Dear friends, A quick update to let you know we’re still here. It’s been a very busy time for many of us outside the campaign, but we are working to keep this issue in the minds of politicians and at the forefront of arts discussion. We are thrilled to announce that we have been invited to represent Australia’s niche music industries and this campaign at the upcoming Music Australia Roundtable Conference on Thursday 3rd August. Forum: The Viewpoint - Valuing Music Time: 1.30pm - 2.30pm Music is an enigma. Massively popular and valued by the public; yet affording equal value to our creators and makers is a fundamental challenge. A new Viewpoint session argues that we must re- value our music and our nation’s cultural foundation. We explore three aspects: valuing the niche, fair pay for a fair gig and closing the value gap; and invite your input: • Valuing the niche - Broadcast music on ABC, the activist’s view • Fair pay for a fair gig - What’s happening, and what’s required, the advocates case • Closing the value gap - Re-balancing the digital music equation, the muso lawyer speaks Moderator: Councillor Jess Scully, City of Sydney, Creative Industries Expert, Event Director, Public Art Curator. Panel: Brendan Gallagher, Musician/Composer/Producer, Vice Chair Asia Pacific Music Creators Alliance, Artist Director APRA Board; Ruth Hazleton: musician, folklorist, advocate, convenor #saveRNmusic campaign. Prior to this, (at 11am) the ABC’s Chris Scaddan (Head of Music) will provide an overview of ABC’s music coverage, how it works and where the network is heading during a time of considerable change, which will also include a moderated Q&A. If you’re considering attending we’d love you to participate in the above conversations. For tickets and all other information about the conference, the website is here: https://musicaustralia.org.au/program/contemporary-music-roundtable/ We’ve also been keeping an eye on radio surveys to see how recent changes have affected Radio National: “Overall there has been little movement in Radio National cumulative audiences across the capital city markets Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Comparing the current survey GFK #3,2017 with the same survey 12 months ago (GFK #3, 2016) the total audience has gone from 641,000 to 639,000. When looking at market share by market, Sydney is the big loser moving from 3.0% to 1.8% while Melbourne has gone the other way from 2.3% to 3.4% share. Brisbane dropped from 2.3 to 1.9, Adelaide 2.9 to 2.2 while Perth rose 1.7 to 2.0. With the small movements in cumulative audiences the changes in share tend to be a reflection of the time spent listening. The ABC argued that cuts to music shows and the introduction of a spoken word format was an attempt to draw younger audiences to the platform, though the 25-39 audience has decreased from 85,000 to 74,000 across all capital cities. (GFK share and cume, #3/2017 and #3/2016)” -Geoff Horsnell, Radio Consultant - Source GFK Radio Surveys We will be in touch in coming weeks with more news. All the best from the #saveRNmusic campaign team.