The rise of Australian Music Industry

The Australian music industry as a business started to ratify during the late 1960’s and the 1970’s. It was not taken seriously by the business community in those early years and none of them was able to discount the pioneering spirit and business insight of the likes of Michael Gudinski, Michael Chugg, Ray Evans, Dennis Charter, Glenn Wheatley, Harry M, Miller, Harley Medcalf, Michael Browning, Chase, Philip Jacobsen, Peter Karpin, Roger Savage, John Sayers, Ernie Rose, Bill Armstrong, Kevin Lan Molly Meldrum.

In the years, the central development of Australian music was experienced with the flourishing of clubs and venues for life performance across Melbourne and the city centres of the country.

The first ever outdoor music festival was held in 1970, modelled on Woodstock at Ourimbah near Sydney and many others followed over the next two years but they all had financial failures. In 1972 the first festival that was successful enough involved some 35,000 music from across the country to Sunbury, Melbourne.

The bands and solo artists who shaped Australian music during these years were the choir boys, INXS, Noiseworks, Skyhooks, AC/DC, Renee Geyer, Spectrum, Chain, Daddy Cool, Marcia Hines, Zoot, the Masters Apprentices, Dragon, Air Supply, the Radiators, the Angels, Axiom, Kevin Borich Express, Captain Matchbox Whoope  Band, Carson, Cheetah, Richard Clapton etc.

The 1980’s saw the breakthrough in the independence of Australian rock like Nick Cave said that before the 1980’s that Australia still needed America or England to tell them what was good. An example of Australians breaking free from convention came in TISM that formed in 1982, the band is known for its anonymous members and humorous lyrics.

In the 1980’s, numerous innovative Australian rock bands arose which included Hunter  and Collectors, the Church, TISM, Diviyls, Hoodoo, Mondo Rock, the Sunnyboys, Men at Work, the Triffids, the Celibate Rifles, the Cosmic Psychos and the Hard Ons.