MusicNSW is the peak body for contemporary music in New South Wales - a repository of industry knowledge and standard-bearer for the grassroots, with the wellbeing of artists at the centre of all that we do.
As a non-government, not-for-profit organisation, we have proudly delivered impact for NSW artists and industry since 1998.
MusicNSW believes that music and music-making exists as an essential expression of our humanity.
We work to develop and strengthen the critical skills, knowledge, imagination, and industry infrastructure needed to see NSW music communities truly thrive.
Our work enables artists, audiences and industry to collaborate in building their own sustainable creative pathways and aims to ensure that:
- First Nations voices are celebrated and embedded within the mainstream music industry.
- NSW communities galvanise around local music-makers, creating self-sustaining ecosystems that prioritise artist wellbeing, encourage broad participation, and strengthen social cohesion.
- NSW artists are celebrated as emblematic storytellers of local culture and place.
- The NSW music industry develops as a sustainable network of businesses that enables innovation, fosters collaboration, and drives economic growth.
MUSIC IN NSW
NSW as the nexus of the Australian contemporary music industry - home to 50% of record labels nationally, including the three major labels, 48% of Australia’s music publishers, over 140 music festivals, almost 800 music venues and nearly 29,000 registered songwriters with APRA AMCOS and 30% of all artists registered with PPCA. The NSW live music industry alone generates an economic output of $5.5 billion and employs over 14,000 workers.
Beyond these impressive statistics, lies an ecosystem sustained by real people, real jobs and, most critically, real artists.
OUR TEAM
Our team members are all practising artists and industry professionals ourselves, who bring our collective lived experience to this work.
MusicNSW pays respect to Elders past and present and extend those respects to the First Nations peoples of NSW and beyond. Always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
MusicNSW is supported by Sound NSW and Create NSW.
We, along with Music Victoria, WAM, QMusic, Music NT, Music Tasmania, Music SA and Music ACT, are the Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN), a national platform to represent the contemporary music industry in Australia.
Photo credit: Little Bands performing at Howl & Moan Records as part of the 2025 Regional & Remote Music Summit in Byron Bay, by Emily Cherie Read.