Sometimes I spruik this newsletter if I happen to be in front of a group of people I think should subscribe. I often say it comes out every month, although sometimes heart-stoppingly late in the month. Well, it’s not quite the end of April yet, but it’s a shorter month with a smattering of public holidays in it. I write from that three working day filling within the long weekend sandwich. Many of you probably wisely decided to take these days off and create a maxi-break. If so, please take me out for lunch. I need to take notes.
Still, there’s much in the world of creative business to discuss, so I hope you find this month’s selection of interest. First up, something we were involved in that’s gone very well indeed.
The lack of available theatres in Sydney is often noted as a handbrake on the performing arts in that fair city. The closure of Darlinghurst Theatre Company last year left the future of one of those venues – the Eternity Playhouse in Darlinghurst – up in the air. You may remember the Eternity as the former Baptist tabernacle, transformed into a beautiful performance venue about 10 years ago. Left vacant in 2024, its owners, the City of Sydney, recognised an opportunity to make it available to the city’s performance makers.
We undertook sector consultations for the City of Sydney with a varied cast of independent producers, production companies, and industry professionals to discover what they needed from a revitalised Eternity Playhouse. They were loud and clear: they needed more accessible and affordable space to perform and present work. They wanted a clear artistic identity and curated programming for the venue. They wanted a suitable venue for mid-career and established independent artists and companies. And they wanted a venue to transfer successful productions and one that plugs into the national touring circuit.
Well, of course, they said a lot more than that, but our job was (as it often is) to find the signal in the noise. Working with the City of Sydney, we suggested a model where the City managed the space for the medium-term and curated access to the venue for Sydney’s indie producers. And that is indeed what’s happening. Stay tuned to see how it develops, but expect to see a range of new theatre in Darlo by the end of the year.
Building on last month’s article about the rise of the socials over trad media, I’ve had a read of Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Media Trends report, and it’s got a few things to chew on if you’re in the media and entertainment space. It feels a bit like walking into a room where the furniture’s been rearranged, and you’re not quite sure where to sit anymore.
Its now-familiar theme is the rise and rise of social video platforms. While the traditional studios and streaming folks have been battling it out, the real competition comes from YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Deloitte describes them as “hyper-scale and hyper-capitalised”; importantly, they are where advertising dollars are heading, and fast. The streamers are fighting on two fronts: competing for ad revenue and trying to combat subscription fatigue. People do not want to juggle a dozen different services, especially when the costs keep creeping up.
Deloitte says the social platforms have an edge with their ability to target consumers, allowing them to connect advertisers with audiences quite effectively. Which particular consumers? Well, Gen Z and millennials, who are spending more time on social platforms, lapping up user-generated content and feeling a stronger connection with the creators there than with traditional celebrities.
So, what’s a traditional media business to do in this shifting landscape? The report suggests they might need to get bigger through mergers or clever partnerships to reach broader audiences and compete with the sheer scale of the social platforms. They also need to seriously invest in their ad technology and embrace AI to make their advertising more effective and production more efficient.
Over to Europe for a piece titled “When culture is cut, everyone suffers,” and it’s certainly a sobering reminder of the challenges facing the creative sector, even in places known for their artistic vibrancy. Berlin, a city with a strong reputation for its creative industries, has just had a €130 million cut to arts and culture funding. Berlin’s media and creative industries employ 265,000 people and generate an annual turnover of €44 billion. You’d think such a significant economic contributor would be nurtured.
The article points out that these cuts represent a hefty 12 per cent reduction in arts and culture funding, despite the sector only accounting for 2.5 per cent of total public spending. It raises the question of priorities and whether these short-term budget fixes might have longer-term detrimental effects, as German filmmaker Wim Wenders suggests, arguing that “removing funding from cultural institutions never pays off”.
The immediate impacts are already being felt. The article mentions shrinking programmes, fewer jobs, and a reduced offering of exhibitions. One particularly visible loss was the discontinuation of “Museum Sundays,” an initiative that had facilitated 2.2 million visits to museums between 2021 and 2024, highlighting the direct impact on public access to culture.
It illustrates how quickly things can change and the potential consequences of reduced cultural funding. Something to keep in mind when you’re voting next month.
While it’s not uncommon to see mergers and acquisitions in the creative industries, news of a de-merger resulting from a management buyout supported by private equity is unusual. Danielle Long in The Australian (behind a paywall, but I accessed it through the array of resources available from the State Library of NSW – get amongst it!) reported that creative innovation agency R/GA has reclaimed its independence after 23 years within the holding company Interpublic Group (IPG).
This move was facilitated by a deal between private equity firm Truelink Capital and R/GA’s global management team, which bought the company from IPG together. The article says this shows that private equity backing can be instrumental in unlocking future growth for the agency and the broader advertising industry. To underscore this ambition, R/GA announced the establishment of a $50 million innovation fund aimed at investing in talent, tools, platforms, skillsets, and potential business acquisitions.
According to R/GA’s global chief creative officer Tiffany Rolfe, the sale process, which began mid-last year, allowed the agency to plan for its future. Ms Rolfe noted the increasing interest from private equity firms in unlocking the value of agencies within holding companies. She suggested that the private equity path, with a partner understanding the potential of new technology, offered the opportunity to define a new model for the future. Rolfe says the move positions R/GA as a “48-year-old start-up” ready to innovate. A nice line, but then they are in the ad business.
Back to the state of Australian music festivals. This piece, “Soundcheck: Are Australian music festivals really on life support?” by Joshua Barnett for Michael West Media, offers a nuanced perspective beyond the doom and gloom headlines.
Barnett delves into a recent report by Creative Australia, Soundcheck Two: Analysis of Australian Music Festival Models and Operations, which suggests a tale of two tiers within the festival landscape. While the big players are facing significant headwinds, smaller, community-focused events are finding a way to survive and thrive.
We know by now that the cost of running a festival has become exorbitant. Insurance premiums have seen eye-watering increases, sometimes exceeding 1,300% since 2019. And the role of Live Nation and its significant grip on the Australian music industry across ticketing, promotion, festival ownership, and venue management has also been well ventilated.
But this article also points to changing audience behaviour as another key factor in the struggles of major festivals like Splendour in the Grass and the Falls Festival. Younger audiences are purchasing tickets much later, making it difficult for large festivals, which need to pre-sell around 70% of tickets, to avoid cancellation. The piece suggests this is partly due to a generational shift, with older demographics moving on and younger fans gravitating towards smaller, niche festivals with stronger community ties.
While we’re on music, a recent initiative catching our attention is the launch of ‘Vote Music 2025’, a national campaign spearheaded by nineteen key Australian music organisations. Again, something to think about over your democracy sausage.
Speaking of which, you may have heard various film industry voices arguing afresh for content quotas for the streamers during this election campaign, but it’s not just an Australian conversation. In the UK, the government’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee has released an urgent call for government intervention to bolster the British film and high-end television industry. Their report suggests that the success of big-budget, often overseas-financed productions risks overshadowing and undermining the production of local content.
The committee argue that without swift action, the challenges currently facing independent film—struggles with development and financing, and limited audience reach—will extend to the high-end TV sector. This is being driven by intense competition from high-budget international productions, evolving streamer business models, and squeezed commissioning budgets at public service broadcasters. Evidence presented to the inquiry suggests that even recent successful British shows might struggle to get made today due to these funding constraints.
To address these issues, the Committee puts forward several key recommendations:
- Enhanced tax incentives for domestic high-end TV.
- A 5% levy on the UK subscriber revenue of major streamers
- A tax credit to support the distribution of lower-budget films
- The introduction of a core funding model for culturally significant independent cinemas
- Measures to bolster skills and worker rights, including reinforcing the recommendation for a Freelancers’ Commissioner, and (as discussed last month)
- Requiring licensing of creative works for training AI models
If the quotas argument doesn’t get over the line (and it didn’t under the Labor government’s first term), perhaps it’s time to start thinking of other initiatives which might?
Until next month – heart-stoppingly late or otherwise.