A number of DJs and producers may have an easier time making the trek down under, that is, if Darcy Byrne has his way.
The Leichhardt mayor is urging Premier Mike Baird to provide lockout exemptions to venues which host live music, however, the exemption would not be distributed cohesively amongst all DJs. Byrne’s suburb has been subject to a number of seminal venue closures which hosted live events and he is looking to redefine what qualifies as live music.
The mayor will submit his proposal to council next week, suggesting that certain DJs also be absolved from the current lockout laws in place. Moving forward, Byrne indicates that a constitutional definition of what qualifies as live music will need to be explicitly documented in order to avoid “paying some guy to play a Spotify list”. Byrne continued,
“To be frank, we may find that not every DJ will qualify as a performer of live music and the definition might end up being more supportive [of] bands and other performers,”
Byrne also stated,
“I think most people would accept that a multi-millionaire hotelier paying some bloke $100 a night to play a Spotify list through his phone is not live music performance in the same way that many other DJs are. Like, for instance…Flume, who is obviously a musician and who performs with real artistic merit.”
While we share Darcy Byrne’s appreciation for Flume, we’d like to think that genuine talent, particularly that present within the electronic dance music realm, can hold its own against whatever legal definition of live music may arise. After all, we wouldn’t want to see a “bloke” play a Spotify playlist “live” either.
Source: In The Mix
