The official home of Australian Independent Music, a place for music industry professionals alike, featuring the cream of the crop of Australia’s diverse and thriving independent music sector.

Why does Music Matter?

AIR is an organisation that looks after the business interests of hundreds of independent record labels and tens of thousands of independent recording musicians in Australia.

Our members are the risk takers of the music industry. They’re the ones who think that releasing a minimalist 12 minute punk rock single on vinyl with a dance remix on the B-Side is a good idea. They’re the one’s that will find a way to release Black Metal from Tasmania, Drum & Bass from Perth, Indigenous Australian reggae from Tennant Creek, sugar sweet chamber pop from Sydney and post-hardcore from Brisbane to audiences that for some unfathomable reason adore it. We don’t hear them on commercial radio but they are at the heart of our musical niches and sub-cultures, but they are the boundary pushers and shape-shifters of Australia’s musical culture.

It’s AIR’s job to protect and nurture the growth and development of that culture in Australia and that’s why we care about piracy.

I often find myself talking to  fans of music as they try and justify their P2P filesharing habits. They know that music piracy is a bad thing but the victims of the crime are faceless, it’s an activity that can be done in the safety of your own home and in this country it’s more socially acceptable than smoking a cigarette!

“Anyway, it’s just a bunch of four greedy multi-nationals that “missed the boat” when the internet was invented isn’t it? Isn’t it?”

Well no. Over the past 5 years Australia has lost some of its stalwart niche record labels, legendary independent record stores in every city and one of our biggest independent distributors. All were highly profitable businesses in recent memory and all champions of lesser-heard music.

Indie people still have mortgages, rent and bills to pay, kids to feed and business to run. If the financial investment in music stops being returned then we have to shut up shop. People lose jobs and lives are thrown into disarray. When labels and creators have to find other means of making a living, then creativity dries up.

We're not naive enough to think that P2P sharing isn't without it's advantages. It's an amazingly effective distribution method. It's a way that thousands more people are going to hear your music. If you choose to distribute this music then all power to you, but the key word here is "choice". When people steal music online then they're depriving that artist of choice and control of their music.

In the end, for us, piracy is simple. If you've stolen a song then you're not prepared to pay the value of half a cup of coffee for it. You've put your own selfish interests in front of those of the musicians and indie labels that have had a hand in creating it. What you've decided is that your needs are more important than those of others. You ARE stealing and you are contributing to the demise of the perfomers that you love.