Contents (in order of date of publication) 

NATIONAL AUDIT OF MUSIC DISCIPLINE AND MUSIC EDUCATION MANDATORY CONTENT WITHIN PRE-SERVICE GENERALIST PRIMARY TEACHER EDUCATION COURSES: A REPORT

TOWARDS AN ECOLOGY OF MUSICAL DIVERSITY


SOUND LINKS: EXPLORING THE DYNAMICS OF MUSICAL COMMUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA, AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR INFORMING COLLABORATION WITH MUSIC IN SCHOOLS by Brydie Leigh-Bartleet, Peter Dunbar-Hall, Richard Letts, Huib Schippers May 2009 

A COMPARISON OF STATE AND TERRITORY LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO THE PRESENTATION OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT IN LIQUOR-LICENSED VENUES IN AUSTRALIA by John Wardle, 2008

UNIVERSITY TRAINING OF MUSIC TEACHERS IN AUSTRALIA by Rachel Hocking, 2008

MUSIC CRITICISM IN AUSTRALIA'S MAJOR NEWSPAPERS by Graham Strahle, 2007

TOWARDS AN ECOLOGY OF MUSICAL DIVERSITY


Sustainable futures for music cultures is a five-year, five-million dollar project that investigates key factors in musical sustainability, with the purpose of enabling communities across the world to forge musical futures on their own terms.

With the developments in migration, travel, and technology over the past fifty years, musical diversity has simultaneously come to our ears and under threat. Almost anywhere in the world, music from myriad backgrounds is accessible live or through recordings. But at the same time, many ‘small musics’ are in danger. 

We live in an era when much music—in the words of the leading ethnomusicologist Tony Seeger—is actively ‘being disappeared’ with globalisation. These changes go well beyond the dynamics of musical styles and genres emerging and disappearing organically as a result of changes in society. This phenomenon is now causing a substantial reduction in the diversity of music across the world.

A better understanding of the ‘ecosystems’ of music cultures can help to address this situation. In all cultures, the interplay between a large number of musical and non-musical factors is decisive for the longevity of music genres. This includes the relation to communities, systems of transmission, dissemination through media and industry, as well as more intangible factors such as underlying values and prestige. 

By conducting nine detailed case studies across the spectrum from ‘endangered’ to ‘flourishing’ music cultures on four different continents, Sustainable futures seeks to identify mechanisms that affect the longevity of specific music styles and genres. 

Built on a partnership between the International Music Council, the World Music & Dance Centre, the Music Council of Australia and six universities, Sustainable futures aims to develop a freely accessible, user-friendly web-based resource that will enable communities–by themselves or in partnerships–to preserve, safeguard or develop the music they value, in the way they value it.

Click here to go to the project website.

SOUND LINKS: EXPLORING THE DYNAMICS OF MUSICAL COMMUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA, AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR INFORMING COLLABORATION WITH MUSIC IN SCHOOLS

Brydie Leigh-Bartleet, Peter Dunbar-Hall, Richard Letts, Huib Schippers May 2009  

This study was initiated by the MCA and carried out by the Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre with an ARC grant. Linkage partners were MCA, the Australian Music Association and the Australian Society for Music Education.   It examines the musical life of six contrasting communities; working counter-clockwise: Albany, a small regional city in Western Australia; McLaren Vale, a regional town in a wine-growing area in South Australia in which it was already known that there was exemplary cooperation between music in a school and music in the community; Dandenong Ranges outside Melbourne in Victoria, and specifically the operations of the also exemplary Dandenong Ranges Music Council; Fairfield, an ethnically mixed urban area in Sydney; Inala, a suburb of Brisbane where an indigenous music festival has made an impact on community life; and Borroloola, a remote indigenous community in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.   In a synthesis of the discoveries in an online survey, results from the MCA's inaugural Music in Communities Awards, and the six case studies, the research team formulated "The Nine Domains of Community Music in Australia", a sort of taxonomy of features that might be considered when investigating the musical life of communities or indeed, in designing a community music program or organisation.  

To read the report, click here .

A COMPARISON OF STATE AND TERRITORY LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO THE PRESENTATION OF LIVE ENTERTAINMENT IN LIQUOR-LICENSED VENUES IN AUSTRALIA 

One could guess that the majority of professional musical performances in Australia take place in licensed premises such as hotels, clubs and restaurants, despite the often bizarre obstacles thrown up but regulations: for instance, that no regulatory impediments whatever are placed on a large-screen presentation in a hotel of a televised boxing or football match, but to present a lone guitarist may require a renovation of the premises and payment of a special licence fee. The study takes the view that the objectives of any licensing regime should include the fostering of musical culture rather than, as is often the case, constraining it.

Click here to read the report. Published September 2008.

Click here to read the MCA update on the NSW live music regulatory reform. Published October 2008. 

UNIVERSITY TRAINING OF MUSIC TEACHERS IN AUSTRALIA

These articles by Rachel Hocking were published in Music Forum Vol 14 No 3 and No 4. During 2008, course handbooks as published by Australian universities were surveyed to find the amount of music contained within teaching courses for secondary, primary and early childhood teachers. The units assigned to the music courses were then compared with the total units for each degree, giving a percentage of value placed on music training for teachers. On the whole, the amount of music taught and value placed on music training by universities is currently underwhelming. 

For early childhood teacher training, click here . Published Music Forum Vol 14 No 3 2008.

For primary school teacher training, click here . Published Music Forum Vol 14 No 2 2008.

For secondary school teacher training, click here .

MUSIC CRITICISM IN AUSTRALIA'S MAJOR NEWSPAPERS

This report, by Graham Strahle, analyses the size, frequency and type of live music reviews included in major Australian newspapers.  Over three months, six major newspapers were surveyed, demonstrating that some states are fairing better than others when it comes to performance criticism.  Strahle also points out that the quality of music criticism varies, with some articles being previews, promotional or journalistic articles.  Some music reviews have been written without the writer attending the actual performance.  For the full report and findings click here. 

This report is concerned with Government funding of new classical music at a state and federal level, so that new music can continue to be created, presented and documented.  The report is a preliminary step towards further investigations into the adequacy of new music funding.  This is the first time that a national mapping survey of funding to new music has been attempted.  In undertaking this project, one of the initial objectives was to identify geographic and/or chronological trends if they are occurring. However the difficulty of obtaining a full set of data was one of the chief concerns of this project. A complete national picture of new music funding was simply not possible. This is because those grant agencies do not employ data systems that allow target data to be accessed.  Obviously, better systems would be of benefit not only for internal auditing purposes but also for any external research.

The larger objective of the project is to contribute towards a better understanding of the long-term sustainability of new music creation and performance. Its fluid and constantly changing nature means that established grant funding categories and criteria might not continue to serve it adequately or optimally.   What the project reveals is a lack of a common understanding about the sector variously labelled as ‘new music’, ‘new classical music’ or ‘new art music’. A consistent terminology is needed, as this would avoid a large amount of confusion that presently exists. A uniformly adopted definition, such as that used in this report, would enable clearer distinctions to be drawn between this and other styles or sectors of music, such as jazz, contemporary, rock, pop. Industry development of new music will continue to be inhibited as long as this lack of clarity exists. At the same time, the plurality of artistic practice that has developed in new music in recent decades needs to be fully recognised in the development of any long-term strategies for sustaining it as a sector.

The immediate outcome of this study would hopefully be that all funding agencies are encouraged to continue to provide statistics to add further to the body of data so far collected. Over time, the resulting body of data could be a worthwhile resource that assists in agencies’ strategic thinking. Essential to this strategic thinking would be a more coordinated approach between the state and federal governments. How this research might proceed further is open to general input and discussion.

To read the full report, click here. Published 23 September 2006.

A study carried out for UNESCO by the International Music Council with involvement of the MCA through its Executive Director, Richard Letts, who was the Principal Investigator. It includes information from Australia.

June 2006

This is a major and complex study involving some 50 consultants from all five continents. It was commissioned by UNESCO, which has a position in support of cultural and therefore musical diversity, in a period in which one of its great priorities is the adoption of its Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The UNESCO interest in cultural diversity has been present virtually since its inception. It has adapted to changing circumstances over the years but at present, it is probably fair to say that its current interest arises in part from a concern that diversity is being diminished.

There are various ways in which musical diversity might be threatened. Especially in music, globalisation brings with it an ever-spreading power of a relatively homogeneous western-sponsored pop music, backed by enormous marketing budgets. This music can displace local musical traditions. Local musical traditions that grew from the circumstances of rural life can weaken as rural life changes or as rural populations drift to the cities. Governments faced with multiple ethnicities within their populations may seek their assimilation into a single cultural identity in the interests of national cohesion. Religious fundamentalism may seek to silence music completely.

The first six sections of the study are these:

1.      Musical diversity and human rights                                   

2.      Musical diversity and sustainable development         

3.      Musical diversity and peace                                            

4.      The standards regulating musical diversity                         

5.      Musical diversity and the imposition of a monoculture

6.      Musical diversity, the musicians, and identity  

The seventh section, ‘Musical diversity: challenges and responses’, is a compendium of the challenges to the protection and promotion of music diversity within the private sector, civil society, government and the international sphere.

A set of appendices follows. It includes a listing of the international agreements protecting cultural rights and a survey of the reports on a number of projects supporting music development in developing countries.

Then there are appendices, each one from a different country or region in the Arab world, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The study is therefore a sort of matrix. The main report is organised around themes and how they manifest in various geographical areas. The appendices is organised around nations and regions and how all of the themes manifest in each one.

To read the main report, click here. From June 2006.

To read the appendices, click here. From June 2006.

Conducted by the Music Council of Australia for the Statistics Working Group of the Cultural Ministers Council.

Investigators: Hans Hoegh-Guldberg, Economic Strategies Ltd, and Dr Richard Letts, Music Council of Australia P/L.

With contributions from members of the Music Council of Australia, and the Music Council of Australia Network.

To read the study, click here. Published April 2005.

Published also is a summary by Hans Hoegh-Guldberg of the research paper, under the title "Statistical light dawns on the music sector," published in the Music Council journal, Music Forum Vol 11 No 2, February 2005. The authors believe that this formulation includes a couple of world-firsts: a comprehensive model of the music sector with as its main categories in the value chain, creation, production, and delivery. It also includes a socio-cultural value chain, to capture the non-economic value music has to society. 

To read an article about the study, click here. Published April 2005.

A study commissioned by the ManyMusics Program of the International Music Council, Paris, and carried out by the Music Council of Australia.

The ManyMusics program of the International Music Council is concerned with fostering musical diversity across the planet.

There is not a lack of musical diversity. Every one of thousands of cultures has music that is distinctive and an important aspect of its identity.

The ManyMusics program would not have been undertaken were there not a perceived threat to this diversity. The perceived threat comes from "globalisation" in its current manifestation.

This study looks at the effects of globalisation on local musics. It especially examines the potential effects of free trade treaties that could deprive governments of the right to give special support to the cultural sector.

Globalisation has been with us for centuries and in hindsight, we can see that musical cultures have been strengthened, altered, extinguished as military or commercial victors exerted their influence or more benignly, simply as one culture came into contact with another.

The urgency felt in this present phase of globalisation probably results from its pace and pervasiveness. In music it is there for (nearly) all to hear in the market and share-of-mind dominance of international popular music promoted across the globe mainly by five transnational record companies based in Europe, the USA and Japan. This music is seen to spread at the cost of local musics -- although there are additional causes for a weakening of local musics perhaps not so directly attributable to globalisation.

This is an enormous subject. What actually are the effects of globalisation on local musics? Despite the obvious fact that the effect of globalisation is the subject of this investigation, the Investigators volunteered relatively little evidence in their respective countries. Given the intensity of the concern, it is surprisingly difficult to produce clear examples. For instance, a lot of change results from urbanisation, and the most evident causes of urbanisation might appear to be local rather than global.

This small project seeks to shed some light by looking at circumstances in five contrasting countries – not so much in order to compare them, but rather to see to what extent globalisation works differently in differing circumstances.

Investigators were engaged in each of the five countries and asked to answer general questions about the structures of musical life in their countries, the role of governments, international trade and exchange of music, and the effects of globalisation with special regard to the actual or potential effects of trade liberalisation treaties. As might be expected, we do not have a tidy set of comparable statistics from the participating countries. So the study is a mixture of statistical data, as available, and factual and impressionistic information. Accepted in those terms, I believe it throws some interesting light on the effects of globalisation on music in the extraordinarily differing circumstances of these countries.

The study was commissioned by and carried out with funding provided by the International Music Council, Paris. The Music Board of the Australia Council also made a small financial contribution.

Richard Letts

Principal Investigator

Click here to read the report (2.7Mb PDF Format) Published October 2003.

Australian radio broadcasters operate under self-regulatory codes of practice that include minimum quotas for Australian music.

These quotas are vigorously defended by the music community as being critical to the preservation of a local musical culture and industry, and it is regularly argued that the minimum amount of Australian music to be played by broadcasters should be increased.

The benefits of airplay may appear to be obvious. The payola scandals in the USA, past and present, demonstrate a strong belief on the part of the record companies that airplay brings sales. However, it would contribute usefully to the debate over this policy if evidence were established to support the fundamental presumptions about the role of local content regulation in developing and maintaining an Australian musical practice.

In particular, this research has particularly sought to establish evidence of the effect of the local content requirements as mapped against the changes in those requirements. It is presumed that collection of such evidence will assist in assessing their ongoing utility and suggest potential future amendments.

Click here to read the report. Published October 2003.

Associate Professor Dr Michael Hannan of Southern Cross University was engaged to research the scope and circumstances of careers in music or music-related activity. He has compiled information about nearly 200 work categories. The research was completed in June 2002, and will be published by the Music Council and the University of NSW Press in a book, An Australian Guide to Careers in Music, in February 2003.

Click here for information about the book, or to purchase

This study, completed in July 2003, collected data for public, Catholic and independent school systems in each of the eight states and territories, in order to ascertain trends in the provision of music education in schools. It has assembled a great deal of information about the provision of music education, but discovered yawning gaps in the data even about current circumstances. Because of the lack of data from past years, it was not possible to illustrate national trends in most aspects of the provision.

Nevertheless, serious issues do arise from the data, such as the lamentably meagre tertiary music training of primary classroom teachers, who in most states bear the responsibility for teaching music to primary school children.

Associate Professor Robin Stevens of Deakin University, and also currently Chair of the Australian Association for Research in Music Education, has been the Principal Investigator in this most important data-collection project.

He was assisted by State Investigators:

ACT: Gavin Findlay

NSW: Dr Pauline Beston and Dr Anne Power

NT: Nora Lewis

QLD: Dr Andrew Brown

SA: Suzanne Rogers

TAS: Wendy Ross

VIC: Christine Oldham

WA: Andrea Stanberg

The project was jointly funded by the Music Board of the Australia Council, the Australian Music Association, Australian Arts Trust and Deakin University.

Click here to see the completed report. Published July 2003.

Click here to see the separate reports from the State Investigators for this project.

Click here to see Professor Stevens address: Why teach music in schools? Changing values since the 1850s