PAYING TO KEEP THINGS ALIVE – IS LIVE MUSIC BEING PHASED OUT?

Hosting companies are paying extreme fees to keep events open for festival-goers.

In what’s been called ‘the war on festivals’, it seems that things aren’t going to be getting easier on companies and patrons of major music events any time soon. The NSW state government is offering an indirect ultimatum — pay up or shut down.

For private events such as festivals and other major live music events, policing fees – or ‘user pays’ – are at an all time high in the state of New South Wales. While just a short time ago, policing fees were an average between $16,000 and $20,000, they have now blown through the roof at a now average fee of $200,000. That is a 1000% increase in less than 12 months, according to www.youredm.com.

These policing fees have already seen the cancellation of two multi-day festivals (Psyfari and Mountain Sounds), the move of one festival interstate (Rabbit Eats Lettuce), and for one other, the change from an all-ages festival to over-18’s only for the Sydney leg of its national tour (Good Things).

The policing fees quote for Good Things festival in NSW was eight times higher than what was quoted in the state of VIC.

Festival enthusiast Eric Lam said that he feels as though it’s a conservative government’s way to try and control drug use. “What they don’t realise is that if people want to take drugs, people will get them in somehow anyways”, he said. 

Mr. Lam also said he felt as though “the wrong steps have been taken to try to decrease drug-related deaths and injuries”, and that pill testing and a greater understanding of drugs and its effects would be a better direction.

Gladys Berejiklian has claimed in a statement to www.youredm.com, that “it’s not just about making a quick dollar, it’s also about keeping the people who turn up safe”. She also suggested that the government is not to blame for the monetary issues related to the sudden fees, and that “if you [organisers] can’t spend money making your event safer, well that’s a decision for you”.

In a statement, festival organiser Harder Styles United, when asked to comment about how they feel these extravagant fees are affecting both their company and their attendees, they stated that they are “not making comments on them to the public” but confirmed that they are in fact “in on-going discussions with the government & other industry bodies regarding the new regulations and fees”.