Pop superstars like Taylor Swift may soon be forced to use Australian talent as support acts when touring Australia.
A music industry lobby group has suggested visa restrictions and a quota system as ways to ensure Australian talent gets a spot on international tours.
If a superstar like Swift, who earned $100 million playing four shows in Sydney on her recent Eras tour, refused to comply, she would be denied entry under the proposed regulation.
The practice of international acts using groups and soloists from Down Under while playing large stadiums and concerts in Australia was the “done thing” for decades.
But it was not regulated in any way and last year’s international acts, including Taylor Swift and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have used non-Australian artists on their tours.
Pop superstars like Taylor Swift (pictured) may soon be forced to use Australian talent as support acts when touring Australia. A music industry lobby group has suggested visa restrictions and a quota system as ways to ensure Australian talent gets a spot on international tours.
Pearl Jam, Blink 182 and SZA also chose to ignore local talent and toured with international acts when they played Down Under recently.
Swift used American performer Sabrina Carpenter on her Eras Tour, while in 2013 she featured Guy Sebastian as an opening act, while Vance Joy landed a gig with her in 2015.
According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald On Wednesday, the Artist Directors Association is pushing hard for regulation of international acting.
Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke told the SMH that the government wanted to add restrictions to international acts, adding: “It shouldn’t be too much to ask for an Australian support law.”
International artists in the last year, including Taylor Swift and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have used non-Australian artists on their tours. Guy Sebastian supported Taylor Swift in 2013 (pictured in Sydney in 2023)
The proposed new regulation would mean massive exposure for local artists in a live music sector that is currently struggling. Pictured: American singer Sabrina Carpenter supported Swift on the Australian leg of her Era Her tour.
The proposed new regulation would mean massive exposure for local artists in a live music sector that is currently struggling.
New figures released by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance report that musicians earned an average of a paltry $6,000 or less in 2023.
It comes after the Australian leg of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour ended with the star raking in a huge sum of cash for both herself and the New South Wales economy.
The pop sensation, 34, reportedly earned $25 million per show in Sydney, meaning she took home $100 million after four concerts at Accor Stadium.
Swift also injected a whopping $145 into the New South Wales economy, as thousands of local and interstate fans flocked to the city for the unmissable event of the year.
The pop sensation, 34, reportedly earned $25 million per show in Sydney, meaning she took home $100 million after four concerts at Accor Stadium. (pictured in France this week)
Meanwhile, tax lawyer Harry Dell revealed that Swift had reportedly paid a 30 per cent tax to the Australian Tax Office on her concert earnings.
This means that the Australian government collected around $10 million in taxes from Swift at her four shows in Sydney.
In Victoria, Swift pumped a whopping $174 million into the state economy after her three shows in Melbourne.
Thousands of fans spent a combined $86 million across the accommodation, hospitality and tourism sector, with CBD spending up 30% compared to the previous month.
It comes as Swift wrapped up her Sydney concert series earlier this year.
She sent the crowd off with some very warm words, leaving the audience clapping with joy.
‘Looking at this crowd, the biggest crowd we’ve had in our four shows here!’ he told his fans.
More than 600,000 people attended the Australian leg of his Eras Tour.