'Michael's Rule' sees NSW Goverment adopting incentives for international acts to add local acts to tours

Today, the NSW Government has announced the latest in a series of changes to the state's approach to funding and supporting the state's live music scene, this time targeting international touring acts.

'Michael's Rule' is named after the late manager Michael Martin, whose vocal passion was to see Australian talent included in stadium tours that could make the careers of local artists.

In practice, the incentive behind 'Michael's Rule' will see the NSW Government reducing the hire fee of a series of venues around NSW, by $20,000 for each eligible show at Accor Stadium, Allianz Stadium, CommBank Stadium, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle Entertainment Centre, the Sydney Cricket Ground and WIN Stadium and Entertainment Centre, and a $5,000 reduction at The Sydney Opera House.

To be eligible, "at least one Australian artist must be included as a support act on an international artist’s headline tour. The Australian artist must appear on the same stage as the international artist and be announced at the same time as the tour."

“The Hoodoo Gurus got their first big break after they performed with Lou Reed in 1984," NSW Premier Chris Minns shared via a press release this morning.

“We want more Australian musicians to have that opportunity, performing on the biggest stages in NSW alongside the best international artists," his statement continued. "Giving Aussie artists their first big break in front of thousands of locals will help them get high rotation on playlists and increase their chances of becoming the next big act.”

While the incentive at this point only applies to some of the state's largest venues, the hope is that the uplifting of local artists will have a flow-on effect across NSW's live music industry. "The flow on effects of Michael’s Rule will be huge not only for the artists, but for the pubs and clubs around NSW which will be packed with the new fans of our homegrown artists," Minister for Sport and Minister for Jobs & Tourism Steve Kamper said.

Australia has had a long publicised crisis when it comes to the 'breaking' of local artists. The country's 'national youth broadcaster' Triple J came under fire just a few months ago for featuring the lowest number of Australian songs in its latest Hottest 100 since 1996. According to Airing Your Dirty Laundry, this was only 17 Australian artists and a total of 29 songs in the list.

“There were just three Australian albums in the ARIA top 100 charts in 2024. This represents a crisis for Australian music," Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham said.

The announcement mentioned a series of international acts, the likes of whom are presumably within the scope of 'Michael's Rule. This includes the likes of Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam, Lou Reed, Cold Chisel, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.

Recent statistics have pointed towards a huge rise in electronic music in Australia. In October of last year, Mixmag ANZ reported that an International Music Summit (IMS) Business Report revealed that Australian fans, on average, stream more of electronic music than anyone else on the planet.

SoundCloud revealed in its own research that electronic music makes up a third of all its Australian streams, compared with a 22% average across the rest of the globe. So too, Pollstar's Top 50 global list from last year included Untitled Group, Handsome Tours and Frontier Touring, who are among the promoters selling the most tickets worldwide.

While the NSW Government did not address nor name dance and electronic artists in the announcement of 'Michael's Rule' and its incentives, the upward trajectory of the country's love of electronic music would suggest that larger international tours would soon be eligible for this assistance.

The incentive will be available for an initial two-year period starting May 5.

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor, find him on Instagram.