This past year has seen MusicNSW further embed our position as an enabler of grassroots music community regeneration and champion of music and musicmakers across the state of New South Wales.

We continue to show up in this work with boots on the ground, and our statewide team of development coordinators has delivered activities and support from the Northern Rivers to the South Coast and Riverina, Mid North Coast to the Far West and Outback NSW.

Our regional development this year crystalised in the form of a multi-day Regional & Remote Music Summit, which saw artists and industry workers from across the country come together to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing music workers outside the big cities. This culminated in the NSW Roundtable Report, which we will use as a roadmap for our ongoing program delivery and advocacy for regional and remote music development.

Growing on a report we released in late 2024, which called for greater support for First Nations owned and operated music businesses, we recently announced the launch of Wamarra Music Lab, a 5 day residential workshop intensive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned music business operators led by our First Nations Music Development Manager Kaleena Smith. We’re excited to roll this out in 2026.

And in Sydney, Western Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and across regional NSW, we continued to deliver a range of activities seeking to disrupt the status quo of a music industry in crisis and reorient artists towards the possibility of a life in music built on the interdependence of a strong and resilient independent NSW music ecosystem.

We understand that creative people are stronger together and I experience that first and foremost in our team - an inspiring group of artists and industry workers who bring their collective experience to this work with imagination and passion for our collective vision. Thank you Laura, CP, Kaleena, Helen, Ali, Adele, Sophie, Niño, Kayne, Sam, Cody, Joab and Fernando - you’re all brilliant. Additionally, the vision, support and expert guidance of our incredible board directors has seen our organisation evolve into the living and connected force for NSW music that it is today. Thank you Julian, Jane, Kristy, Vic, Mardi, Michael and Beau. An especial thank you to exiting board member Rhoda Roberts AO for her abundant wisdom and boundless generosity in support of our org these past few years.

Finally, to all of the artists making music across NSW - whether you are writing in your bedroom and playing your first house parties or dominating on the global stage, we are so proud to play our role in support of your continued growth - creatively, culturally, sustainably and in connection with one another. Enjoy the holiday period, we can’t wait to return in 2026.