of my travels, meeting 

with other artists, producers, labels, and 

I am home again now and after a heavy 

touring schedule at the beginning of 

2005 I am now ready to start recording 

my album, in hope that it will be out by 

the end of the year. 

I also used some of my grant to purchase 

a computer and some basic studio 

software in order to put together quick 

demos of my songs. Writing is now my 

favourite part of the music business and 

I would love to start pitching my songs 

to other artists. 

When I returned from Nashville, I brought 

back more than just new songs for the 

record, I came back full of amazing 

inspiration, knowledge and ideas. Being 

completely surrounded by such talented 

people in a place where country music 

is almost a religion taught me so much. I 

am now more motivated and determined 

then ever. Cheers APRA! 

other music contacts has resulted in me 

being even more determined to further 

my career. 

As I write this, I am getting prepared to 

go over to the US again with my finished 

album, and I am doing that with the last 

bit of my grant. I can’t believe I made it 

last this long! 

I am very grateful to APRA for this 

award and the opportunities it has 

afforded me. 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 0 6

When APRA held its 2005 annual 

Roadshow in Melbourne recently, we 

expected attendance to be around 200. 

Our members are usually keen to pick 

the brains of our panel of experts on a 

wide range of topics. So we were blown 

away when the 2005 Roadshow was 

booked out within days There was so 

much interest, we had to change venues 

to accommodate the 500 plus people 

who wanted to attend. 

Turns out our theme – “The Indie 

Special” – had hit a nerve. Clearly lots 

of our members want to explore the 

independent route to making music. 

So, here’s a summary of the material 

covered at the Roadshow, with some 

extra insight from our resident indie 

master: John Butler. 

Coming soon to your state APRA’s 2005 

Indie Roadshow. Check www.apra.com. 

au for details 

you can go 

your own way 

John Butler 

John Butler Trio 

Biggest challenge for 

indies 

Keeping funded and busy 

can be a really hard thing 

for a lot of musicians when 

starting out. Getting radio’s 

attention can take a long time. 

Management can be a huge 

issue even if you have been 

gigging and touring for years. 

At the start I just dived in 

head first and took every gig I 

could, paying or not. Word of 

mouth really works wonders. I 

also found a couple pubs that 

I really wanted to play at went 

along to their open mic nights 

and just got involved and met 

people. 

indie advice 

from the experts 

Compiled by Kirti Jacobs and Anthea Sarris 

Advice for other 

artists/writers 

Reinvest your money - that’s 

the engine. Inspiration - that’s 

going to fuel your career goals 

like touring and recording. 

Mailing lists - always use 

them. The Waifs taught me 

this. It doesn’t matter if there 

are only four people at your 

gig. If they dig it and sign 

your mailing list I guarantee 

they’ll be at least nine at your 

next gig and so on. Be willing 

to get into the business side 

of things. An artist’s intuition 

is a powerful thing and is 

essential in sculpting the type 

of career one wants to have. 

Know what’s going on in that 

side of your career. You don’t 

want things get out of your 

control; after all it is your 

destiny you’re creating. 

Good things about 

being independent 

Being intimate with the business 

aspects really helps when 

making decisions later down 

the track. Running my own 

business with my partner and 

my manager for the last eight 

years really helped when doing 

a deal with a major record 

label in the US and, more 

importantly, with planning how 

we wanted our music presented 

and marketed in that region. 

Find a good manager 

To have someone batting for 

you who really believes in the 

music is invaluable. Someone 

who has a good work ethic, 

is reliable, trustworthy, has 

good people skills and, 

most importantly, a good 

intuition. 

Building distribution 

Look into independent 

distribution companies like 

MGM. Take your CDs on 

tour yourself and manage the 

accounts yourself. Also, start 

a website if you can and sell 

your stuff on it. 

Support other artists 

Buy the albums of local 

artists that you like. Go see 

their live shows. The money 

from ticket and CD sales 

will allow them to continue 

funding their dreams. Give a 

good busker a few bucks. 

More self-sufficient artists 

who want to contribute to the 

arts scene can donate funds 

to the JB Seed. We want to 

have the fund be open to lots 

of different artist who want 

to contribute something to 

our amazing arts community. 

To find out more email 

grants@thejbseed.com. 

Ian James 

Mushroom Music 

The biggest challenge 

facing indies 

Being recognised by the 

general public. There’s a 

plethora of new acts producing 

cheap, but very professionally 

finished CDs and demos, 

but only a small number of 

opportunities to succeed. 

Advantages of being 

independent 

The return per unit can be 

quite high. If you sell a decent 

number of CDs, say 10,000 to 

15,000, and you keep about 

$10 to $12 per CD, that’s about 

$100,000. The other advantage 

is control. You’re not beholden 

to another company, artistically 

and financially. 

Expanding distribution 

MGM provide a very decent 

distribution service at the lower 

end of the market. If you can 

afford it, hire a publicist who 

can work the media for you in 

a more professional way. 

Finding a manager 

A good manager can connect 

you to the right agency and 

the media and manage the 

process through for you. 

Finding a good manager is 

a matter of extreme talent. 

Acts like Wolfmother, Missy 

Higgins, Jet, Silverchair had 

no trouble attracting all kinds 

of attention. They had the 

smell of success about them 

from the moment they started. 

Everyone has to roll along until 

their success seduces a good 

manager to look at them. If it’s 

not happening for you, then 

draw your own conclusions. 

Tours and promotion 

Get on the books of an agent 

who’s passionate about you 

and talks you up in the 

industry. Agents are looking for 

something that can start pulling 

within a measurable amount of 

time. To attract their attention, 

you need to create a buzz 

about your work – perform 

live, get in front of them. 

Last words of advice 

First, talent matters above all 

else. If you want a serious 

career then nurture your 

uniqueness. Real talent has a 

natural arrogance – it knows 

it’s good and occupies that 

space confidently. Second, 

don’t abandon the majors 

altogether – there is good 

reason for the majors to 

exist. We’re now seeing the 

emergence of hybrids where 

the label is independent but 

they use the distribution 

network of a major. If you use 

their resources properly, you 

can start to sell exponentially. 

Third, have a transition plan. 

A lot of independents fail 

because they really only 

have one good act. It’s not 

an easy model to sustain 

– you have to mutate to 

something more sophisticated 

to survive. Finally: what are 

your motives? A lot of people 

go into music for reasons 

other than money – they just 

want to have fun, they like 

the social aspects of making 

music. In which case, keep 

going! 

Philip 

Mortlock 

Origin Music 

Biggest challenge 

Finding a way to be seen and 

heard. 

Advantages of being 

independent 

Being in charge of your own 

destiny can be empowering. It 

forces you to be honest with 

your self and your expectations. 

It can also be very rewarding 

when things go right. 


Figure out a clever marketing 

and promotional plan to 

build more interest and 

awareness. Distribution is 

always there if you have 

created some momentum. 

Distribution supplies the 

demand (the tail does not 

wag the dog). 

Value of managers 

If your expectation is that 

a manager will make it all 

happen for you, I don’t think 

that manager exists. If you 

can find someone to work 

with who is compatible, multiskilled, 

connected (network 

skills), has sensible small 

business skills and realistic 

expectations – that’s a start. 

Help with tours and 

promotion 

There is no one with a magic 

wand. A lot of this starts with 

you and what you can do as 

the artist. 

Advice for indie bands 

It’s all about live exposure. 

Seeing and being seen is 

all important to developing 

identity and awareness as a 

band. If your music is not 

part of a band structure you 

need to think laterally - “where 

does my music fit” either in 

the media or the market. The 

encouraging thing is there is 

always a great thirst for new 

and interesting music. If you’re 

out to make music to express 

yourself creatively, share 

music and thoughts with others 

and not be hung up on simply 

making money you can enjoy 

the pleasures of doing it so 

much more. It’s a bonus if your 

music becomes a commercially 

viable avenue. 

Stuart Watters 

Association of 

Independant Radio 


Administrative capacity is 

a really big challenge, so 

you can focus on achieving 

economic and artistic 

sustainability. Another issue is 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 0 8

the digitisation of the massive 

independent catalogue that 

AIR represents for its members 

so that they can enter into 

digital licensing deals. AIR’s 

new partnership with Glasgowbased 

company, Rightsrouter, 

helps AIR members get their 

catalogues ready and then 

deliver them into a digital 

platform. By approaching this 

issue collectively, we’re able 

to negotiate a better deal for 

the indies. 

Pros: Indie vs Majors 

You have complete control 

over the quality and direction 

of your music and how you 

would like it presented. You 

also need to sell much less 

to get a higher return on 

your investment and even 

less to break even. Plus, 

there’s greater flexibility in 

terms of where you want to 

focus your energies. 


Getting a distributor doesn’t 

mean that everything’s 

sorted. You need to be 

proactive in channeling traffic 

to you. It’s the distributor’s 

role to get your product to 

the store but it is your role 

to get the product into the 

hands of the punter. With 

a solid marketing plan and 

clear lines of communication 

with your distributor you can 

make everyone’s life easier. 

Good managers add 

value 

To get on board with the 

right manager you need to 

demonstrate that there is a 

percentage in it for them at 

the end. Your first port of call 

should always be the Music 

Managers Forum (MMF) – 

attend their monthly forums. 


promotion 

First check with your state 

music association. Once you 

can demonstrate that there 

is a demand for your music, 

consider a booking agent as 

they can get you in front 

of the right audience at the 

right time. Getting someone 

to plug you on radio can 

be beneficial but be ready 

to back that up by touring. 

The more you tour, the more 

people will see you, the more 

CDs you will sell and the 

more the industry will take 

notice. Go to conferences, 

seminars, AIR Pocket, MMF 

forums and meet with others, 

hear their stories and apply 

them to your own situation 

Advice for bands 

Work out what your market 

is. Get on the festival circuits 

and do side gigs around 

them – use the festival’s 

promotional power to boost 

your own strategies. Get an 

electronic press kit (EPK) so 

that you can further market 

expose yourself without the 

cost of postage and losing 

yet another CD for promo 

purposes. And TOUR LOTS!!! 

Sebastian 

Chase 

Music Manager / 

MGM Distribution 


The biggest challenge is the 

impact of technology on 

culture and how that affects 

the future exploitation of the 

artist’s work. As CDs give 

way to digital distribution 

we’re moving into uncharted 

waters. It’s not clear how 

the shift in income source 

will affect the returns that 

artists receive for their work. 

Independent artists need to 

keep this in mind as they 

negotiate the value of their 

work. 

Pros: Indie vs Majors 

It’s not a case of picking one 

over the other. Most artists 

start off as independent 

artists. The artist’s journey is 

a journey from self-belief to 

the market, and it’s a journey 

that involves an extension of 

partnerships. As it gathers 

momentum, the artist may 

enter into a partnership with 

a manager, a booking agent, 

a distributor, a record label. 

Today there’s a greater number 

of options for artists, they can 

move their careers further by 

forming partnerships with the 

majors. 

The value of staying independent 

is artistic control. Sometimes, 

being independent is the only 

way to survive, because your 

income is not eroded by too 

many participants. 


Distribution does not create 

demand, it fulfils demand. 

Before you can talk about 

distribution, you need to 

build demand. Artist should 

be continually engaged in 

developing and exploiting their 

market. Distribution is not just 

a single format method – once 

you have a repertoire, you 

might have to build several 

platforms to push what you’ve 

created. John Butler is one of 

the great examples of what I call 

the whirlpool of distribution. 

He started off as a busker 

and then made great use of 

his domestic market; beginning 

with distribution at live venues, 

then retail, internet, e-stores 

and digital providers. Now it’s 

expanding overseas. It was a 

momentum driven by himself 

and his manager – they really 

understood how to make the 

whirlpool happen. 

Good managers add 

value 

Australia is going through 

a creative renaissance at 

the moment and the music 

industry is once again being 

driven by artists and their 

managers. There are very few 

good managers around and 

you might have to go out 

and create one. When I first 

started in this business, the 

artists I managed knew more 

about the business than I 

did. They were my teachers. 

Artists have to cultivate their 

managers as part of their 

own development. What 

to look for: integrity and 

communication skills. 


promotion 

To be successful, a band has 

to engage with the industry. 

Who are the players? 

What’s their history? What 

do they do? Get to know 

tour promoters and booking 

agents – not just by their 

company identity, but by 

the people who work for 

them. There are plenty of 

books and seminars around 

to inform you. Check with 

APRA, the MMF. Investigate 

the industry. 

Advice for bands 

Because of technology 

we’re seeing two disciplines 

merging into one: the artistic 

discipline of recording 

with the artistic discipline 

of performance. Successful 

artists occupy a presence 

in time and space. They 

offer entertainment value 

in what they do. No third 

party is going to make you, 

you have to make yourself. 

Take on the responsibility 

for being a performing and 

recording artist and when it 

works, the partnerships and 

relationships you need to 

cultivate will fall into place 

by themselves. 

Remembering 

Paul Hester 

by 

Deborah Conway 

 

Paris (Hester) 

I wore a dress in Paris / I upset the French in Paris 

Someone called me a shameless hussy 

It must have been someone working for EMI 

My lovely old friend Paul Hester, drummer, funny man, song writer, killed himself on the 26 March, 

Easter Saturday. He always hated holidays. 

I met Paul when I was 20 years old. I was renting a rambling house in Melbourne with a lot of 

bedrooms and somebody was moving out. I’d heard about this drummer in a band called The Cheks, 

who needed a place to live, so that night I went to Hearts in Carlton, where he was playing. 

The Cheks were very entertaining; the songs were hooky and the combination of personalities on 

stage (John Clifforth, Ken Campbell and Steve Carter) worked very well. Paul was an incredible 

drummer. He managed to be a personality on his instrument while always letting the tune shine 

through; he put the song before the drums. And he wanted to move in to my house! 

These were heady days in Rockley Road. I’d just joined my first band, The Benders, and we went 

to each other’s gigs all the time. We smoked a lot of pot, watched Countdown religiously and 

laughed a lot. He made me laugh so much; he could literally make me cry laughing so hard. Paul 

was an incredible mimic and an acute observer of people, he could get you to see the bleeding 

obvious in a way you’d never thought of before. 

Within a year I’d moved to Sydney to form Do Re Mi. And Paul followed with the newly named 

Deckchairs Overboard. We took up residence together in an Edwardian house in North Sydney. 

My overwhelming memory is of Paul with a tea-towel slung over his shoulder wiping stuff; he was 

highly evolved in the housework department (got it from his dad) and loved nothing more than a 

good vac, book-ended with cups of tea and perhaps a spot of furniture rearranging. 

One day Rob Hirst called me up and asked me if I thought Paul would like to join Split Enz. Paul, 

though initially nervous of the impression he would make on these seasoned musicians, played 

like a demon in the audition and made them all cack themselves laughing in the breaks. He was 

a shoe-in for the job. 

These were great days for Paul, living his childhood fantasies of joining a hugely successful band 

and playing shows most nights. (He was so comfortable in the role that he’d virtually patented the 

streak followed by the nude encore.) By day he was concentrating more and more on his song 

writing and with Tim and Neil as co-band members it wasn’t hard to feel motivated. He would work 

at a song for a long time and in a sense he never quite finished them as he was always looking for 

ways to refine them. He was a bit of a perfectionist. Paul’s lyrics reflected his humour, sometimes 

a little macabre, sometimes sweetly romantic. 

When Split Enz split and Paul, Neil, Nick Seymour and Craig Hooper toured as The Mullanes, Do 

Re Mi supported. It was a rocky start; we played large venues that no one came to and we dubbed 

it the “burn the promoter tour”. 

Crowded House went on to become one of the great bands; the songs; the musicianship and 

the fact that Neil, Nick and Paul were all as strong as each other in performance made them 

wonderfully endearing and enduring. 

Paul played drums on an early Do Re Mi EP, but then we didn’t officially work together again until 

I was pregnant with my first child. I asked him to play drums on a new little outfit Willy Zygier 

and I had formed called Ultrasound. He was magnificent. The follow up touring was hilarious; I 

loved every show we played. We had a song called Petrol 

Head, which was a lyrical, soundtrack-searching-for-a-film 

type of a piece. Paul would introduce the song every night 

by painting word pictures of Bill McDonald (bass player in 

the band) in a pair of very tight shorts working a petrol 

pump. The story would get longer and more absurd every 

night. It was delightful. 

Paul was an adoring father and it was lovely to see him 

mature into that role. He was an exceptionally generous 

man with an acute sense of fairness. He naturally gravitated 

to the side of the underdog and could be fierce when he 

felt that an injustice was going on that he could somehow 

prevent. I loved him for that and for a great deal more; I 

will miss him as a brilliant drummer, for making me laugh 

so much, for being a wonderful friend and a unique human 

being. I thank him for all the memories I have. 

Worms (Hester) 

Takes a long time to die 

Almost all your life 

Takes some people 60 years 

Some people never learn 

But I’m not scared of worms 

I take em fishing for they love 

to swim and wriggle 

I never kill em put my hook 

right through the middle 

We’ll talk about the times we’ll 

spend telling jokes 6 foot under 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 1 0

2005 APRA MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS 

The view from the stage 

By Jonathan Biggins 

Song Of The Year 

Title: Scar 

Artist: Missy Higgins 

Writers: Missy Higgins/^Kevin Griffin (BMI) 

Publisher: ^Warner Chappell Music Aust Pty Ltd 

Songwriter Of The Year 

JET 

Nicholas Cester, Cameron Muncey 

and Chris Cester 

Breakthrough Award 

Missy Higgins 

Ted Albert Award For Outstanding 

Services To Australian Music 

Michael Chugg 

Most Performed Australian Work 

Title: So Beautiful 

Artist: Pete Murray 

Writer: Peter Murray 

Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Aust) Pty Ltd 

Most Performed Foreign Work 

Title: Here Without You 

Artist: 3 Doors Down 

Writer: Robert Harrell (BMI) / Christopher 

Henderson (BMI) / Matthew Roberts (BMI) 

/ Bradley Arnold (BMI) 

Publisher: Universal/MCA Music Publishing Pty Ltd 

Most Performed Country Work 

Title: Like A River 

Artist: Kasey Chambers 

Writer: Kasey Chambers 

Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing (Aust) Pty Ltd 

Most Performed Dance Work 

Title: City Rules 

Artist: Daniel Merriweather 

Writer: Daniel Merriweather 

Publisher: Marlin Publishing Pty Ltd 

Most Performed Australian 

Work Overseas 

Title: Are You Gonna Be My Girl 

Artist: Jet 

Writer: Nicholas Cester/Cameron Muncey 

Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd 

Most Performed Jazz Work 

Title: Drive By 

Artist: The Necks 

Writer: Lloyd Swanton/Christopher 

Abrahams/Anthony Buck 

APRAs 2005 was my fifth awards ceremony as MC 

but the notches on my belt did nothing to calm 

the nerves, although thankfully they did hold my 

pants up. 

Rehearsals in the afternoon went smoothly - too 

smoothly - and the final production meeting was 

brought forward by an hour as we all sat around 

twiddling our thumbs wondering what could go 

wrong in the evening. Hours later, as I waited to 

follow Evermore, the opening act of the evening, 

the stage manager gave me a note from Glen 

Shorrock. He’d had a dream in which I died at 

the APRA Awards and wanted to pass it on in 

case I could use it as comic material. Well, it’s not 

exactly the sort of morale boost you want just 

before you’re about to step on stage! Did he mean 

die literally or figuratively? 

I hastily checked my opening monologue. One 

or two of the gags were this side of ordinary, I 

had to admit, and knowing Guy Sebastian was 

in the audience certainly made the Hillsong 

Church material a bit risky, but would the afroed 

crooner kill me just for saying “Hillsong, the 

church that puts the ‘I’ into Christ and the ‘me’ 

into mercy”? Probably not, but religious rock-androll 

is a cut-throat world. Sure, I had things to 

say about Australian Idol. There are two schools 

of thought on Idol: one school says it’s just a 

cynical marketing exercise stifling real creative 

talent and encouraging mediocrity, while the 

other school says it is. Anyone who figured that 

joke out wouldn’t have time to resort to violence. 

I’d deliberately avoided any cheap jibes about 

artistes in the urban/dance/hip-hop counterculture 

because they might punch me and I was banking 

on the company executives all being too tired 

and emotional to land one. No, I thought I was 

pretty safe. 

I made a mental check-list of the potential physical 

dangers the evening posed. Terminal hearing 

damage, possibly. The lectern was a bit wobbly 

but the only person I knew of who’d been injured 

in a lectern-toppling related accident was the bass 

player of Mini Kiss. The presenters were all decent 

people – Kram, Beccy Cole, Peter Garret, Harry 

Vanda, Tim Freedman, Chit Chat von Loopin Stab 

and a bright young thing from Channel V. No 

danger there. Billy Thorpe was presenting the Ted 

Albert Award to Michael Chugg – twenty years 

ago I would have been worried but I couldn’t see 

a threat from those two active seniors, despite 

their notorious short fuses. The set was all plasma 

screens and intelligent lights, some of them more 

intelligent than a few of the guests. I suppose 

there was a risk of some kind of fit from watching 

the fast-cut graphics but failing Lee Harvey 

Oswald’s brother being a writer/member of APRA, 

I figured I was pretty safe. 

As it turned out, the only unpleasantness was a 

heckler who’d unwisely mixed alcohol with his 

medication. He was so far beyond reason that he 

heckled Billy Thorpe. Sorry, but red rag to a bull. 

With a few choice phrases. the well-preserved 

legend had the heckler on the ropes in a minute, 

then tag-teamed Chuggy to finish the poor bugger 

off. Clueless didn’t stand a chance and was last 

seen in a false beard hailing a cab before Kasey 

Chambers had finished her up-beat version of 

Song of the Year “Scar” to complete the night. 

Rock and roll, bloody marvelous! 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 1 2 

> Dallas Crane >> photo by Tony Mott > Michael Chugg >> photo by Edwina Pickles 

> Melinda Schneider >> photo by Tony Mott > Daniel Merriweather >> photo by Tony Mott > Sarah Blasko >> photo by Tony Mott > Jonathan Biggins >> photo by Tony Mott > Eskimo Joe >> photo by Edwina Pickles

THE US-AUSTRALIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT 

PART 2 

Scot Morris, Director International Relations, APRA 

Sally Howland, Director – Member Services, APRA 

AWARDS NEWS 

The 2006 APRA Music Awards will see the introduction of two new award 

categories: 

• Most Performed Blues and Roots Work 

• Most Performed Urban Work 

APRA and the AGSC have made some changes to the award categories and 

the judging process for the Screen Music Awards: 

>> Photo by Bridget Elliot 

In the last edition of APRAP, I discussed how the January 2005 implementation of the US-Australia 

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) had changed Australian laws about the duration of copyright material. 

I would like to now outline some of the other changes that may have an impact on the music 

business here. 

PERFORMERS’ RIGHTS 

Our Copyright Act has been changed to allow us to comply with one of the “internet treaties”, 

the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) 1996. This Treaty only applies to audio 

recordings of performances, not audio-visual. 

As a result, for recordings made after 1 January 2005, performers are regarded as joint owners of 

copyright in the resulting recording, along with the maker. Conductors are regarded as performers 

for the purposes of these sections. The rights performers will share in are: 

• reproduction of “fixed performances” rights, 

• distribution rights in the sound recordings, and 

• rental and communication rights for the recorded performances. 

Performers will not get the new rights if: 

• they would own copyright in the recording anyway, 

• the performance is part of their employment, or 

• the sound recording was commissioned. 

Performers are deemed to have consented to any uses made of the recording at the time of its 

making. 

The new Performer’s Rights only apply from 1 January 2005. Copyright owners’ rights to use pre- 

2005 recordings remain unaffected. In practice, new recording contracts will still define ownership 

of copyright in the sound recording and the rights enjoyed by performers. It is unlikely that 

practices in commercial recording deals will change as a result of these provisions. In other 

situations, eg making a demo for a friend, all parties should be aware of the operation of these 

new provisions. 

PERFORMERS’ MORAL RIGHTS 

The Act now also grants certain “moral rights’ to performers as required by the WPPT and they 

will commence when this treaty comes into force. The new moral rights include: 

• the right for performers to be credited for the performance 

(it can be by the name of the group), 

• the right to take action against false attribution, and 

• the right to preserve the integrity of the performance by preventing uses that may damage 

the reputation of the performers. 

OTHER AMENDMENTS TO COPYRIGHT LAW 

The law has also been changed to allow copyright owners to take action where people remove 

or alter electronic rights management information (ERMI), or distribute articles from which the 

ERMI has been altered or removed (any dealings with such articles are now covered, not solely 

commercial dealings). 

In addition, there’s been the addition of a new offence of “significant infringement of copyright” 

on a commercial scale; and the introduction of “safe harbour” provisions for ISPs with a “notice 

and take down” scheme similar to the United States scheme. 

Australia has two years from the time the AUSFTA came into force to implement its obligations 

relating to circumvention of technological protection measures (TPMs). 

This article has been prepared for the purpose of providing information only – it should 

not be relied on as legal advice. For legal advice, readers should consult a qualified legal 

practictioner. 

Best Music for Children’s TV 

PREVIOUS - Combination of APRA statistical analysis and judging 

NEW - Judging only 

Best TV Theme 


NEW - Judging only 

Best Feature Film Score 


NEW - Peer voted by APRA Film & TV composers and AGSC members 

Most Performed (Film/TV) Composer Overseas 

NEW - Based on APRA statistical analysis 

of foreign income for a body of work 

Outstanding Achievement in TV 

NEW - Based on APRA statistical analysis 

of domestic income for a body of work 

Best Music for an Educational, training or corporate video 

NEW - This award won’t be offered any more 

The judging panel has grown to include 10 screen composers. The adopted changes will 

result in a truly national judging process. 

Nominations for the Screen Music Awards close on Monday, 8 August. Online voting 

for Best Feature Film Score will close on Monday, 12 September. The Screen Music 

Awards will be held in Melbourne at the BMW Edge Theatre in Federation Square on 

Monday, 7 November. Check www.apra.com.au for updates. 

APRA ROADSHOW – THE INDIE SPECIAL 

Philip Mortlock (Origin Music), Sebastian Chase (MGM), Stuart Watters (AIR) 

and Ian James (Mushroom Music) have been pulling record numbers to this 

year’s Roadshows. Here are the dates for the rest of this year. 

Sydney DATE - Tuesday 2 August, 6pm for 6.30 

CONTACT / REGISTRATION - apra@apra.com.au 

Darwin DATE - Friday 26 August 6pm for 6.30 

CONTACT / REGISTRATION - sant@apra.com.au 

Alice Springs DATE - Sunday 28 August 6pm for 6.30 


Adelaide DATE - Sunday 28 August 6pm for 6.30 


Perth DATE - Wednesday 26 October 6pm for 6.30 

CONTACT / REGISTRATION - wa@apra.com.au 

NEW ADR (Alternate Dispute 

Resolution) SYSTEM 

The APRA Board has approved a new ADR service for 

members based on mediation. The disputing parties, 

with the assistance of a mediator, will identify the 

disputed issues, develop options, consider alternatives 

and endeavour to reach agreement. APRA will subsidise 

the ADR program to offer a low cost option to 

members. The process will operate within the following 

discretionary guidelines. 

• The work must have been allocated $200 to be 

eligible.. 

• A work cannot be referred to ADR if it has been 

registered. 

• Throughout the year a number of dates will be 

allocated for mediations to take place. 

A mediator will be appointed from a panel, 

to handle all disputes on a particular day. 

The panel of mediators is not restricted to 

lawyers. APRA pays for the mediator to attend 

at APRA (including Sydney and other capital city 

offices), at a fixed daily rate. 

• Members will have to demonstrate the validity 

of their claim in a statutory declaration. They can 

also present any other evidence (recordings etc). 

• If a dispute is resolved at the mediation, 

the settlement would be signed by the members 

on the day. If the dispute cannot be resolved, 

APRA will play no further role in the dispute or 

its resolution. 

• Each disputing member involved in the process 

would have to an administration fee of $100 

plus GST. 

The new ADR scheme is available immediately. This 

process is not appropriate for large catalogue disputes 

between publishers. APRA can facilitate resolutions for 

such disputes, if requested. Contact Chris Moller on 

(02) 9936 7984 for more information. 

NEW FORM OF LPR DECLARATION 

There have been some changes made to our online 

LPR declaration form. All members must complete 

the declaration in order to submit LPRs. The principle 

change enables APRA to recoup administrative costs 

from members’ earnings where an LPR submission is 

found to be materially incorrect. 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 1 4

DEAN ORMSTON, APRA’s Director – 

General Licensing, provides an update 

on APRA’s Background Music Licence 

Review and other licensing issues. 

Just how much difference can music make to a bottom 

line? Can a song played in a retail store affect 

consumer behaviour? Does the music in a restaurant 

affect the diner’s dining experience? We think it does… 

APRA has over 49,000 background music licensees in 

Australia, ranging from large chain retail stores and 

registered clubs to small retail premises and hairdressers. 

APRA’s licence rates for background music have 

traditionally been based on the number of pieces of music 

equipment and the number of speakers, since these are an 

approximate measure of the scale of usage. Our rates have 

not been adjusted, except in accordance with inflation, 

since the 1970’s and comparison with overseas affiliates 

confirms that our rates our extremely low. 

Two year ago we commenced the process of reviewing 

our background music rates with the aim of creating new 

administratively simple schemes which properly value 

background music. Having devised new schemes, we 

consulted with some 25 peak industry associations whose 

constituents were affected by the review. It was clear 

from the outset that a negotiated agreement covering all 

industries concerned was unlikely. Accordingly, we referred 

the new Background Music Schemes, based on premises 

size, to the Copyright Tribunal on 12 November 2003. We 

continued to meet with peak industry associations in the 

hope of minimizing arguments put to the Tribunal. Three 

forms of the agreement were proposed relating to Fitness 

(fitness centres), Hospitality (clubs, pubs, restaurants) and 

Retail (all retail and other general uses) industries. 

THE STORY SO FAR… 

Fitness Australia, representing the fitness industry, had 

been involved in negotiations with APRA from the outset 

and joined the Tribunal proceedings. Fitness Australia 

rejected APRA’s original proposal that the scheme should 

be based on the size of the premises and argued that the 

new scheme should remain device based. 

In August 2004 APRA and Fitness Australia reached 

agreement outside the Tribunal process, on a new 

licence scheme. The new scheme remains device based 

and includes a number of concessions particularly 

suited to fitness centres. It was agreed that the new 

rates would be phased in over three years. Relicensing 

started in April 2005. 

HOSPITALITY 

APRA also approached the Hotel, Club and Restaurant 

sectors to similarly negotiate an agreement outside 

the Tribunal process. Both the Hotel and Club sectors 

expressed interest, whereas the Restaurant sector 

confirmed that the premises size model of licensing 

was more attractive and consistent with the way 

restaurateurs measure their property/lease. 

After some six months of discussion, the Club sector 

agreed to the form of licence negotiated with the 

fitness industry and we are confident that the Hotel 

sector will similarly agree. We will begin relicensing 

clubs in October 2005. 

RETAIL AND GENERAL 

Negotiating an outcome with the Retail sector is more difficult, given that 

the clients range from small corner shops and hairdressers through to 

the Coles Myer and Woolworths groups. Although we are talking to all 

major stake-holders we expect that the matter will proceed through the 

Tribunal. Our next appearance in the Tribunal is the end of August when 

the evidence of the participating parties is due. 

Once fully phased in, the new Background Music scheme will represent 

an average increase of more than 100% across all sectors worth an 

additional $6 million per annum…it’s been worth the effort! 

APRA VS THE METRO 

Metro on George is a Sydney venue where live performances and 

dance parties take place, as well as other functions such as private 

parties and corporate functions. In early 2004 APRA was involved in a 

Federal court case with the Metro, regarding the requirement to hold 

a licence for public performances of music occurring at the venue. 

The Metro had argued that they were simply “a venue for hire”, like other 

stadium/hall type venues, notably Sydney Entertainment Centre, the Hordern 

Pavilion and the Enmore Theatre. As such they argued that the APRA licence 

was not their responsibility and that APRA should pursue the hirer of the 

Metro for a licence. APRA argued that Metro was the primary authorising 

party and maintained control over the type of act which hired the venue. 

This was, and is, not typical of the other venues. Further, APRA submitted 

evidence that demonstrated the Metro promoted itself as one of Sydney’s 

premier live music venues, hiring the venue to acts which reflected and 

reinforced its branding and market position. For example, at the Metro you 

are likely to see well known Australian rock, pop and indie acts including 

Grinspoon, The Whitlams, Front End Loader and Evermore. Whereas events 

at the other venues are eclectic and not necessarily typical of a live music 

venue, including The Wiggles, Disney on Ice, Anthony Robbins motivational 

seminars, Antique and Bridal Fairs etc. 

The Metro further argued that they were not aware of and had no 

reasonable grounds for suspecting that any performance would be 

an infringement of copyright. The Court’s decision vindicated APRA’s 

claim that the unauthorised performances were an infringement of its 

copyright and that Metro had not taken reasonable steps to prevent 

infringements occurring. 

The Metro appealed against the judgement but has now withdrawn the 

appeal application. Instead, APRA and Metro have arrived at a negotiated 

outcome in relation to costs and past licence fees. Metro has also agreed 

to take out the relevant annual APRA licences. The final outcome of the 

Metro case is significant for APRA’s ongoing relationship with new and 

existing licensees. 

WHAT’S IT FOR? 

ABC Music 

Publishing 

The orchestral work Three 

Miro Pieces by Richard 

Meale was one of the 

featured compositions at 

the International Society 

for Contemporary Music 

2005 World Music Days 

Festival, in Zagreb. 

Meale’s music was first 

performed at ISCM 

in the 1963 festival in 

Amsterdam, and in 1971 his 

seminal work Incredible 

Floridas was performed 

at the ISCM Festival 

in London. In 1964 he 

became Vice-President of 

the Sydney branch of the 

ISCM. Now regarded as 

one of Australia’s greatest 

composers, Richard Meale 

has composed for both 

symphony and chamber 

orchestra and well as 

two operas Voss and Mer 

de Glace and numerous 

instrumental works. 

Three Miro Pieces 

was awarded both the 

“Best Composition” and 

“Orchestral Work of the 

Year” categories of the 

2003 APRA - Australian 

Music Centre Classical 

Music Awards, where it 

was singled out for its 

masterful orchestration 

and described by the 

judges “a most significant 

addition to the body of 

contemporary Australian 

orchestral music”. 

Compiled by Kaye Hawley 

and Kirti Jacobs 

Contributions are welcome and should be emailed to kjacobs@apra.com.au 

Deadline for the December issue of Aprap is 28 October 2005. 

The state of ORiGiN Music 

ORiGiN Music has entered into an exclusive publishing 

agreement with Graeham Goble, one of Australia’s 

finest and most respected songwriters. 

“What an honour to be associated with the words 

and music of Graeham Goble” says ORiGiN’s Philip 

Mortlock. “We’re looking forward to developing 

new prospects for Graeham’s extensive catalogue of 

original songs and seeing his new solo recordings 

released.” 

In between touring com-mitments with his former 

LRB colleagues Beeb Birtles and Glenn Shorrock - 

Graeham has been writing and recording songs for a 

new solo album due out in the second half of 2005. 

Also, new Australian country artist, Travis Collins, 

has just covered a Graeham Goble original song, 

Stop, for his forthcoming ABC album produced by 

Herm Kovac. 

>> ASCAP’s Todd Brabec and Nancy Knutsen recently met with ORiGiN writers and 

clients at the ORiGiN offices in Pyrmont. 

BlowMusic 

Lorena Novoa co-wrote the song 

Wanna Be The One with Australian 

Idol’s Anthony Callea and another 

writer producer, David Ellis. It was 

included on the limited edition CD 

single of Anthony’s Rain/Bridge 

Over Troubled Water. 

Lorena produced the track as 

well as singing all the backing 

vocals. BlowMusic’s own Mario 

Paolucci was executive producer. 

The single has sold in excess of 

140,000 units to date. That’s a 

significant achievement for the ex 

Young Talent Timer and lead singer 

of the band Culture Shock, who 

was signed to Sony. 

>> ORiGiN Music’s Philip Mortlock with Graeham Goble. 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 1 6

Michelle O’Donnell, Manager, Film & TV, APRA 

Music For Film: Cults Classics Curios Compiled, 

produced and mixed by Groovescooter in 

collaboration with the Sonic Arcana label, this 

is the first ever companion CD for the 52 nd 

Sydney Film Festival. The album samples nearly 

four decades of Australian film music; from 

the electronic producers DECODER RING and 

SEVERED HEADS to TV soap theme for The Box 

alongside the late BRIAN MAY. 

Tracks include DAVID THRUSSELL - The Hard 

Word; Decoder Ring – Somersault; PAUL 

HEALY - Dirty Deeds; Brian May - Mad Max; 

TOM ELLARD (Severed Heads) - The Illustrated 

Family Doctor. Almost all the represented 

composers are Australian, the notable exception 

being JOHN BARRY, famous as the creator of 

the James Bond theme, Barry also scored the 

1971 Australian film Walkabout. 

An interesting inclusion is PHILIP BROPHY’s. 

music commissioned for Head On. His music 

never made it to the score and was replaced 

by Ollie Olsen. Well known composers DAVID 

BRIDIE and JOHN PHILLIPS, (Not Drowning 

Waving) are also represented with music from 

the film Hungry Heart 

NEIL SUTHERLAND is having a feeling of de ja 

vu or has he come full circle? Neil is composing 

the music for the new television series Beyond 

Tomorrow. Neil’s first television job was the 

original Beyond 2000 series in 1985. 

ABC songwriter, JEN WATTS (the creative force 

behind the successful video and live show The 

Fairies) is about to go into production for a new 

Channel Seven pre-school music-rich series that 

will feature her songs. 

JOHN KANE and MARK WALMSLEY are working 

on four Catalyst science specials for the 

international market - three featuring the planets 

and one on hypnosis! 

Perth based TIM COUNT and KEITH VAN GEYZEL 

have commenced work on the third series of 

Surfing The Menu for Mago Films. The cooking 

series featuring Ben O’Donaghue and Curtis 

Stone has enjoyed enormous international 

success. 

COL FINLEY’s song Devil’s Ride has been 

licensed for the US feature Wolf Creek and 

the CRAZY BALDHEAD’S music will be used in 

an independent film, The Sticks. London based 

member CHRIS WHITE is busy completing a 

masters in composition at the National Film and 

Television School in the UK. 

JUSTIN McCOY is working his way through 

an eight part documentary series for Granger 

TV which will broadcast on Seven later in the 

year. FELICITY FOX is composing the score 

for the Hilton Cordell series Dust to Dust for 

the ABC TV’s Reality Bites. She is also the 

music supervisor and composer for the art 

documentary Jabe Babe – A Heightened Life. 

New Award rewards the Art of music 

Introduced for the first time in 2005, the Australian Music 

Prize (AMP) is an award for exceptional ART, in this case, an 

album of music produced and made commercially available 

during the current calendar year. 

Driven by industry expert Scott Murphy (Mushroom Records, 

Mds, Agent MAD and Zomba Jive records), the Australian 

Music Prize aims to: 

• (significantly) financially reward an Australian artist or 

group for producing and commercially releasing the 

best contemporary music album for the year as judged 

by an independent judging panel, and 

• recognise and encourage the creation and worldwide 

promotion of quality Australian music. 

AMP 2005 will be judged by a panel of specially selected 

industry judges. All Australians who record and release an 

album in 2005 are eligible to enter – there are no fees, minimum 

sales, geographical boundaries nor preferred genres. 

> Crazy Baldheads 

> John Kane and Mark Walmsley 

The AMP will be overseen by a Board of Governors, made 

up as follows: 

• Charles Caldas (MD, Shock Records Group) 

• Colin Daniels (CEO, Vicious Vinyl and Vicious Threads) 

• John O’Donnell (MD, EMI) 

• Michael Chugg (CEO, Chugg Entertainment) 

• Philip Mortlock (MD, Origin Music) 

• Philip Stevens (Manager, John Butler & The Waifs) 

• Sally Howland (Director, Member Services APRA) 

• Scott Murphy (CEO, SBM3K) 

• Sebastian Chase (MD, MGM) 

• Vivien Fantin (CEO, Fantin Comes Alive) 

The AMP is currently seeking industry sponsors and developing 

a website. Entries will be accepted through the last quarter of 

2005. A shortlist will be announced on Australia day 2006, and 

the winner will be announced in late February 2006. Keep an 

eye on the APRA website for updates. 


Music to watch pictures by 

By Martin Armiger, Head of Screen Composition, Australian Film 

Television & Radio School (AFTRS) 

If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be like? 

Would it be the stuff you hear as you move through the world; the drum 

n’bass coming out of clothes stores; the ring-tones and call-waiting tracks 

on the telephone; the concerts you go to; the juke-box at the local pub? 

Or is it the music you listen to in your head? 

I have a brother who used to put together mix tapes and give them to 

friends. He combined music he liked with music he thought suited the 

person he was giving it to. He was making soundtracks. He was creating 

an ambience for someone else’s world. For some of us, the soundtrack is 

a list of tracks we keep on our music systems. 

For the film composer it is all that. And more. 

Film composers spend their time imagining the soundtrack to other 

people’s lives, other people’s stories. Sometimes it’s a given thing, the 

music that will ‘go with’ this or that character, this or that situation; 

sometimes it has to be imagined from scratch. 

For three years the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney 

has had a department dedicated to Screen Composition, a department 

dedicated to letting the musical imagination run free, creating musical 

events, rollercoasters and soundscapes that evoke, mirror or frame the 

deepest passions, the ugliest desires, the most spectacular violence. A 

department for training composers in the art and techniques of directing 

that imagination towards screen narratives . 

We have a few full time students and a growing number of participants 

who choose to explore the subject through our short courses. 

Some of these courses are concerned with practical matters: how to best 

use ProTools for composing for the screen, how to use computer-based 

musical notation systems, how to write for interactive technologies, or how 

to write for strings for the cinema, or wind or percussion. 

Other courses are more concerned with what great composers have 

done in the past, the history of film music; the work of Nino Rota, Jerry 

Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann; or what makes a good 

score, questions about aesthetics, psychology, and meaning. 

Then there are courses that look at ways of collaborating with other 

filmmakers; directors, producers, editors; while others look at legal and 

financial questions – copyrights, moral rights, budgets and costs. 

These courses make up a comprehensive approach to composing for the 

screen, combining theory with practice at the highest level. From this year 

on, for the first time, AFTRS is offering a Graduate Diploma in Screen 

Composition to external (that is, part-time) students who complete the 

required number of courses in three years. 

The courses will be offered in Melbourne and Sydney and later in 

Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Our first distance-learning course will 

appear online in September. The programme will be launched at a special 

event in Melbourne, co-hosted by APRA, on Monday, 22 August 2005, at 

the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). For more information, 

contact Michelle O’Donnell on 02 9935 7959. 

> Debbie Kruger 

Songwriters Speak 

Is the songwriter a gifted being whose inspiration 

comes from a greater power? Or can anyone craft 

a successful song if the structure is in place and 

the tools are available? 

Debbie Kruger (ex-APRA communications and 

public affairs) spoke at length to forty-five 

songwriters from Australia and New Zealand 

whose work in rock, pop and country music has 

left an indelible imprint on Australia’s cultural 

landscape. 

In candid face-to-face interviews, these tunesmiths 

discuss their successful careers, share their 

thoughts on tapping into their creative source and 

tell the stories behind classic songs including The 

Real Thing, Down Under, Beds Are Burning and 

Truly Madly Deeply. 

Songwriters Speak features in-depth conversations 

with: Rolf Harris, Harry Vanda and George Young, 

Ross Wilson, John Williamson, Glenn Shorrock, 

Richard Clapton, Tim Finn, Rob Hirst and Jim 

Moginie, Martin Plaza & Greedy Smith, Neil 

Finn, Nick Cave, Paul Kelly, Deborah Conway, 

Archie Roach, Daniel Johns, Kasey Chambers and 

many others from such legendary bands as The 

Seekers, The Easybeats, Daddy Cool, Little River 

Band, Split Enz, Midnight Oil, Mental as Anything, 

Crowded House, INXS, Silverchair and Savage 

Garden. 

Published by Limelight Press. RRP $49.95. APRA 

members can buy the book for a discounted price 

of $45. Contact Jayne Denshire or Helen Bateman 

at Limelight Press 

phone: (02) 9810 9755 or (02) 9810 9655 

fax: (02) 9818 7643 

email: email@limelightpress.com.au 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 1 8

APRA Writer Members receive a 

15% discount on registration fees 

for the 7th AUSTRALASIAN MUSIC 

BUSINESS CONFERENCE, to be held 

at the Sydney Superdome on August 

11-13. The conference will feature 

over 50 speakers, participating in 

nine 90 minute seminars, with a 30 

minute keynote speech by industry 

leaders each day and two hours of 

post-conference networking each 

evening. Produced by IMMEDIA! it’s 

anticipated that attendance in 2005 

will top the 660 mark reached in 

2003. The APRA discount is valid till 

4 August 2005. Book now! 

www.immedia.com.au/ambc/ 

MELISSA FORBES’s debut album No 

More Mondays, is a jazz and soulinspired 

collection of original material 

and inventive covers of songs by 

Michael Jackson and Metallica. Her 

song, The Weekday Sun, written 

with Jim Forbes, was a finalist in 

this year’s Port Fairy Folk Festival 

Songwriting competition. Melissa 

has performed at World Expo 2005 

in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The album 

has spent months on the AIR Jazz 

Chart and her songs have received 

tens of thousands of downloads on 

music.download.com, where she 

has been top jazz artist for several 

months. www.melissaforbes.com 

> Melissa Forbes 

Just over a year together and 

they’ve already played the Big Day 

Out and St Kilda festivals. SOULS 

ON BOARD self-titled debut EP is coproduced 

and mixed by Tony Cohen 

(Nick Cave, Beasts of Bourbon). The 

EP is out on Melbourne label Low 

Transit Industries (The Essex Green, 

Of Montreal, Black Neilson) and 

distributed by Reverberation. It is 

an electrifying dash through rabid 

guitars, swirling keys and drugaddled 

pop. www.soulsonboard.com 

www.lowtransitindustries.com 

Out of Here by ALPHA STATE is 

described as “Evanescence on 

steroids”. The EP is getting great 

reviews from fans. The band received 

an Arts/Victoria grant, Mesa Boogie 

endorsement and sponsorship by 

Emily the Strange. Available through 

www.chaosmusic.com and selected 

music stores. www.alpha-state.com 

> Alpha State 

Sydney seven-piece RASTAWOOKIE 

have combined their diverse 

multicultural heritage and individual 

musical influences to create an 

eclectic hybrid style of their own, with 

elements of dub, reggae, drum and 

bass, hip hop, Latin, African, ska and 

more. They’ve released their debut 

self-titled EP. www.rastawookie.com 

NOEMI LIBA, ex-vocalist of KESH, has 

released her debut mini-cd, Freefall. 

Refreshing, daring and lush, she 

is backed by some of Melbourne’s 

finest jazz, Middle Eastern, classical 

and pop musicians. Producer DORIAN 

WEST (EX- BOOM CRASH OPERA), 

has given a contemporary electronic 

edge to the intricate arrangements. 

www.noemiliba.com 

> Noemi Liba 

Guitar virtuoso GARETH KOCH won 

an ARIA Award in 2003 as part of the 

Australian Guitar Quartet SAFFIRE. 

He has now released The Art of 

Gareth Koch, a 4-CD set showcasing 

his great versatility and career to 

date. The box set includes an album 

of medieval music, a CD of Celtic, 

Spanish and Australian folksongs and 

ballads, a collection of Spanish and 

classical guitar music, and Gareth’s 

solo guitar version of Carmina 

Burana. The set is available now on 

ABC Classics - for more details, visit 

www.garethkoch.com 

May Day 2005 saw the release of 

MICHAEL HARDWICK’S Iraq Attack 

- his “hotter-than-a-burning-oilfield” 

musical satire. A CD single and 

accompanying DVD are available 

from Hardwick’s own independent 

label Underfoot Records, using only 

digital on-line distribution. Amnesty 

International receives 15 cents from 

each download, available from 

www.iraqattack.net 

Hero Or Dirt?, the debut album from 

BARRAGE, is the first of four albums 

to be released in 2005 by the SBS 

Whatever Music project, through 

local, independent record label Feral 

Media. Coming soon are releases 

from THE EMERGENCY, SPARROW 

HILL and THE RICH. These four 

bands were chosen as part of the 

SBS Whatever Sessions, which, since 

2001, has been uncovering some 

of the most interesting, ethnically 

diverse and original new music 

from Australia’s next generation of 

unsigned musicians. 

www.sbs.com.au 

Adelaide singer/songwriter LEIGH 

CUNNINGHAM’s debut CD, The 

View From Here, features tracaks 

already being used in Network Ten’s 

documentary Cry Bali and Network 

Seven’s Touched By Their Light. This 

album contains songs that resonate 

strongly with the human spirit. 

www.leighcunningham.com 

2004/2005 has been an incredible 

musical journey for Australian 

singer/harmonica virtuoso and 

didgeridoo performer HARPER. 2004 

saw him receive multiple Australian 

Blues Music Awards (Male Vocalist 

and Song of the Year), a TREV 

award for Acoustic Artist of the Year 

(Australian College Campuses) as 

well as Album of the Year and two 

harmonica playing awards from US 

Magazine “Best of the Blues Harps 

& Beyond”, for his 2003 release Way 

Down Deep Inside. Harper recently 

signed a multiple album deal with 

Blind Pig Records, USA, one of the 

largest blues/gospel labels in the 

world. Having released his new CD 

Down To the Rhythm world wide on 

May 24, 2005, HARPER is currently 

on an extensive US tour – check 

www.harper.biz for details. 

Brisbane band LEO NINE have 

released their first full-length album 

in over seven years. Slow Steady 

Heart, a grand and incredibly positive 

sounding recording, was released on 

Iron Duke through MGM. 

www.leo-nine.com. 

ANDREW COX has been touring and 

promoting his debut CD Demonstrate 

It. The track Cold Rain won the 

award for Best Adult Contemporary 

Song at the NCEIA Dolphin Awards. 

Andrew was selected to perform at 

a showcase gig at the Q-Music Big 

Sound 2005 Industry Conference in 

July. www.andrewcox.com.au 

After an appearance at South By 

South West in Texas, Queensland’s 

THE GRATES hit the road with shows 

in LA and New York before heading 

over to Toronto, Canada to perform 

at North by North West. Next was 

London and a gig at the legendary 

Queens of Noize night at the Camden 

Barfly and indie underground cult 

gig, Artrocker at the Buffalo Bar. The 

band is releasing a 7” of Sukkafish/ 

Message through Moshi Moshi in 

the UK and will record their debut 

album in August/September. They 

are releasing their debut EP, The 

Ouch. The Touch. in Canada and the 

US. www.thegrates.com 

The Inland Sea is Sydney singer/ 

songwriter DAVID BENIUK’s sixth 

album release since his debut with 

THE MERRY WIDOWS. Bonza Records 

have released this long awaited 

album through Rajon Distribution 

– Sony-BMG. The Inland Sea is 

two projects rolled into one - Mick 

Thomas (Weddings Parties Anything) 

produced five tracks at his Melbourne 

studio, while in Sydney David 

worked with Steve Bull (Icehouse). 

Both producers have managed to 

combine acoustic music with very 

‘now’ sounds and the album features 

guests like Jon Howell (Leonardo’s 

Bride), Jen Anderson (The Black 

Sorrows), Floyd Vincent, Paul Greene 

and Melanie Horsnell. 

Bad Day is the debut EP from LISA 

MAXWELL. Lisa was signed to an 

Arts Victoria recording project in 

2003 produced by Bent Records 

label owner Jamie Durrant. The 

project culminated in three-album 

deal with Rewind That! – Durrant’s 

new production company. Following 

the release of Bad Day, Lisa will 

be releasing her debut album and 

touring nationally this year. 

www.lisamaxwell.net 

> Lisa Maxwell 

Tocumwal based artist DARREN 

COLSTON has released Come By 

Chance, with his first single The 

Boundary Rider riding into playlists 

across the country. This 2005 Golden 

Saddle Awards Finalist and twice 

Starmaker Grand finalist (04/05) has 

released his second album, produced 

by the talented Herm Kovac, as a 

follow-up from his debut album 

Beyond The Paling Fence. The new 

album is distributed by OneStop 

Entertainment. 

www.darrencolston.com 

VARDOS play wild Hungarian and 

Romanian music learnt during their 

travels in Eastern Europe, with the 

“truly demented violin” of Alana 

Hunt, accordion and double bass. 

VARDOS have released two CDs, 

toured around Australia and overseas, 

played in The Famous Spiegeltent at 

the Edinborough Fringe the past two 

years, where they received a four 

star review! www.vardos.com.au 

> Vardos 

Internationally acclaimed masterdrummer 

and composer GRANT 

COLLINS has launched his first DVD 

release: Live at the Tivoli - The Official 

Bootleg, featuring footage from his 

performance at the Tivoli in Brisbane 

in 2001. Grant Collins is recognised 

internationally for his drumming 

talents and performance, and for 

the size of his drums. He owns the 

largest drum set in the Southern 

Hemisphere, worth over $75,000, 

it takes two hours and a three man 

crew to assemble! 

Melbourne rhythm and blues outfit, 

THE BASICS, have launched For 

Girls Like You. Mixed and mastered 

at the famous Abbey Road Studios 

in London by the ears behind Franz 

Ferdinand, The Lord of the Rings 

Trilogy, U2 and The Streets, the EP is 

out now through MGM Distribution. 

A national tour will follow. 

www.thebasics.com.au 

Jazz saxophonist IGOR was 

a household name in Russia, 

playing weekly national television 

appearances with top Moscow 

artists. Having moved to Australia, he 

has released three solo instrumental 

albums of original material, the 

most recent being Timeless. All are 

released by Figoro Music and are 

available at www.igor.com.au 

Australian Idol runner-up REBEKAH 

LAVAUNEY has released Chapter 1 

on Regal Records via MGM, featuring 

her own compositions and a cover of 

the Garry Paige/Mark Punch classic 

Heading in the Right Direction, 

originally released by Renee Geyer. 

Rebekah has recently signed to 

Denny Burgess Management – denn 

yburgessmanagement@bigpond.com 

DION JONES AND THE FILTH, from 

Sydney’s Northern beaches, released 

their debut album Velvet Fever on their 

own Filth Productions label through 

MGM. The album was produced by 

Sydney artist ANDY CLOCKWISE and 

the band will be touring to support 

the release throughout 2005. 

www.dionjonesandthefilth.com 

Adelaide’s UNIVERSAL DUST, 

purveyors of soulful house, have 

released Cosmic, out though Globalife 

Productions. Under the moniker 

DEEP GLOW, they have come close 

second in New York’s legendary 

label West End Records International 

Music Search 2004-2005, up against 

producers from all around the planet. 

This means worldwide exposure with 

the release of Soul Motivation in 

Spring 2005 on a West End Records 

compilation. www.universaldust.net 

> Universal Dust 

Formed in 1996, THE COSH is a 

well-experienced rock blues band 

– all from the Shepheard family of 

Bateman’s Bay, NSW (Clyde – 19yrs, 

Jessica – 18yrs and Dean 

– 15yrs). Having 

already released two EPs and an 

album and played over 600 gigs 

(including a 2003 European tour), the 

band released their latest, self-titled 

CD and a live DVD in early 2005 - 

Live at Bodalla Music Festival. 

www.thecoshmusic.com 

THE SUNNY COWGIRLS Sophie and 

Celeste Clabburn, from country WA, 

have crossed the Nullarbor to attend 

the CMAA College of Country Music 

in Tamworth. They’ve since signed 

to Compass Bros Records, released 

their debut album Little Bit Rusty 

and are touring nationally with label 

mate ADAM BRAND. 

www.sunnycowgirls.com 

> The Sunny Cowgirls 

Contributions should be emailed to 

- bcampbell@apra.com.au Deadline 

for the December 2005 issue is 28 

October 2005. 

2 0 

Compiled by Bowden Campbell and Milly Petriella, APRA Member Services.

APRA 

NZ 

By Catherine Langabeer, 

Communications and Events 

Coordinator, APRA NZ 

International Songwriting Competition 

Fulfilling our hopeful prediction, NZ members won large at the 2004 

International Songwriting Competition. So big, in fact, that a NZ member won 

the Grand Prize for the second year running! Relative newcomer Gin Wigmore 

won the Teen category with “Angelfire” but wowed the judges with her song 

“Hallelujah”. 

It’s a big accolade for one who was unsure about devoting herself to a musical 

career. In fact, her ISC Teen Category winner “Angelfire” was the first song 

she’d written, at the age of 14. Describing herself as “dabbling in about a 

million things” Gin went to Argentina for her final year of high school, had 

a stint working as PR assistant for Universal Records on her return and then 

pursued a BA at Victoria University. However the biggest challenge to her 

songwriting was the death of her father; Gin didn’t write for a year afterwards. 

When she did write again, she produced “Hallelujah” about her relationship 

with her Dad. 

By the time she entered the ISC last year, Gin was studying to become a 

high school teacher. Not surprisingly, the win changed her plans: “now I’ve 

won this award I want this to 

be my thing. It’s given me the 

opportunity, the push, to do it. 

Being a songwriter is such a hard 

road, you’ve got to dedicate all 

your time to it. You’ve got to 

surround yourself with people 

who have faith in your work. 

The ISC has done that for me in 

a big way. 

* All NZ finalists received placings 

or honourable mentions: Ruia 

Aperahama; David Dallas, Malo 

Luafutu, Demetrius Savelio and 

Pete Wadams; Opetaia Foa’i and 

Malcolm Smith; Derek Soloman. 

> Gin Wigmore >> photo by Spid 

Tuwhare 

May saw the release of Tuwhare 

– an album of acclaimed author 

Hone Tuwhare’s poems set to 

music. Tuwhare is New Zealand’s 

most distinguished Maori poet 

writing in English. Songwriter 

Charlotte Yates directed the 

project for Toi Maori Aotearoa 

and the featured artists include 

Yates herself, Mahinarangi 

Tocker, Don McGlashan (The 

Front Lawn, Muttonbirds), Te 

Kupu (Dean Hapeta of Upper 

Hutt Posse), Strawpeople, WAI, 

Goldenhorse, Graham Brazier 

and more. Tuwhare’s poetry has 

a “magical rhythmical quality” 

which has resulted in some 

amazing songs that also show 

the impressive breadth of styles 

and sounds in NZ music today. 

Silver Scroll Awards 2005 

The Silver Scroll Awards are back 

in Auckland this year after a visit to 

Wellington in 2004. They are going to 

be held at the Auckland Town Hall on 

September 12. The Silver Scroll has now 

been presented for 40 years – and to 

mark this there will be some extra special 

performances and celebrations. 

Tas Music 

By Phil Dearing 

Debra Manskey has left the 

Tasmusic, Hobart to join 

the Australian Songwriters 

Association as the CEO. She’s 

been replaced by Mel Page 

who with her journalism and 

radio experience, brings a 

new level of expertise to 

TasMusic. 

The TasMusic Showcase 

nights have been attracting 

good crowds and have 

given more than 20 local 

original acts performance 

opportunities. The event 

offers newer bands the 

chance to perform their 

original works along side 

the more established acts 

in Tasmania such as The 

Voyuers, Enola Fall, The 

Styles, The Reactions and 

The Uprising. 

The 2005 TasMusic Rock 

Challenge is shaping up to 

be another huge event. The 

High School and College 

Rock Band showcase has 

become the premier youth 

music event in Tasmania. 

With over 70 bands from 

50 schools performing last 

year, 2005 is set to be just 

as big. The event encourages 

bands to perform original 

music in varying styles 

from rock to pop, hip-hop 

and metal and 2005 will 

also include the “Off the 

Rock” section that proved 

so successful last year. “Off 

the Rock” gives schools the 

opportunity to break away 

from the “rock” side of music 

and concentrate on acoustic/ 

electronic type acts. 

The TasMusic Street Press has 

a new format thanks to Mel 

Page and the School of Art in 

Hobart. It’s bigger and more 

informative, including reviews 

and interviews of local 

acts, and general industry 

information. The press is 

distributed through local 

music and clothing shops. 

Thanks to events like the 

Falls Festival, more touring 

acts are coming to Tasmania 

and are being supported by 

local acts lifting the profile 

of the live scene. More 

local acts are also traveling 

interstate to play shows in 

Melbourne, Sydney and 

Brisbane. Bands like Waiter, 

The Reactions and The Styles 

have all traveled regularly 

interstate to spread the word 

on what the music scene in 

Tassie has to offer. 

Arts Tasmania 

by David Edgar 

Arts Tasmania is now 

accepting applications for its 

annual arts grants and loans 

programs. Musicians, groups 

and artists’ of other mediums 

who want to develop their 

arts practice through our 

Assistance to Individuals 

program should submit their 

applications by 1 August 

2005 for projects occurring 

in 2006. 

Also available, in early 2006, 

will be our Contemporary 

Music – Local Touring and 

Promotion grants program. 

Contact Arts Tasmania 

on 1800 247 308 or check 

www.arts.tas.gov.au 

Congratulations to singer/ 

songwriter Amy Cutler from 

Launceston on winning 

the 2005 Hobart Ports 

Corporation Arts Award and 

the 2005 Premier’s Tasmanian 

Young Achiever of the Year 

Award. Amy received Arts 

Tasmania funding in 2005 to 

record an album, Flyphoenix, 

at Federation Hall in Hobart. 

Thanks to Arts Tasmania 

funding, 19 year old baritone 

Michael Lampard will travel 

to Italy to perform the major 

role of ‘Guglielmo’ in Cosi 

Fan Tutte with the Rome 

Festival Orchestra in July 

and August 2005. Michael 

is the youngest ever person 

and the only Australian ever 

chosen for this sought-after 

role. Check the Arts Tasmania 

website for news about a 

contemporary music industry 

event later in 2005! 

Australian 

Songwriters 

Association, 

Tasmania 

The Australian Songwriters 

Association is relocating to 

the Salamanca Arts Centre 

in Hobart, and now has 

its doors open Tuesday to 

Friday, 10am – 4pm. The 

office address is Suite 233, 

Salamanca Arts Centre, 

77 Slamanca Place, Battery 

Point, Tasmania 7004. 

ARIA award-winning singer/ 

songwriter Debra Manskey 

has been employed to 

oversee operations and 

the full changeover will 

be complete by the end of 

July, after the next AGM 

(scheduled for Saturday 

23 July). Call Debra during 

business hours (Ph/Fax: 

(03) 6223 3294) or email 

debram@asai.org.au 

The 25th National Song 

Contest winners were 

announced on 2 June in 

Sydney – congratulations 

to all winners! Work has 

begun on the 26th National 

Song Contest, which will 

open later this year. Watch 

www.asai.org.au for updates. 

The ASA’s ‘Wax Lyrical’ 

events are proving a 

fantastic means for 

writers and performers to 

show off their talents. To 

participate, contact your 

local coordinator via the ASA 

website. If there isn’t a ‘Wax 

Lyrical’ in your area, contact 

Debra about the viability of 

starting one yourself. 

Edge Radio 

Tasmania’s newest radio 

station, edge radio 99.3 FM, 

is committed to playing a 

minimum of 40% Australian 

content and 10% Tasmanian 

music. Edge Radio supports 

Australian artists from the 

ground up – from high 

rotation on-air to identifying 

and providing professional 

services that make it easier 

for interstate artists to reach 

Tassie’s shores. 

For example, Edge Radio 

Recommended (ERR) is 

a feature release system 

that allows five releases 

to be featured over two 

weeks. The ERRs are 

strongly supported by 

local, independent record 

shops, meaning the 

featured artists often sell 

out. Music enquires to: 

music@edgeradio.org.au 

For more information, visit 

www.edgeradio.org.au 

A P R A P J U L Y 2 0 0 5 > > 2 2 

New Zealand Music Month 

Interest this year in NZ music month was 

bigger than ever with major corporates, 

sponsors, the media, politicians and most 

importantly the public all getting in behind 

NZ music. The 8,000 people at the Shihad 

launch concert, the 5,000 that bought 

NZMM T-shirts at Hallensteins and the many 

thousands that listened to, watched or rocked 

to music month events showed that in its 5th 

year, this initiative has really come of age. 

>> Amy Cutler 

> Shihad at the NZ Music Month Launch >> photo by Jason Hailes 

tasmania

Tony Mott 

Photographer 

It would be wrong to single out any one 

performer from the Wave Aid concert 

organised earlier this year by Michael 

Chugg. There were genuinely several 

highlights throughout the concert. The 

Kasey photo was taken relatively early 

on in the proceedings. The general feeling 

was that individually we can actually 

do something about something. From 

the organisers, crew, performers to the 

audience: we were as one. 

Kasey Chambers waits to perform at the SCG WaveAid Concert, 

January 2005. 

For me personally, it was a privilege 

to be a part of the event, in an age of 

cynicism and general apathy it was great 

to see the music industry pull together. I 

believe it was the Finn brothers who said 

we should do this every year. I agree. A 

combination of a pride in the music, and 

in today’s world there is always a worthy 

cause. I found it ironical that the concert 

was finished with a member of parliament 

(Peter Garrett) performing. Who’d have 

thunk it! 

Have you got a photograph that captures a moment in music? 

Send your submission with 250 words on why it’s special to kjacobs@apra.com.au 

and it could appear on the back of the next Aprap. 

APRA is an association of composers, authors and publishers of music in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific having affiliations with similarly constituted organisations around the world. WRITER DIRECTORS: 

Arthur Baysting [New Zealand], Eric McCusker, Richard Meale LLD AM MBE, Jenny Morris, Chris Neal, Michael Perjanik [Chairman] PUBLISHER DIRECTORS: Robert Aird Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd, John Anderson 

EMI Songs Australia Pty Ltd, Ian James Mushroom Music Pty Ltd, Peter Karpin BMG Music Publishing, Fifa Riccobono J Albert & Son, Damian Trotter Sony/ATV Music Publishing CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Brett Cottle LLB DIRECTOR 

OF NZ OPERATIONS: Anthony Healey REGISTERED OFFICE: 6-12 Atchison Street St Leonards NSW 2065 Telephone: (02) 9935 7900 Facsimile: (02) 9935 7999 Email: apra@apra.com.au Internet: www.apra.com.au BRANCHES: 

VICTORIA 3-5 Sanders Place Richmond VIC 3121 Telephone: (03) 9426 5200 Facsimile: (03) 9426 5211 QUEENSLAND 168 Barry Parade Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Telephone: (07) 3257 1007 Facsimile (07) 3257 1113 SOUTH 

AUSTRALIA unit 54, 55 Melbourne Street North Adelaide SA 5006 Telephone: (08) 8239 2222 Facsimile: (08) 8239 0744 WESTERN AUSTRALIA suite 1, 12-20 Railway Road Subiaco WA 6008 Telephone (08) 9382 8299 

Facsimile (08) 9382 8224 NEW ZEALAND HEAD OFFICE 92 Parnell Road Auckland New Zealand Telephone: 64 379 0638 Facsimile: 64 379 3205 PO Box 6315 Auckland New Zealand. The opinions expressed in articles in Aprap 

are not necessarily those of the Australasian Performing Right Association. EDITOR: Kirti Jacobs kjacobs@apra.com.au DESIGN: Elastik PRINTING: Peninsula Colour © 2005 Australasian Performing Right Association Ltd, Sydney, Australia. Print 

Post No: 55003/02262 ISSN: 1441-4910

Never stop dreaming, never stop learning, laughter is a cure ... - APRA

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?