PO Box 73 Tamworth 2340
Tel 02 6766 1374 Fax 02 6766 9918
issues |
Some Issues Relating to the Future of the Tamworth Country Music Festival
This brief analysis of some important Festival issues and possible solutions has been prepared for the Stakeholders Group by Max Ellis, one of the Festival Founders, who has had a continuous, hands-on involvement with the event since its inception. Any comments or questions should be sent to him at maxellis@virginbroadband.com.au
Over the past 18 months, the Stakeholders Group has had many long and detailed discussions with Tamworth Regional Council and Tourism Tamworth about the future of our Country Music Festival. As hands-on participants with a long-term commitment to the event, we have questioned many of the attitudes and ideas for the future suggested by these bodies and their various consultants.
Recently there has been a changing of the guard at Council and the Stakeholders have at last been given an opportunity be a part of the Festival planning process. We welcome this new spirit of co-operation. In keeping with this openness, we believe it is valuable to provide a clear and concise view of some of the major Festival issues as we see them together with some possible solutions.
• The Festival is not broken so it does not need fixing. It may need support and guidance but this year proved that despite negative publicity before the event and the floods during it, the existing Festival formula can still draw considerable crowds of fans. The Festival needs Council and stakeholders to work together. We can try to involve more entrepreneurs by creating an infrastructure and environment which encourages rather than competes against local and outside business people who want to invest their skill and resources in maintaining and developing this great event. Of course there are problems and hopefully the Festival Committee will be useful in addressing these.
• The proposition that the Festival needs to broaden its appeal is fallacious. More than 80 percent of our visitors are over 35. Our Festival market is mature and family oriented and so is country music's. It's a self-renewing market as people grow older kids grow into country music. Most young people would rather be at Byron Bay or Big day Out than Tamworth and that's fine. If we broaden our Festival deliberately, we risk changing perceptions and alienating our mature core fans. We are not advocating some "hillbilly heaven", just support for mainstream country music. We should not be pandering to the mirage of hordes of young people. The Festival was founded to satisfy a large group of country music fans who came to our city because we provided them with what they wanted. That is real Australian Country Music. Their loyalty has been and continues to be, our foundation. We undermine it at our peril.
• Council must not mis-use its management of community "assets" like TRECC, Peel Street, The Ovals, Capitol Theatre and the Town Hall by using this stewardship to compete with entrepreneurs who want to establish Festival events. Unless Council is prepared to risk losing a lot of money (as has happened with its ill fated TRECC takeover), then it should focus on providing infrastructure and not take on the role of an entrepreneur. Commercial sponsorship is the lifeblood of the Festival. By giving sponsors of Council "assets" (i.e. community owned facilities) precedence over sponsors of country music entrepreneurs, we are cutting out the commercial heart of the whole Festival. If pubs, clubs, companies and organisations can't generate sufficient sponsorship because of Council or TT interference, then they will simply pull out of country music. The amount Council spends to generate $50 million is tiny and like all community infrastructure (e.g. TRECC, AELEC, sporting ovals, Town Hall and other non-profit making "assets") is a vital generator of community wealth.
• A lack of publicity and advertising throughout regional and urban Australia is a major cause of falling attendances. Some claim our Festival needs ever growing budgets instead of utilising our incredible access to media resources in a more clever way. For much of the life of the Festival, the CMAA, and 2TM before it, utilised massive good will to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars of free publicity annually from media partners and supporters in Tamworth. These newspaper, TV and radio groups all have networks and in the past have been more than willing to support a community project like the Awards and Festival. Over recent years much of this goodwill and tangible support has been squandered and an incredibly valuable community resource was lost. In addition, by dumping RPE from TRECC, Council forfeited tens of thousands of dollars of advertising for Tamworth and the Country Theatre. Tamworth needs to be cleverer in its Festival promotion rather than look to a bottomless pit of funds. Local experts are happy to explain how this can be done.
• The Branding for the Festival belongs to us all and must be available to all Festival participants to use with out restriction. Names and brands which are now famous around Australia and the world must be nurtured and revitalised. The Golden Guitar and Country Music Capital are the key brands we must utilise and develop. Council merchandising brands or individual logos e.g. Star Maker, West Leagues etc, can be exclusive but must not cut across these generic brands, which have identified the Awards and Festival for 40 years. Country Music Capital was adopted by 2TM in 1969 and the Golden Guitar in 1973. These brands should be used wherever possible to promote our city. They are at the heart of the Festival and should be in the public domain for the benefit of all in Tamworth.
• We need a stable Festival date which reflects the reality that people plan years ahead for an event like this and any change is extremely damaging. This has been proven clearly by the drop in attendance which followed the disastrous date changes in 2005. We are yet to recover from this. If a few days of school holidays are really a problem, let's overcome it by negotiating with the Dept of Education. Let's lock this event in concrete (i.e. the last full week in January and including Australia Day).
• Accommodation costs are a huge problem and extremely difficult to control as they are caused by relentless market demand and operators who often have no long-term commitment to Tamworth. Obviously it is important to let accommodation people understand the implications of these unreasonable (from where we stand!) prices. However the only long term solution is to provide more and better alternative accommodation. Gympie, with an attendance of more than 25,000, has no permanent accommodation. Previously we have used trains and maybe there are possibilities for other temporary dwellings. Home hosting could be promoted more. The fact that people pay these prices and still come says something about the basic strength of the Festival but we must try and keep it affordable at some level. Artist accommodation particularly and the cost of visitor food are also important issues that should be addressed.
• We do not need major American stars to "save" the Festival. Tamworth Festival was founded on local Australian acts. In the early years we knocked back US stars like Cash and Pride who wanted to perform at the Festival. We supported Australian artists and bands and earned the industry's loyalty which has stood us in credit ever since. The Awards should be the climax to the Festival. We should be headlining Australian country acts not Americans who are not exclusive to Tamworth and perform all over the nation. Overseas acts are fine but NOT as headliners. That perception damages Tamworth with the fans. Support Australian artists and they will support us and so will the fans.
• Policing the Festival has become a contentious issue with some publicans saying the aggressive nature of police action is turning off many younger people. Recent reports also indicate that private security has become more aggressive during the Festival. These are serious issues because again it is about perception rather than fact. Once the perception of aggressive policing and security takes root, it is very hard to displace it. Investigation and discussion are imperative.
• We don't need outside consultants, few of who know anything about the Festival that WE locals built over 40 years, telling us how to change it. Some of these consultants suffer from a cultural cringe about Australian country music so they are biased before they set foot in town. Tamworth has some of Australia's most experienced most expert and most proven people in event creation, management, marketing and promotion and they have been ignored completely in preference to these outside consultants. How much has been spent on consultants over the past two years? Why can't a fraction of this money be utilised with local event experts who can contribute passion, experience and expertise.
• We need to involve more business people to engage with the Festival. We want to maintain and develop an infrastructure and an environment which encourages local and outside entrepreneurs of all kinds who want to invest their skill and resources in maintaining and developing this great event for the ultimate benefit of our city.
• Incremental or gradual evolution is the way our Festival should develop rather than any attempt to change it overnight. Innovations like free buses and low cost artist accommodation should be evaluated and discussed with users and stakeholders before being implemented. Can Council develop a means of fast tracking Festival solutions or assisting one-off Festival activities? Can Council for example find a way to lessen the recently imposed burden on participants who want to erect awning signage during the event? Even better, could we inspire Council to forget about "corporatisation" of the Festival for their individual financial benefit and get back to the days when they pulled out every stop to assist and encourage independent entrepreneurs and their sponsors for the benefit of all.
After all, our city and the Australian Country Music Industry owes Tamworth Council and its staff, their lasting gratitude for the incredible infrastructure it has provided so generously for the Festival over the past 40 years. Without it the Festival could not exist. If we all ask how we can do better, rather than why we can't do something, then we will power ahead.
Max Ellis
Tamworth Country Music Festival Stakeholders Group
March 2011
Previous "issues" documents