When Damien Johnson wakes up in the morning, he has a set routine.
He will have a coffee, and then practice guitar for 45 minutes.
He'll then get dressed and go to work at his day job as an aged care worker.
When he comes home in the evening, he'll practice drums and guitar again for another hour each.
"Then I'll do some songwriting, and maybe do some music admin stuff — planning for gigs and the like," he said.
"And then I'll go to bed.
"That's day in, day out."
A balancing act
Johnson is an Australian musician living in Ipswich in Queensland, and his experience is commonplace for the local music industry.
While he's attracted loyal fans and played at some of the state's most iconic venues, Johnson estimates he's spent upwards of $30,000 on honing his craft.
He believes he's made about $5,000 back.
"In some ways, I'm working two full-time jobs; one of them subsidises the other," he said.
Johnson made a submission to the federal parliament's inquiry into Australia's live music scene earlier this year.
Minister of the Arts Tony Burke has tasked the committee with "inquiring into and report on the challenges and opportunities within the Australian live music industry", and it has attracted more than 100 submissions to date.
Johnson — stage name DAMIEN — has joined the likes of Western Australia's 'the Hairy Bassist' Leon Pratt and Olivia Hally from the Melbourne outfit oh pep! to offer their solutions to problems currently plaguing the Australian music industry.
The government inquiry has focused strongly on the barriers faced by musicians and live music patrons in recent years, including financial challenges associated with the rising cost of living and music consumption transitioning online.
These are some solutions put forward by those at the coalface of the industry.
$250 for every gig
When Leon Pratt was 11-years-old, his parents spent £400 on a bass for him.
He's since been in the music industry going on 40 years, and still plays his gigs on the same instrument he was given decades ago.
For Pratt, having that start-up instrument was the beginning of it all.
"Imagine trying to find a solid wood, double-bass with ebony fingerboards for $800 nowadays," he said.
"You just couldn't — and that's why young people need to get paid for the gigs they do."
Pratt advocates for a minimum performance fee for artists, who according to the inquiry are often paid in 'exposure' or by a cut of venue profits.
"We always talk about doing the hard yards and the tough gigs — they're not even going to be able to do that if they're being given money that wouldn't barely pay for a dinner out," he said.
"People starting out need to get $250 a gig."
It's a sentiment echoed by musician and academic Olivia Hally, who recently wrote in her submission about the potential for a base income pilot for Australian artists.
"Accessing and sustaining a career in music is unviable for the majority of Australian musicians," she said.
Ms Hally advocated for a basic income for the arts pilot in Australia, a model that is currently used in Ireland to help support local music.
"Two thousand artists are paid an unconditional basic income of €325 ($540) a week for three years," she said in her submission.
The pilot has been described as having a "low barrier of entry", and Ms Hally said it was this aspect that set it apart from other government grant schemes.
"Providing artists in the live sector with a basic income would mean that there is a larger diversity of voices including artists who are parents, those living with chronic health conditions, mid-career and late-career artists, artists of different abilities and varied economic, educational and cultural backgrounds, and young people who otherwise would not have the opportunity."
McDonald's versus the local burger shop
Johnson said he had reservations about enforcing a flat rate for gigs, but said there were ways for the governments to help finance Australian music.
"We need to find ways to remind people that spending money on Australian music is worthwhile," he said.
"It's McDonald's versus the mum-and-dad burger shop right now ... in that one thing America is good at is marketing.
"In some ways, we've been culturally colonised by America ... and those artists have the collateral and resources to keep marketing on a much bigger level.
"Technically, I'm peddling the same product as Taylor Swift but I don't have the collateral behind me to be able to compete with what she's able to do to market herself."
Johnson said Australian government funding needed to be directed at normalising Australian music in shopping centres, in advertising and on local radio.
"We need average people in Australia to hear the names and music of local artists over and over again, to get familiar with them," he said.
"It comes back to brand familiarity."
Submissions to the inquiry from Laneway Festival also highlight the need for the stronger promotion of Australian artists, and recommended the creation of a new music channel.
"[The inquiry] should consider turning ABC 'Rage' into a free-to-air 24-hour music channel on the spectrum," the submission said.
"Regulators should consider creating Australian and local content quotas on algorithmic streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
"The local industry won’t survive if the next generation of listeners are cultivated via [artificial intelligence] out of the USA, Sweden or China.
"triple j also has no chance of survival if it faces restrictions that its competitors don’t."
Michael's Rule
Michael McMartin OAM was renowned for his long tenure as the manager for Australian band Hoodoo Gurus, and his work as a founding member of the Music Managers' Forum of Australia.
He was a strong advocate for Australian music, and when he was presented with a legacy award by the Association of Artist Managers (AAM) in 2023, he spoke about his history in the industry in his speech:
"We reached a [voluntary] agreement ... that every artist that came out from overseas had to have an Australian support appearing on the same stage as them with adequate production, and they had to be nominated and appear on all of the advertising from the time the tickets went on sale," he said.
McMartin died aged 79 in March, and the association said it would honour his memory by advocating for the future of 'Michael's Rule'.
The rule is a voluntary agreement between promoters and Australian artists to use local talent as opening acts for international artists, and ensure they are given top billing and the same resources as the main performer.
University of Melbourne's Dr Guy Morrow said ingraining Australian talent in shows and promotion from international artists could be powerful.
"Talent finds talent, and having Australian artists open for international shows could help Australians connect with international musicians," he said.
"If this happens, then doors open because the international artists’ representatives become interested."
Dr Morrow, who is experienced in arts and cultural management, said some promoters had already adopted Michael's Rule voluntarily, although AAM had already flagged possibly taking the rule further.
"The AAM note that if there isn’t sufficient take up of the rule by live music promoters then they will make formal representations to government to use the visa system to realise the goal of having Australian artists open for international ones instead," he said.
Chasing the feeling
Johnson said the federal government inquiry was in the interests of not just working musicians, but those looking to get a start in the industry.
"When I'm performing live and on stage, I just feel elevated — I don't feel like an individual anymore," he said.
"I feel like I'm somebody that's a part of something bigger than me.
"That's significant and important."
