‘How has that happened?’ Labor challenged over $1m funding to global music festival giant
By Linda Morris
NSW Labor is under pressure to redirect $3 million earmarked to help music festivals get back on their feet to strictly smaller homegrown shows after the Greens raised questions about two festivals with foreign company ties receiving $1 million in taxpayer subsidies.
Listen Out and Field Day were among five festivals awarded up to $500,000 each by the Minns government last year to stem a wave of festival cancellations.
Patrons gather at the Listen Out festival at Centennial Park in 2023. Credit: Dean Sewell
Parliament heard Fuzzy, the Australian operator of Listen Out and Field Day, is now part of British global empire of Superstruct Entertainment, which is in turn, owned by private equity firm KKR, now subject to a growing artist boycott over the nature of its investment portfolio.
“Superstruct holds a portfolio of over 85 festivals worldwide,” Greens’ music spokesperson Cate Faehrmann told the NSW parliament last week.
“At a time when our beloved grassroots music festivals are folding because of lack of financial viability, with no indication yet that government user-pays charges have eased, the government is handing taxpayer dollars to a multinational conglomerate that is acquiring our local festivals as part of its international expansion. How has that happened?”
In KKR’s investment portfolio, Faehrmann said, was a German media company that has reportedly advertised Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank, and a real estate software company said to have facilitated the rental of properties on occupied land.
“The eligibility criteria for this fund must be reviewed in light of these revelations,” she said outside parliament. “The fund needs to be better targeted towards independent and Australian-owned music festivals and the requirement that it only apply to festivals catering to 15,000 or more people must also be scrapped.”
The latest controversy points to growing sensitivities around the globalisation of all parts of the music industry from streaming services to ticketing platforms and the ability of homegrown promoters, festivals and artists to compete.
Waverley Council recently awarded Fuzzy, which was established in Australia in the 1990s and goes by the mantra “good times done properly”, a licence to produce a New Year’s Eve event at Bondi Beach for 15,000 people this year.
A festival goer at Field Day in 2022.Credit: Jessica Hromas
Faehrmann has called for Fuzzy to return $1 million awarded under the Contemporary Music Festival Viability Fund, and for government to review the eligibility requirements for its second and final funding round. Up to $3 million is on offer in this round which opened in May and closes in April 2026.
Arts and Music Minister John Graham said Fuzzy had acted entirely within the rules. Listen Out and Field Day were 49 per cent and 62.4 per cent Australian-owned at the time their events were staged and grants acquitted.
Other recipients – Bluesfest, Lost Paradise on the Central Coast, Your and Owls in Wollongong – were wholly Australian owned.
“There is an issue with international companies around the world reaching into this country and other countries, and the ways they are intervening in local music markets,” Graham told parliament in response. “That distinction is something that has been considered in some of those programs.”
Answering calls for a reframing of festival support, Graham told the Herald: “There are many challenges facing the NSW music industry right now, so it’s disappointing to see the Greens adding themselves to that list.
“Smaller music festivals are really important for artists and fans, and we know they’re also doing it tough. We support them through Destination NSW and Transport funding, and we’re always looking for new ways to back them.
“The viability fund only supports festivals with part or full Australian ownership, and three out of five recipients were 100 per cent Australian owned. I’m pleased that Listen Out, and the four other festivals were able to go ahead last round and that government funding meant Australian bands and suppliers got paid.”
Listen Out has announced it will not hold an event in 2025 while Field Day is now 26.25 per cent Australian owned and would still be eligible for support if it met all other criteria.
In a statement, Fuzzy did not address calls for grant repayment but said the grant had enjoyed broad political support – including from the Greens – for its vital role in sustaining NSW’s live music industry.
“We remain committed to supporting the local music scene by investing in festivals that generate millions for the NSW economy and provide essential income and jobs for hundreds of local artists and suppliers.”
On its website, Fuzzy says it maintains “absolute autonomy” in its creative vision, booked artists, planning and management of its events and festivals, and the ethical and cultural values upheld since its founding. Any profits are reinvested in the music business, it says.
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