On song with top talent Industry ‘stronger than ever’ but live music let-down
THE Gold Coast music industry is in one of its strongest positions ever - but the live music scene is struggling, according to a top local musician.
Musician, composer and producer Brad Hosking says he’s excited by the emerging talent coming out of the city.
Mr Hosking, who has toured with Amy Shark and Electrik Lemonade, also lectures at Queensland TAFE and is seeing first-hand the next Gold Coast music stars.
“There’s a whole bunch of artists popping up on the Gold Coast. Triple J and local radio stations are playing more of and they’re getting Spotify spins,” he said.
“There’s little niches popping up all over the place – everything is really quite vibrant.”
Mr Hosking said the opportunities on the Coast were the same as in every other city around the world with study options, small business opportunities and funding for creative projects but it was up to the individual to seize them.
Despite the positive outlook for Gold Coast talent, the city still lags behind when it comes to live music.
“One negative thing is live venues are falling away and general support is in one of the worst places it’s ever been,” Mr Hosking said. “You can open up all the live music venues you want but the real issue is being able to get people to come to the shows and get people interested.
“I think that’s due to the transient nature of the Gold Coast.
“I find, even with national touring bands, the Gold Coast and Queensland is one of the harder markets in the country to sell tickets.”
But Mr Hosking said this wasn’t a barrier for emerging artists – they just needed to find something to connect to an audience.
“The thing that excited me is we’ve got so many great musicians and just kids in bedrooms making amazing release-quality stuff,” he said.
“There’s far more out there than most would realise – even with artists playing on the radio there’s some really great talent out there and people don’t realise they’re from the Gold Coast.”