IN a bid to empower and connect the music industry across regional NSW, MusicNSW has appointed five regional-based team members, with Ali Buckley’s territory including the Mid North Coast.

The team’s remit is to deliver development opportunities and work to expand touring circuits across regional NSW, thanks to a four-year funding commitment by Create NSW.

Ali, who has managed her own regional arts consultancy for 20 years, is widely experienced in developing and producing projects across the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.

The program supports original live music and musicians seeking to develop their performance scope; a cohort of local musicians who can benefit hugely from trusted industry advice to take them to their next level.

“We will be delivering a host of professional development workshops focussed on touring,” Ali told News Of The Area.
“A lot of artists tend to play in their hometown.

“Getting out of their locality and going to another region, developing their audience can be pretty daunting.

“They don’t know the venues, they don’t know how to market themselves, they’re not known in that town… these are the things we will support them with.”

MusicNSW will support five regional tours across NSW using regional artists.

“We’re hoping that each of these tours will have at least three regional artists,” Ali said.

Also on offer through the program are one-on-one mentoring sessions where artists can book in a half-hour consult to talk about such things as how to release their music and grant application support.

“Focussing on live, original music we support and connect artists with venues, promoters, media, anyone in the music industry that can help develop music touring.”

Ali shared the capabilities of a web tool of the MusicNSW website which facilitates connections for artists keen to expand their performance territory.

“The Regional Touring Network invites artists to tap in what their performance preferences are, such as ‘I want to play in cafes to a capacity of 120’,” Ali said.

“All the cafes across NSW that meet that criteria come up; the artist can then search each venue and see what is offering, such as whether an engineer is available, if there’s a PA system, where’s the best place to eat or stay nearby and how many kilometers away it is so they can calculate their fuel for the journey.”

The Regional Touring Network categorises venues to help artists select the right performance place for them: including cafes, pubs and hotels, performance arts centres and theatres, community halls, festivals and outdoor spaces.

“Artists can sort through their chosen type of venue and their preferred performance capacity.

“It’s a really amazing tool,” she said.

“So what it means for Coffs Coast musicians and artists is that they’ve got me to talk to on any music industry related topics, especially supporting touring, which can include releasing their music, talking about having their music on Spotify, social media, how to approach a venue, and extensive resources online,” she said.

Follow MusicNSW Mid North Coast, Upper Hunter and Orana on Facebook for further updates.

This is a group for artists, venues, promoters, managers and other music industry workers in the specified areas to connect, share local knowledge, and keep up-to-date with MusicNSW programs and other events.

By Andrea FERRARI