I was appointed as Tour Director at Frontier Touring in November 2018 after four years there already as Tour Co-ordinator. In simple terms the main differences between the two roles is that as Tour Co-ordinator I was primarily delivering tours after they were confirmed, where as my primary purpose as Tour Director is to actually bring the business in, whether it’s new or established, to do the work and negotiation to get a tour to the point of confirmation. I then give direction to our ticketing, marketing and publicity teams etc so they can go forth and do the stellar work they do.

Before it gets to that point though, there’s lots of late nights and early mornings communicating with agents across the world in different time zones, a plethora of reading, listening and researching, and of course plenty of number crunching and budgeting, and plotting and planning. Of course, for every tour that confirms there’s 10 that don’t! But it’s all learning, fine tuning skills, building and maintaining relationships and gathering information that can be used again elsewhere.

I’m fortunate in that I get the opportunity to work with a diverse range of both domestic and international artists, from the well-established to the newly emerging, across multiple genres. There’s some heavy hitters who are also coincidentally wonderful people with great teams around them like Midnight Oil, Shawn Mendes, Paul Kelly, The Chemical Brothers, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys and Sam Smith.

Julia Michaels was the first new business that I signed so she’ll always be very special to me and from leftfield I’ve had great success with Marc Rebillet who is a one-man tour deforce out of New York. I’m also looking forward to bringing LA’s genre defying Starcrawler to Australia for their own tour, their live shows are unbelievable.

I take great pride in the record-breaking tour with Midnight Oil in 2017, it was by far the most challenging and rewarding single tour I’ve worked on and tested my skills set on every level. Doing the keynote speeches at both BIGSOUND 2019 and the One of One Women’s Day breakfast this year were personal highlights as well: allowing myself to own my power and achievements whilst still being vulnerable and raw was very liberating and I felt I was able to genuinely connect with the audience in a way that left me truly invigorated and humbled.

Well right now, I’d love just to put on an international tour! Any tour actually. Obviously that’s not currently possible though and may not be for some time. It does give us all a wonderful opportunity to really shine a light on the immense talent we have right here in Australia though, so I’m looking forward to what evolves out of this period of “stillness”.

I’m predicting diversified creativity and new growth. For me personally, I’m looking forward to working further with Support Act on their prevention programs that address mental health and well-being within the industry. In the longer term I’m eager to continue collaborating across the Mushroom Group as we develop and nourish new artists, and additionally provide opportunities for our team to shine across the different companies.

We’ve achieved incredible things during lockdown despite not being able to do tours. A plethora #1 albums and of course Music From the Homefront on Anzac Day really showcased what the team could do led of course Michael Gudinski, followed by the State of Music and now our weekly prime time music show on ABC, The Sound.

Mushroom has a rich history of promoting women within the company and empowering them in senior positions. It’s simply bad business and archaic not to. Smart men don’t see women as threats nor as subordinates – they see them as leaders, allies and assets to the business. But how do you change the inbuilt patriarchy when it’s sometimes so insidious? Infiltration?! I don’t know the answer here, I wish it was as simple as initiatives, or even quotas. But when the problem is systemic and somewhat generational, I see the answer in the new layer of women and men coming through that have more inclination to question and to call out inequalities and bad behaviour as unacceptable. The continued work of One of One and other collectives and forums that bring women together to connect, unite, collaborate, empower and uplift are definitely changing that conversation and outcomes thankfully.

I’ve certainly had male champions over the years, most recently Michael Gudinski of course and Michael Harrison, but long term Merv McCasker (Big Day Out National Site Manager) was a stellar example of integrity and respect in the way he treated everyone he encountered, especially women. It’s a rare man who will follow a woman into battle without finding the need to usurp or belittle or talk over. Merv is one of those men and I’ll be forever grateful not just for his support but his unwavering wisdom, kindness and resilience.

When I’m really honest I’m sad to say I haven’t had female “mentors”, which was probably a reflection of the times more than anything. That said, I’ve always had great admiration for Fifa Riccobonno (to the point of having a girl crush!), she’s such a powerhouse and trail blazer for women in the business.

What I have had instead of mentors though, and continue to nurture and rely on, is a collegiate of amazing women throughout my career that I have leant on professionally and personally across all facets of the industry. Women such as Jessica Ducrou and Linda Bosidis have been my long-time fierce friends and advocates. Additionally I know I can count on and consult with a pretty powerful posse when needed: Susan Heymann, Melissa Chenery, Reegan Stark, Alex Kelsey, Janne Scott, Millie Millgate, Mardi Caught, Meagan Loader, Claire Marshall, Johanna Greenway, Karen Smith, Marihuzka Cornelius, Trish McNamara, Anita Alexander, Jo Hickey, Kylie Jeffries, Jade Skelly, Meg Walker, Susan Forrester, Viv Fantin, Tracey Wall, Jules Bain and of course Oana Gilbert and the legendary Mary Bainbridge are all trusted allies along with many more.

I did want to particularly mention Joc Curran who used to own and run The Zoo in Brisbane: we started out in this business together over three decades ago and have always helped each other in times of need. Her work ethic combined with a generosity of spirit has always warmed my heart and shown that you do not need to be deceitful, ruthless nor cruel to be successful. And I love building relationships with the next generation coming through too, women that are already forces of change, creativity and accomplishment such as Sarah Donelly, Mel Cheng, Sarah Dileo, Bec Young, Casey O’Shaughnessy, Katie Rynne and the latest addition to the Frontier team, the positively tenacious Gem Evans.

If asked this question six months ago the answer would have been quite different, but today the obvious answer that no-one can ignore is COVID. The live industry that I’ve worked in all my adult life has been completely decimated on a scale never seen before at any point in history. Will we survive? Sure. Will it be back to “normal” anytime soon? Probably not unfortunately. It’s an ever-evolving situation and the long-term effects economically and creatively areas are yet immeasurable. We’re a resilient, creative and resourceful bunch, our greatest assets at the moment are being adaptable and patient. And kind. Just be kind – this is a tough time for so many.

My guilty not guilty admission is that I have never done karaoke, ever. Many, many years ago when I was first dating my soon to be husband, I was singing in the shower and he came running down the hall and burst into the bathroom thinking I was injured and calling out in pain…needless to say I’ve never sung again. If I was cornered, my go to would probably be Helen Reddy. “I Am Woman” was always my pre-gig warm up music on big show days, but I’ve always identified with the hope, yearning and ultimate disappointment of “Delta Dawn”. At some point in life we’ve all experienced a man who didn’t deliver on promises made, it certainly made me more self-reliant – my happiness is not dependent on anyone else these days.

I’m a Tour Coordinator for Love Police ATM, I’ve been in this role for just over 3 and a half years. As Tour Coordinator I’m responsible for managing the merchandise production and sales for artists when they tour Australia, NZ and occasionally South East Asia.

There’s sort of a revolving door of artists that we’re working with at any time. Some of the regular local artists I work with are Bad//Dreems, Spacey Jane, Vera Blue, The Rubens, Alex Lahey, Thundamentals, Paul Kelly, WAAX, Hayley Mary. Other artists I’ve handled tour merch for in the past are Lizzo, Brockhampton, Kylie Minogue, Joey Bada$$, Imagine Dragons, Benee, Angel Olsen, Liam Gallagher, Why Don’t We, Kurt Vile, and many more.

So far it’s probably setting the record for the highest merch spend per head at QUDOS Arena, Sydney with 21 Pilots. I’m not sure if this record still stands but at the time it knocked Harry Styles from the top spot. Other achievements are being able to work on busy touring schedules – in March 2018 we had over 330 shows across 81 tours, managed between our team of four Tour Coordinators. Getting to evolve my skillset through busy seasons like this is a great feeling.

I’m hoping to continue in my role at LPATM and work with the industry as it recovers from the impact of Covid-19. Hopefully in the not too distant future we’ll again be running merch sales for sold out arena shows and large outdoor events, and will be challenged once again with a full tour itinerary to work on. For the immediate future it’s about generating as many merch sales as possible for the local artists – through both their online stores and live shows when they’re able to tour again.

I think initiatives like this from One of One, that profile a variety of roles and positions that women hold in the industry are very important. It can give women confidence that a career in the industry is possible, and there are many pathways they can take. The more women working in the industry gives a greater selection of talented females when hiring for senior roles.

Personally I think LPATM have a good representation of female employees. Roughly 40% of our team is female and we are employed in varying roles – Holly is one of our Designers & Social Media Manager, Tracey is our Melbourne Warehouse Manager, Pen is in charge of Bookkeeping & Leah started with us in an admin role and is also now a Tour Coordinator. On top of this a lot of our ground level merch sales staff across the country & NZ are female.

I believe we have this fairly well-balanced team thanks to the unbiased hiring by Seb & BT, and it shows their encouragement of female employees. However I believe the industry at large still has a way to go to achieving parity. Senior management are crucial in encouraging female staff to progress in their careers by creating a work environment that is supportive and ensuring their female employees are given the same opportunities as their male counterparts. I also believe they should be looking at the diversity of their team as a whole, not just gender.

The LPATM crew have been incredible in helping me develop in my role, in particular my fellow Tour Coordinators’ Matt Taranto, Anthony Truer & Juan Cuellar. We’re fortunate to have a close, supportive team that’s always quick to help when needed.

Prior to starting my role at LPATM I had a great mentor in Charney Marshall. I worked with Charney doing admin and event roles, she taught me a lot about the touring aspect of the industry and encouraged me to progress in my career, which I’m very thankful for.

Of course at the moment that’s Covid-19. In terms of merchandise, most artist’s sales are generated at their live shows, and as the live industry has basically been put on hold since mid-March there’s been a huge loss for artists. For now, to help combat the loss of live shows we’re focusing on doing what we can to increase online sales for artists. Fortunately we’re seeing some great results across quite a few different online campaigns, for example we recently ran the official album pre-orders for Spacey Jane & DMA’s, with both bands landing at #2 on the ARIA charts in their release weeks.

As live shows slowly begin to restart I think the next challenge will be navigating the uncertainty of interstate borders opening and closing, restrictions changing daily and how this will impact our operations.

I’m an absolutely horrendous singer so no karaoke song haha. If it was a guarantee that nobody could hear me then maybe a Bruce Springsteen classic (maybe!)

I’ve held a number of roles with Mushroom across many years – and indeed decades. My first association being with Premier Artists as a Door Bitch (strong yes, bitch no) in the thick of pub touring in the late 80s.

Now, I am the Marketing + Communications Operations Director, with our team providing services for Frontier, Chugg Entertainment and Illusive Presents tours.

I’ve had three stints at Mushroom across thirty years, my most recent return was way back in 2005, which I’m astonished is fifteen years ago (it feels more like seven). My previous roles have been with Mushroom Records (PA to Marketing + Creative Managers), White Label (Label Assistant), Premier Artists (Bookkeeper), Michael Gudinski (Executive PA), a day on the green (weekend Merchandise Manager) and Mushroom Promotions (Labels + Live Operations Manager). It’s a terrific company to work at, and every day I pinch myself that this is how my career has unfolded.

I am very blessed to have worked with an extraordinary and vast list of domestic and international artists; quite literally from the biggest in the world through to the fresh and soon to be known.

I can’t choose just one, so here’s five. Whilst they not directly be my sole achievement, I am proud of my involvement:

Staff growth | I swell with pride to see my co-workers continually increase their bag of skills to gain career promotion and wonderfully deserved project successes.

Artist success | To see the groundswell and evolution of an artist across a number of years; this does not necessarily equate to ticket/album sales but sometimes it’s merely the joy of their new music.

Music From The Home Front, The State of Music and The Sound broadcasts | Since Australian live music was abruptly silenced on 16 March 2020, staff from many Mushroom Group companies – across seventeen broadcasts – have turned their hand to create well in excess of 100 top quality “live music performance from home” videos. These videos and broadcasts have supported Australian musicians from all genres and career levels both financially and promotionally. The hustle has been amazing and it’s incredible how quickly we adapted to working under new conditions.

Sound Relief | Another example of a huge team of people pulling together in a short timeframe to create an astonishing event for the community at large; every role counts toward the end result.

Every Poster Tells A Story | 30 years of the Frontier Touring Company | I spent four years sourcing many exact details and missing pieces of the company’s 30 year history and was very chuffed to finally see the 285 page hardback coffee table book in print.

To work hard yet smart, do my best, not scrimp on quality, learn every day, have fun, say what I mean and continue to dispense top notch support and enthusiasm to the M+C team and greater Mushroom Group; along with mentoring/meddling and providing opportunity wherever I can.

These are more so comments than initiatives.

Provide mentoring and support, but in particular to staff (and interns) in the early years of their careers. Coaching on why, rather than just how, and imparting managerial insights, will hopefully establish a deeper task review process for them which in turn should lead to better results, and so on and so forth, and onward to the top.

Accept that women and men don’t work in the same method and manner in order to achieve the same outcome (sometimes even better, but mostly more orderly).

In the same vein as the above comment, in most instances in conversation or correspondence we should just listen to the message and not see the gender.

I could name 1000s of people who have helped shape and get me to where I am today, but rather shall put it simply by saying my colleagues past and present – from the honchos to the interns – and every one in between.

While I’m mentioning honchos I must mention Michael Gudinski. For as long as I can remember the Mushroom buildings have always been teeming with women, it’s only over the last few years I have come to realise this is not common place. He has pushed and demanded I deliver my best, but importantly empowers me to do so – thanks MG.

And a couple of shout outs to those who always have my back – Reegan Stark and Anna Toman, thanks gals.

And me – I am my own champion too! I can’t impress enough that for everything you do that you evaluate, make a decision and then back yourself. On the off chance you make a mistake – admit it, fix it, learn from it and keep going.

COVID19 but I’ll answer this question as if it were 2019.

Music and it’s live performance are so undervalued – both financially and creatively. Why do the public (and the bureaucrats) under estimate the worth of music? Most people reach for it as part of their every day routine – they love it, they couldn’t get by without it –  and let’s not forget the wellbeing effect it brings. Punters will happily dole out upwards of $20 for a takeaway meal that you can only eat once, but god forbid they pay for their music. I can’t understand this narrow and self centred thinking.

If only there were more bangers from Jesus Christ Superstar on the karaoke song lists.

I have a joint venture with Michael Gudinski under the umbrella of The Mushroom Group in the field of Neighbouring Rights. Whilst I started my company International Royalties Rescue (IRR) in 2003, Good Neighbour was launched quite recently in April 2019.

I’m the Managing Director and co-owner of Good Neighbour Rights and am responsible for everything from recruitment to implementing strategies around recruitment, registration, claims and generally maximising income for our clients.

I have worked with many top line artists in Australia from The Teskey Brothers, Amy Shark, Paul Kelly, Gang of Youths & many others. International acts include Rihanna, Beyonce, The Eagles, Tom Jones, Fat Boy Slim and more recently with Cold War Kids, Michelle Branch, Live, Zedd in this neighbouring rights environment.

That would be posing with Michael for the media release at the launch of Good Neighbour! 😊 True – but more seriously, meeting and negotiating deals with some of the biggest players in the music industry. It’s been a humbling honour to be ‘enabled’ and introduced by Mushroom to so many incredible artists and their management teams. Additionally – working with the incredible Mushroom royalties team headed up by Lee Barlow. I have learned much from him already.

It’s early days at Good Neighbour, so I’m excited about the roll out of our new portal but moving into Yr 2 and 3, we plan to have a bigger international presence and sign a plethora of major international artists.

I’m not sure I would see it as an initiative. I think we need to look past gender and simply see a person who can/cannot do the job. I’ve never thought of myself as female or male when it comes to work. I thought of myself as motivated and passionate. I cannot stop others from their prejudices – so if the opportunities weren’t there for me – I simply created my own. I started my neighbouring rights company by taking the risk, soaking myself in knowledge so I could help fellow performers and just simply – got on with it!

One of my mentors was actually in the education system at RMIT TAFE. After a failed audition for the Victorian Jazz College, I was at a loss of what to do. I had a temp job at the Workers Compensation office in Melbourne, sticking numbers on files as I tried to make ends meet as a struggling songwriter. So I applied for a TAFE course in Sound Production to get out of the awful temp work and into anything that resembled music. So Sound Production was it. It was a dreadful course, all males and I the only female intake!

When one of the older male lecturers who was versed only in how to put a microphone together, tried to teach us about copyright in the music business unit, I complained to the Head of Department. He asked me if I would like to teach it instead. He saw the motivation and passion in me, and I went on to become the Head of the Programme for 4 years, before moving to London and working in the field of Neighbouring Rights. I have never seen him since as he has moved OS, but if it weren’t for him believing in me, I don’t think I’d have been talking to you today.

The UK society PPL, ceased paying Australian performers for their neighbouring rights in 2013 and there is little awareness about this in our Industry. I have formed a committee that discusses the underlying reasoning behind why Neighbour Rights does not exist in Australia and lack of reciprocity with other countries. It is a complex, layered discussion, but we finally have the right people around the table discussing the legislation and lack of it and challenges ahead to ensure Australian performers are paid from more countries in the future.

I entered the music industry from a singer songwriter background, so it’s always fun to get up with my big Sister (also a singer), and break into a duet. We have been known to kill it with Donna Summers ‘Hot Stuff’ (can you believe the first record I ever won in a singing contest aged 7), Xanadu or Shallow – Lady Gaga as its hilarious to see people’s reactions when you hit a big note when they are expecting lager vocals!

I work within the label’s promotions team as the Director of Publicity. The label team is a new team and I have been in this position for 8 months. Previously when the live side of the business and label side were combined, I was the Head of International & Bloodlines Artist relations.

All up I have been with Mushroom 6 years, this December.

My artist roster is a very mixed bag, looking after the Bloodlines, Liberator, Reclusive and Liberation Records labels, and I love the all the different genres. Currently its merci, mercy, Lastlings, Gordi, Scott Darlow, Mondo Rock, Diesel, Vika & Linda, Fontaines D.C, IDLES & Kylie Minogue.

I think overall being recognised by my peers as a hard worker and being good at what I do, it’s great to have number ones but its even more rewarding when you assist in the development of an artist and watch them grow.

At this point in time, getting through this current global pandemic which has put the music industry on its ass. It’s very exciting seeing new music being produced, with artists being busy in lockdown but its sad we will not get to see them properly tour for some time to come yet. Part of putting out new music is playing it live, I miss seeing the album we release come to life on stage too. Its tough all round. I just want to come out the other side and see albums performed live.

Women supporting women so we can continue to succeed in senior roles and mentor and train our young ladies for future roles. Question what you don’t see as fair, ask why and seek a solution. Be yourself, you do you and always trust your instincts.

It is important that panels/boards etc have an even gender distribution along with music festivals.

One of my first lady bosses was the formidable Carolyn Polley as my manager at Edels Music when I first started out in retail. I loved music, I wanted to work in music and working in a record store every day seemed like a dream job and it pretty much was. Carolyn was sassy, funny, enthusiastic and great at what she did. Was also a mean bass player in Big Heavy Stuff. She taught me to never expect your team to do what you are not prepared to do yourself IE the shit jobs. Its stayed with me to this day. Carolyn was also someone who helped personally during different stages of my twenties. I have had many (and mainly) lady bosses along my music industry career and the majority have been supportive and have had my back and given out many pearls of wisdom. Advice is great – you can take it or leave it and follow by example, which also means you can learn what ‘not to do’ and ‘how not to treat people.’

Also have to say my mum, having recently lost her, I realised how important she was in making me into the woman I am today, and she was tough but fair but always had my back and encouraged every step of my career. A strong woman to look up to.

Clearly being unable to tour is a massive threat to an income for artists and the industry as a whole.

It’s been so interesting seeing new and inventive ways that artists are coming up with ways to get their music out there and how to monetise that with tickets to virtual concerts and live web streams. Fortunately, we are seeing some smaller social distanced shows coming out of the ashes of Covid, let’s hope they continue, and punters also do the right thing.

I can’t change the outcome of Covid but I can keep plugging great music so when restrictions do open up people can get out and hear these albums live on stage.

Put me in front of a crowd and I would sing anything. I did win a Karoke competition many years ago to Salt- N – Pepa’s ‘Push it’ but I think my dance moves got me across the line.