Ausify, the national campaign to lift Australian music’s visibility at home, launched its second year on Monday, November 2, against a worsening backdrop: local music now accounts for just 8.5% of all audio streamed in Australia. That figure comes from APRA AMCOS’s Year in Review, released in October, which recorded a 37.5% decline in local content’s streaming share over five years, down from 13.6% in FY21. The rights body’s CEO, Dean Ormston, has warned the share could fall to about 5% within five years without intervention. On user-generated content platforms, Australian music’s share is lower still, at 3.6%.
A separate analysis published by the Australia Institute last year, using IFPI data, found Australian artists’ share of the 10,000 most-streamed acts in Australia fell from 12% to 8% between 2021 and 2024, while the number of Australian acts on that list dropped from 932 to 773.
The campaign frames the problem as discovery rather than demand. A nationally representative survey of 1,018 Australians, conducted by Pureprofile for Music Australia in October, found 84% say a defining life moment brings an Australian song to mind, and two-thirds could name the song. But only 27% say they have streamed an Australian artist in the past 12 months.
The campaign said in its launch material that positive attitudes toward local music are “not translating into listening, sharing, attendance and advocacy,” pointing to availability, discoverability and default listener behaviours “often influenced by streaming algorithms.” This year’s pitch is visibility: Ausify is calling for “Public Displays of Ausify,” from social posts and tour merch to singing along in public.
The month-long run launched with seven Australian artists performing a karaoke version of “Love Is in the Air.” Backing artists include Ben Lee, Fanny Lumsden, Astrid Jorgensen, Missy Higgins, Budjerah, Ruel and others. Lee, an ambassador for the campaign, said: “This year it’s about being loud and proud about the music we listen to and love.”
Ausify is run by Music Australia, the contemporary music body within Creative Australia. The campaign runs alongside APRA AMCOS’s policy push, which includes advocating for a federal live music tax incentive and minimum Australian music requirements across platforms. APRA’s international revenue topped $100 million for the first time in FY26, with total group international revenue reaching $107.3 million.
Source: Billboard
