Fuse: Films, Festivals and Fame

08 March 2010

by Christie Eliezer

One of the priorities of Adelaide’s Fuse Festival has been to create strong ties with the South Australian film industry. Two years ago it made a deal with the South Australian Film Corporation to feature more local music in its films. This year, a keynote featured Scott Hick’s upcoming movie The Boys Are Back, which includes songs from Adelaide band Mayfield. “Submit two versions of your song, one of them an instrumental,” editor Scott Gray suggested. “Be willing to let the film maker edit your track as he or she sees fit.”

Publishers later addressed young filmmakers, on the importance of music in movies, and urged them to work on the music from the start. One recalled how a filmmaker gave her a lousy soundtrack budget, and then wanted three Bob Dylan songs. “But licensing one Dylan song alone will blow out three quarters of the entire music budget,” she had to explain. Fuse has also worked closely with overseas festivals, allowing Hilltop Hoods, City Riots and The Shiny Brights to play their events. This year agents and festival operators busily checked out the showcases. As a result, Swiss will play the Great Escape in the UK, and Vorn Dolette was invited to CMJ in New York in October.

The Festival’s panel spoke about how there are places to discover new music. The competition is fierce: 1500 acts applied for Bluesfest’s 20 available spots. The solution is to create a buzz beforehand, send your CDs to the festival offices where music is being played constantly, and set up relationships with them. Woodford Folk, for instance, this year has 26 different programmers. AMRAP’s Chris Johnston used Fuse to announce that its AirIT initiative will now also accept unsigned acts. MGM’s Sebastian Chase outlined how the business structures of The Whitlams and John Butler Trio gave them double the royalties than acts on major labels.

A discussion of the challenges for the Australian music industry touched on the lack of young visionary managers, the pros and cons of radio and tour support quotas, the need for a second triple j programmed by 18 year olds, and for a new peak music industry body. Sounds Australia’s Millie Millgate outlined their schemes to get Aussie music abroad. Overseas booking agents found music through personal recommendations and scouting social networks. But they are looking for acts with songs and live presence, regardless of where they come from. The marketing of indigenous music was a sore point: it’s not world music, nor should it be marginalized by being showcased on indigenous stages, away from the main crowds. The panel agreed to work on initiatives to increase skills. There were fiery exchanges at some of the panels.

Commercial radio was, as always, a red rag. But marketer Vicki Gordon pointed out that the media landscape has changed, and indie acts who “create a point of difference, with their product, their image and their story” had a chance to get to the mass market. There were two poignant moments at Fuse. One of South Australia’s greatest rock figures, John Woodruff, got a standing ovation at his irreverently funny and anecdote-spiced keynote, and Fuse director Alistair Cranney paid tribute to the life of another South Australian, Ruby Hunter, and collected money for her family.