Sounds Australia’s guiding principle and purpose is to assist artists in building and sustaining their international careers, by developing and expanding the resources and services offered to exporting artists. As every international market offers its own unique platform, married with a new contingent of Australian acts, we produce all our events on a case by case basis.
Sounds Australia has built an arsenal of showcases that include Sounds Australia Presents, THE AUSSIE BBQ, Sound Gallery, 2 For The Showcase and our virtual showcase Close Up. These showcases take place at, or around, existing international showcase festivals and music industry conferences, to provide the best possible environment for Australian artists to be seen and discovered by music industry professionals.
Please see our Past Activity page to see where Sounds Australia has previously produced showcases.
There isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to successfully navigating the different types and sizes of the events around the world. Sounds Australia has spent over ten years developing tailored platforms that can be replicated at different showcasing festivals around the world that best fit the showcasing environment.
One of our main aims is to provide additional showcase opportunities for Australian artists whilst participating at international market events.
In most cases, each act is awarded one “official play” when they are selected for a showcase festival or conference. Then, where possible, we look to maximise the amount of times Australian artists are able to be seen on top of this. In addition, there are often numerous other day parties and evening showcases that artists are encouraged to pitch for that are presented by labels, agents, brands, blogs and other festivals.
It is important and critical to note, that under no circumstances is Sounds Australia responsible for selecting the artists that are invited to each of the international music events. We do not get involved with recommending Australian artists to programmers and event directors, to deliberately remain effective and impartial in our ultimate representation of the Australian contingent.
If you are officially selected for a conference or festival where Sounds Australia is producing showcases, there is no formal process that needs to happen to make yourself available for our showcases. You do not need to “apply” to Sounds Australia. By virtue of your “official” selection, you are automatically considered.
The selection of the artists to perform at any of our showcases rests entirely with the Sounds Australia team. For some events, the bookers of the respective festivals will also be actively involved with these decisions.
The curation of every Sounds Australia showcase is approached with both a creative and commercial remit, with the ultimate goal to encourage key international delegates to attend, watch and network with the Australian showcasing artists.
Where possible a geographical and genre spread will be considered, along with the investment stakeholders needs, however none of these variables will impact on the final line up decision.
Sounds Australia is committed in presenting Aboriginal and Torres Straight artist across all our showcasing and networking activity wherever possible.
Please note that the invitations to artists to perform on Sounds Australia produced showcases will only be issued once all official artists have been selected by the festival and have confirmed their attendance.
*We are mindful that “Non-Official” artists also attend international conferences. When made aware of their presence we will certainly include and promote them in all our marketing and promotional collateral, however with respect to showcasing opportunities Official artists will always be prioritised.
Please be aware that an invitation to perform at a Sounds Australia produced showcase is not a given, nor guaranteed. At almost every international event where we have previously undertaken in-person activity, there are more acts showcasing than there are available performance slots. We are constantly looking for ways to increase these performance opportunities, however when the demand is higher there may be acts that we physically can’t program.
Regardless of whether your act is showcasing or not, the Sounds Australia produced showcases are created for everybody to attend and to take advantage of the delegates being in attendance. Just because your act isn’t up on stage doesn’t mean you can’t benefit – when not performing you can really use the event to network and meet key international industry.
Photo: POND, SXSW 2012 – Pic by Johnny Au.