16/06/2026
“APRA AMCOS TO END ITS LIVE MUSIC OFFICE, LIVE AND LOCAL PROGRAM AFTER 13 YEARS.”
This is not good news. A big loss for emerging artists and our local live music industry.
After 13 years of enriching the local music scene, APRA AMCOS has announced the end of both its Live Music Office (LMO) and trailblazing local music program, Live And Local.
First opening its doors in 2013 alongside the release of the National Cultural Policy and Creative Australia, the Live Music Office was established by the Australian Government in partnership with the Ministry For The Arts and APRA AMCOS.
At the time of its launch, the Live Music Office existed against a backdrop of difficulties for the Australian music scene, with a dominant threat with liquor licensing frameworks, building codes, and planning laws placing pressure on the ability of venues to remain viable and open.
At the time, its goal was to face these challenges head-on, “reviewing policy frameworks, building best practice resources and advocating for reform at every level of government.”
In 2026, however, APRA AMCOS notes that many of these regulatory barriers have since been dismantled, with a “national architecture of government bodies, industry organisations and funding programs” now supporting local live music in a way that it didn’t 13 years earlier.
Read more: https://themusic.com.au/industry/apra-amcos-to-end-its-live-music-office-live-and-local-program/06lpx8bJyMs/15-06-26
