Oz Writers Going Indie

The success of independent publishers and songwriters at the recent Australasian Performing Right Assn. Awards underscores the sector's strength Down Under.

Insiders suggest that the major music companies' preoccupation with mergers and other corporate matters has helped create a climate in which Australia's independents can prosper.

"With all this talk of mergers, some major publishers have become less active with A&R," says Ian James, managing director of Australia's largest indie publisher, Mushroom Music. "But indies don't have the luxury of standing in water. As soon as you stop, you're immediately going backward."

The independents' strength was obvious at the annual APRA Awards, held in late May (billboard.biz, May 24). Only two of the eight category winners were signed to major publishers.

James notes that the APRA Awards reflect the nature of the music at the forefront of the Australian scene, rather than widespread dissatisfaction with major publishers. But many observers acknowledge this year's awards as an endorsement of the independent approach.

Sources agree that indies account for about 20% of the publishing market in Australia.

SYNCH AND SWIM

With record sales falling, Australian indies have been tapping synchronization as an important income stream.

ABC Music Publishing estimates that up to 50% of its annual revenue comes from synchronization. Although it operates as an independent publisher, the company is a commercial arm of the Australian Broadcasting Corp. and has close links with the state broadcaster's TV division.

Mushroom estimates its annual synch revenue at $3 million Australian ($2.1 million). The company supplies material for widely exported Australian TV series like "Home & Away" and "The Secret Life of Us."

Sydney-based indie Origin Music has placed work from its writers in the United States on TV series "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Sex and the City" and in ads for Nissan cars, as well as in the next project from film director Jane Campion.

"We work as a one-stop," Origin managing director Philip Mortlock says, "providing recording and publishing clearances at the same time. It's easier for TV and film producers, and they keep coming back regularly."

Partly to keep costs down, Australian indie publishers tend to sign unknown writers they feel they can develop, rather than established names that are often more attractive to the majors.

That strategy paid off for Mushroom after A&R manager Linda Bosidis inked the Vines. The band's 2002 debut album, "Highly Evolved" (Capitol), shipped 1.5 million units worldwide, according to the label.

Mushroom has also enjoyed success with indie-rock band Something for Kate (signed as a recording act to Sony Music) and tongue-in-cheek electro/alternative troupe Machine Gun Fellatio (Festival Mushroom Records). Both are platinum acts in Australia.

ABC Music Publishing took its own gamble with local country singer/songwriters Sara Storer (signed to the ABC Country label) and Josh Arnold (recently signed to Universal-distributed Roots Music); both became established country chart acts Down Under. Storer's current album, "Beautiful Circle," shipped 50,000 units in Australia, her label says.

The publisher also has high hopes for electro-dance act Bumblebeez 81, on the ABC Contemporary label in Australia. The act recently signed to Geffen for the United States.

The indies say they are increasingly winning signatures of writers who, during more prosperous times, would have been attracted to major publishers offering large advances.

With record sales declining, the indies say, writers are also realizing the difficulty of recouping large advances through mechanical royalties.

"With the current state of play, many artists are taking control of their careers," James says. "And some of the indies are closer to their spirit [than the majors]."

Eloise Nolan, head of ABC Music Publishing, adds, "We're getting more artists contacting us, wanting to find out what services indies offer. Previously, they would have just looked at the size of their advance checks."