Venue Application

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Venue Expression of Interest 2024

Event Background

The NSW Government is partnering with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) to bring back the much-loved live music series, ensuring it proceeds over the next four years, starting with 300 live music gigs in 2024.

Great Southern Nights was initiated in 2020 and returned in 2022 to provide practical state-wide industry support for the recovery of the music, hospitality and tourism sectors of NSW following the impact of COVID-19, by getting artists back on stage, activating live music venues and driving visitation across the state. With the live music sector and NSW visitor economy progressing beyond the post-pandemic recovery phase, the purpose and model for Great Southern Nights has shifted to create a more concentrated, high-end event that offers a greater cultural, social and visitor experience for music fans across the state and the nation. Great Southern Nights 2024 is set to deliver more than 300 live gigs in venues across Western Sydney and Sydney’s inner city as well as shows in Wollongong, Wagga, Newcastle, the Northern Rivers and Tamworth.

The seven music communities were chosen on the basis of:

their large populations to ensure vibrant local engagement
providing ease of access for visiting music fans
having existing entertainment precincts that can be activated and can accommodate increased visitation
being able to create a vibrant cultural experience that brings together locals and visitors in a shared passion for live music with social and economic benefits for the broader region.

The Great Southern Nights model allows the flexibility to rotate programming across other NSW districts in future years to ensure live music fans in different NSW regions have access to the nation’s best artists and local businesses can also benefit from increased visitation.

We invite your venue to participate in a closed Expression of Interest process in order to be considered for selection to be a part of the Great Southern Nights 2024 program.

These terms and conditions apply to this application process. Your submission of an application is deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions. If your application is successful, you will be required to enter into a separate contract with ARIA that will set out the terms of the arrangement between you and ARIA (please see the Contractual Obligations section).

VENUE CALL

Gigs staged as a part of Great Southern Nights will be held in venues of varying scale. We welcome submissions for consideration from venues that meet the Selection Criteria and the Eligibility Criteria below.

Please note that submission of an Expression of Interest does not automatically provide the applicant with acceptance to participate in Great Southern Nights. In addition, previous funding or support from DNSW is no guarantee that an Expression of Interest will be accepted.

DATE SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE

Your Expression of Interest must be lodged via the online application form by Midday (AEST) on Tuesday October 24, 2023

Please note that Expressions of Interest applications received after the specified date and time will be deemed ineligible for consideration. ARIA accepts no responsibility for any late, lost or misdirected proposals due to technical disruptions or for any other reason.

ELIGIBILTY CRITERIA

Your venue must:

be a registered business (sole traders are acceptable), must hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) or an Australian Company Number (ACN) and must be registered for GST;
be prepared to enter into a contract with ARIA which sets out various conditions related to Great Southern Nights (see the Contractual Obligations section below);
stage the performance at your venue on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night between 8 March 2024 - 24 March 2024;
have the administrative and technical capabilities and capacity to host live music performances;
be prepared to promote the event;
comply with all liquor licensing laws;
hold current public liability and workers compensation insurance (see the Contractual Obligations section below);
hold valid public performance licences (e.g. a licence from OneMusic Australia) for the performance of music within the venue;
be able to capture and retain the postcodes of all ticket purchasers or people who have registered to attend the gig. This information will need to be shared with ARIA and DNSW for reporting purposes; and
ensure that music is the main focus of the entertainment at your venue on the selected night.

If you do not meet all of the above requirements, then please do not make an application.

SELECTION CRITERIA

In addition to the Eligibility Criteria, applications from venues will be assessed on the following criteria:

Demonstrates a track record of hosting live music events
Demonstrates the capacity to finance, produce and present an event
Demonstrates the capacity to market an event
Demonstrates they have an existing audience for the event
Location of the venue – the venue must be physically located within one of the designated regions.

Applications will be assessed and short-listed for inclusion in the Great Southern Nights program by the Great Southern Nights Program Manager and curatorial team. The application process will require venues to propose a range of artists and event models that meet the selection criteria outlined below:

Artists chosen by venues will also be assessed based on the following criteria:

Artist Profile
Artistic Merit
Artistic Credibility
Genre diversity
Recognition of both gender and cultural diversity

A minimum of one (1) live act will need to perform per show and each show should include three hours of live music entertainment.

The GSN Curatorial team encourages Venues to showcase original live music wherever possible.

ENGAGEMENT PROCESS

Successful venues are required to liaise with agents / artists to book, contract and pay the artists. Preferred programming nights are Thursday to Saturdays.

Once the program has been confirmed, a contract between ARIA and the venue will be entered into confirming the financial funding contribution payment arrangement and other terms (see the Contractual Obligations section below).

In addition to the financial funding contribution, the applicable venue will be able to enter into direct negotiations with the selected artist on potential venue deals, such as door deals, in order to potentially increase event revenues and satisfy venue costs, while executing an agreement as per standard practice between the two parties. The Great Southern Nights Senior Program Manager is to be advised of all such deals prior to confirmation, with the ability to amend where deemed necessary.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION

The amount of the Financial Contribution will be up to $2,500 (GST exclusive).

The Financial Contribution must be used towards the organisation, delivery and marketing of the gig; it cannot be used for any other purpose.

All successful venues will be eligible to receive a one-off Financial Contribution of up to $2,500 (GST exclusive) for one gig. This contribution can be spent by the venue with a minimum payment of $1,500 + GST guaranteed to the artist/s - but noting that each performer must receive a minimum payment of $250 per (individual) performer. ARIA will not be liable to provide the venue with additional funding in excess of the Funding Contribution to cover the artist minimum payments.

The balance of Funding Contribution (if any) must be used by the venue to support venue costs, such as production staff, security and front of house staff.

Payments to the venue upon milestones

Payments to the venue will be made upon the achievement of certain milestones (including but not limited signing of a contract with ARIA, completion of the gig, submission of post-event reporting etc), receipt of a tax invoice and on 30-day payment terms. Processing times will be in line with standard ARIA terms. Expedited payments are not possible. ARIA does not make any direct payments to the artists.

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN

Great Southern Nights will be supported by an extensive Marketing and Communications campaign, led by ARIA and DNSW and promoting the Great Southern Nights event program as a whole. The campaign will focus on presenting Great Southern Nights as a critically important, far-reaching and inspiring program, aimed at revitalising venues and districts in NSW through live music. All Great Southern Nights gigs will be featured and promoted via the Great Southern Nights website and social channels.

Gigs should be promoted directly by agents, labels and venues and must be profiled as part of the Great Southern Nights program – with branding/messaging to be approved by Great Southern Nights (ARIA and DNSW).

Venue and artists should be available for select media and promotional opportunities including publicity and marketing activities, and be prepared to pre-promote the GSN 2023 launch and subsequent ticket sales.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

The venue’s participation in Great Southern Nights is subject to execution of a contract with ARIA that includes a range of conditions to be agreed to by the venue. A high-level outline of some of these terms is set out below for your reference:

	Compliance	All gigs need to be held in compliance with all laws, regulations (including liquor licensing), music licensing and public health orders.
	Marketing and Promotional Obligations	The venue will need to provide hi-res press shots, bios, broadcast quality EPK or other footage of the venue and artists for ARIA and DNSW to use to promote Great Southern Nights, tourism related to Great Southern Nights and the gig. Please also provide us with the venue’s social media handles so that we can include it in our social posts. The gig must be officially presented under the “Great Southern Nights” brand. Great Southern Nights logo(s) must be included on any gig-specific collateral and Great Southern Nights must be referenced in all promotional and advertising material for the gig. The venue and artist must participate in a reasonable amount of promotional publicity related to the gig, Great Southern Nights, Sydney, the region the gig is held in and NSW more broadly, but in the context of Great Southern Nights. These may include interviews and photo opportunities. This is subject to venue, artist management approval and artist availability. No one is permitted to announce the venue or any artist participation in Great Southern Nights until advised by ARIA.
	Signage at the Gig	Great Southern Nights branding must be displayed at the venue during the promotion and performance of the gig. The signage may take the form of pull-up banners provided by DNSW, logos on screens, posters etc. Details about this will be set out in the promo toolkit/hub which ARIA will provide to the venue.
	Research	Two reports will be required from the venue to evaluate Great Southern Nights and the benefits of the funding provided. A percentage of the Financial Contribution will be paid once the reporting is submitted and accepted by ARIA. The reports that need to be submitted within the specified post gig timeframe are: Gig Attendance data - including total attendance, numbers of tickets sold/number of registrations for the gig, postcodes of all ticket purchasers/registrants (no personal information required); and Financial and Research Report - a final summary report showing the gig attendance, expenditure and revenue information. A post-gig survey will also need to be sent to ticket purchasers/registrants who have opted in to receive this type of communication. The resulting data will be shared with GSN and its stakeholders. DNSW may wish to have survey teams on and around the venue to conduct research and hand out DNSW materials/flyers where it is reasonable and appropriate. The survey teams will be at DNSW’s cost and will be subject to venue approval and requirements.
	Booking Artists for the Gig	The venue will be responsible for contracting and paying the artists for the gig. The Financial Contribution must be used towards booking at least 1 x live act for the gig (noting the minimum payment requirements set out above in this document). Preferred programming nights are Thursday to Saturdays
	Insurance	The venue is required to hold public liability insurance to the value of $20 million for the gig and note ARIA and DNSW as interested parties. The venue must have Workers Compensation insurance in place.
	WH&S and Risk	The gig must be conducted safely and in accordance with the Work Health and Safety Act. The venue must follow all risk procedures. ARIA will provide a Risk Checklist to assist the venue if requested.
	Support NSW Businesses	As the Financial Contribution is provided via DNSW, the venue must use NSW businesses for organising and staging the gig where possible and commercially viable – for example for travel arrangements, audio visual, sound and stage technicians, production, marketing, promotions and communications (however this does not apply to support artists, who can be from outside of NSW).
	Tickets	The announcement date and on-sale date for tickets will be set by ARIA. The venue will be required to provide updates on ticket sales on at least a weekly basis. The Great Southern Nights logo must be printed on all tickets for the gig. A small quantity of complimentary tickets must be set aside for Great Southern Nights stakeholders.
	Force Majeure/ Cancellation	If the gig is cancelled due to specific factors set out in the contract, and the gig cannot be rescheduled, the venue will be able to retain the deposit paid to the venue.

SUBMISSION OF THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

The applicant is responsible for any costs incurred or in any way associated with the preparation and submission of an Expression of Interest.
All Expressions of Interest must be submitted using the form on the Great Southern Nights website. Expressions of Interest received by email, post, printed delivered copies or fax will not be accepted by ARIA.
Applicants must complete all sections of the Expression of Interest form and provide any supplementary documentation requested as part of the form. ARIA reserves the right to reject incomplete Expression of Interest forms.
Following submission of the Expression of Interest, applicants should see an acknowledgment message on their screen indicating that their Expression of Interest has been received. If you do not see this notification of receipt, please contact ARIA via email at greatsouthernnights@aria.com.au.
Applications must be received in full by the closing date and time advertised. ARIA will not accept late applications after the closing date, nor will ARIA accept any draft applications. All applicants are encouraged to thoroughly read these terms and conditions before beginning their application.
Once lodged, the application is final and cannot be changed. Assessment will be an ongoing basis once applications are received based on the criteria detailed on the form, the Great Southern Nights website and these terms and conditions.
ARIA reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions from time to time, with any changes to be advised.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All information provided in this Expression of Interest or imparted to any applicant as part of the Expression of Interest process must only be used for the purpose of preparing and submitting the application.

Information supplied by an applicant will not be treated as commercially sensitive or confidential unless specifically requested. Information received by ARIA may be shared with DNSW and is therefore subject to disclosure to the public under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 and regulations unless it has been provided in confidence, relates to commercially sensitive information or falls within an exemption from disclosure under that act.

INFORMATION AND ENQUIRIES

Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Great Southern Nights website. The FAQ may be updated periodically.

If your question is not answered by the FAQ, please contact ARIA at: greatsouthernnights@aria.com.au.

NEXT STEPS

Please note, the information provided in this Expression of Interest is strictly confidential and is not to be distributed to any other person or organisation without the prior approval of ARIA.

If you are interested in applying, please complete the online application form by Midday(AEST) on Tuesday October 24, 2023. However, given the timeframe, earlier responses are welcomed.

Start application