Opinion: Are Australians prejudiced against home-grown music?

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By Milly McAuliffe, 2025 AYO Media and Communication Fellow

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when the governmental budget is looking tight, the arts is often an attractive sector for cuts. It can be tempting for young musicians, composers, and writers to resign themselves to budget cuts, but it is imperative for the future of our arts that all Australians learn to become advocates.

At a recent online session as part of a professional development series with AYO, politician The Hon. Ben Franklin MLC shared his perspective on activism in the arts. As the President of the New South Wales Legislative Council and previous Minister for the Arts, Ben Franklin was a valuable resource for participants, as we learnt in detail how to campaign for government funding for the arts.

Aside from his political expertise, it is clear Ben was chosen as a guest speaker because of his genuine respect for music. In our meeting he shared that growing up he had been a clarinettist, and he asked us eagerly about the instruments we play and the music we love. He pointedly reassured us that he knows the value of music education, deriving not only from its correlation with stronger maths and language skills but also from its own inherent worth. He said that if we want quality art to be made in Australia, we must invest in arts education and support artists while they develop their skills.

Ben suggested that the arts are vulnerable to budget cuts partly because many artists are focused on making art, rather than engaging politically and pushing for funding, and that many fields within the arts sector are not unionised.

I’m not entirely convinced I agree with Ben about artists lacking advocacy and political engagement. I think for music funding specifically, the programming cuts have more to do with a cultural decline in investment in Australian music, owing in part to the cost-of-living crisis and streaming service algorithms manipulating our listening habits.

It was also found that most Australians primarily rely on streaming service algorithms to find new music. These algorithms often result in a data feedback loop with more popular artists being likely to be promoted over upcoming artists. This exacerbates the issue of audiences being less willing to risk spending money on music they are unfamiliar with, again limiting the ability of classical groups to reach new audiences. It is possible classical fans are also affected, as they may be reluctant to attend concerts featuring new works or unfamiliar ensemble groups.

In the face of this dwindling interest in Australian music, I think back to another AYO professional develpment session with Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO. Deborah emphasized that music belongs as a core part of the Australian identity. Central to her argument is the fact that Indigenous Australians have the longest continuous musical tradition in the world. This is incredibly remarkable, and something that we should be celebrating with pride. Around this core identity, we are also a nation of immigrants and therefore the inheritors of hundreds of musical traditions from around the world.

In our classical context, this means both celebrating our inheritance and investing in the continuation of music by composing new works, collaborating with each other, and being willing to take risks.

Deborah calls on Australian artists to be culturally confident, to value the genuine talent and history which makes Australian music exceptional.

Ben Franklin shared further ideas for how young musicians can advocate for the arts and stressed the importance of becoming involved with our local government. He suggested emailing our local MPs and recommending what change they can make to help support local arts, whether it be putting on a local art exhibition or funding a $1000 scholarship for a local musician to perform. Ben emphasised that politicians want to be re-elected, so hearing that their constituents care about music funding has a genuine impact on their policies.

Regardless of your career or your music taste, investment in the arts affects all Australians. We all rely on the arts in some way, such as TV, music, or movies. How many of us turned to the arts during the pandemic? As listeners and viewers, we can show the Australian government we care about the arts by actively seeking out local Australian artists and attending live performances. Yes, this does mean that grabbing a mate and going out for a night to see a new act counts as arts activism.

Milly McAuliffe is an AYO 2025 Media and Communication Fellow.