MusicSA chair on 'post-apocalypse' industry ahead of Good Music Month

Australian music is in the midst of a paradox.

Original acts are pumping out excellent music with an edginess fitting of a troubled era, yet local offerings account for only 8.5 per cent of what is being streamed in the country.

APRA-AMCOS reported this month that 91 per cent of the music Australians streamed in the 2025-26 financial year was imported, with Australian music down 37.5 per cent in five years.

It has previously blamed the situation on global algorithms preferencing music from countries such as the US.

This is despite an original music scene bursting at the seams with excellent rock, indie, blues and psychedelic acts in a revival that's been underway for most of the decade in pockets across Australia.

South Australia is riding the same wave.

At small venues such as The Hotel Metropolitan, Jive, Ancient World and Memphis Slim's House of Blues, as well as at mini-festivals at locations like the Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide Uni Bar, young people are regularly packing rooms to see local acts they know well enough to sing along to.

A difference from golden ages like the 1990s, however, is that this scene is mostly being ignored by larger media outlets.

One needs to tune into stations like 3D Radio in Adelaide, Triple R in Melbourne or RTRFM in Perth to get a real finger on the pulse, pick up a street magazine for a gig guide, then get out the house to hear it in person.

In fact, the APRA-AMCOS 25-26 Year in Review pointed out, in a major study with Monash University, that 1.6 million Australians discovered local acts via community radio, and 1.5 million then looked them up on a streaming platform.

It's into this arena that Adelaide songwriter and lawyer Adrian Tisato has entered as the new chairperson of MusicSA, the not-for-profit organisation charged with promoting, supporting and developing the state's contemporary music sector.

"We are in the post-apocalypse,"

he said.

"Whether the apocalypse was Napster, or the post-Napster rollout of the delivery of music to consumers through digital streaming, whether it was COVID-19 or the combination of these events, it's the metaphorical apocalypse.

"But the truth is, we're still here, making music."

An 'electric buzz'

Mr Tisato has replaced John Glenn, who retired as MusicSA chair after nearly six years.

He believed Adelaide was in the midst of a "very important time as a music city" — one with an "electric buzz" that was attracting young and older music lovers to intimate live venues.

"The quality of music that's happening in small venues on the streets of Adelaide, in our regions and in mini-festivals, is outstanding, on a global level," Mr Tisato said.

Much of it will be on show during Good Music Month, an open access program featuring local, national and international acts that kicks off with a street party at Hyde Street on Friday night, and runs at venues in Adelaide and across the state until November 30.

Wednesday to Friday will also see the national Regional and Remove Music Summit take place in Mount Gambier, a conference hosted by MusicSA that takes a "deep dive" into the state of music in Australia.

The not-for-profit organisation will also present the annual SA Music Awards on November 10 to "celebrate those South Australian artists who are excelling".

"The calibre of the finalists for each of our awards is extraordinary," Mr Tisato said.

A background in music

The son of Italian migrants, Mr Tisato grew up a Roman Catholic in Woodville and said his home was the meeting place for neighbours, friends and extended family, who would gather around after dinner and play Italian card games.

"They would sing Italian folk songs that had been handed down in the oral tradition, funny little melodic tunes that were sweet and poignant, sometimes containing ribald innuendo or telling tragic tales," he said.

"They'd be sitting there singing in two, three or four-part harmonies while we, as kids, would run around the house absorbing this music into our minds and bodies.

"Once I started to learn the guitar as a 15-year-old, I got involved in the church music group as a singer and guitarist."

Mr Tisato soon began songwriting and ultimately formed a trio with members from the church group. The band started playing parties and then performed in pubs and Adelaide venues.

Named Lookout Joe, the band was one  of many enjoying Adelaide's vibrant live music scene throughout the 1990s.

Like the 1970s and 1980s, it was an era, Mr Tisato said, when people didn't question whether they were going out to see live music or not.

"They were going to see a band. It was just a question of which venue or venues they were going to,"

he said.

Mr Tisato also founded and ran an indie record label in the 2000s, and songs he has co-written in the last decade have been licensed to US and Australian television series.

Like most Adelaide artists, however, it was necessary to pursue a day job for financial security and Mr Tisato has been a commercial lawyer for more than 30 years.

A former Adelaide Fringe deputy chairperson and People's Republic of Animation chairperson, he has been actively involved in arts governance and is the current Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation chairperson and a gallery board member.

He has also served on the boards of the South Australian Film Corporation and the Motor Accident Commission.

'Quality trumps all'

Mr Tisato wants to see Adelaide continue to present itself to the world as a "global city of art and culture" and says he will bring his passion for music, business, governance and legal skills to the role.

With so much to on offer from homegrown artists, Mr Tisato urged commentators not to get stuck on whether or not the city attracted every big act that came to Australia.

"Over the years there's been an insecurity in Adelaide about the fact that certain artists don't come to Adelaide," he said.

"We need to let go of that. I actually think it's much more important to ask ourselves whether our own artists in intimate venues are great and thriving.

"Go see them perform live. They're brilliant."

Mr Tisato points out that despite the challenges in a post-digital disruption age, "quality trumps all".

"For musicians, for songwriters, however difficult it may be to make a living from this, the opportunity remains to find a way," he said.

"It starts with being great at what you do and writing extraordinary songs and performing them to audiences, and I still believe that for those who are doing that, the future is bright."