NEWS DESK
Minor discord finale to musical bus tour
Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au
MORNINGTON Peninsula Regional Gallery echoed to the sounds of the second Victorian Music Crawl last week. It was all part of a contemporary music bus tour, Thursday to Saturday, hosted by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and the Musicians Network. Maxon and Nola Lauch performed at the gallery show before musicians, managers, booking agents and industry representatives. The artists of all genders, ages and genres, performed rock, jazz and blues at live venues, including pubs, a church, festival site, mechanics hall, winery, café, radio station, art gallery, brewery, nightclub and a Mexican restaurant on the peninsula, Bass Coast and in south Gippsland. Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan said the aim was to “build connections between Melbourne-based music industry figures and bands, venues, bookers, events, promoters, media and more based in regional Victoria”. But it was not all sweetness and light. Soundbar music venue director Erin Moore later took a swipe at the shire’s arts and culture advisory panel chair Cr Antonella Celi for being ignored in the credits. In an email sent afterwards to arts and culture development officer Donna Morabito, Ms Moore made her displeasure clear: “Thanks for the invite yesterday, nice to be finally acknowledged by the local council as being part of the live music scene.
“Well sort of. A little bit disappointed that we weren’t mentioned as a venue in any speeches [read: Cr Celi’s speech], although a long list was reeled off … Even the Rosebud Sound Shell was mentioned; not sure when the council last put on a gig there.” Ms Moore pointedly listed her Capel Sound venue’s credentials as a live music site – “every weekend, predominately local acts, for four years now”. She said the venue pumped about $60,000 a year into the peninsula’s music scene “as we prefer to keep music free” in “one of the better live music venues in terms of acoustics, treatment, atmosphere and customers”. Other free events include an open stage night on Tuesdays with prizes and free salsa classes on Thursdays. “We have tried to be active and engaged with the council,” Ms Moore said. “We went to the first MP Music Networking meeting where we were told, in front of everyone: ‘Venues aren’t welcome’, which is a real shame, as who do you think tirelessly supports the artists? “We’ve had absolutely no support from the council – in fact it’s the opposite, as we’ve even been called a nuisance.” Cr Celi said she took no offence. “It was great to have the music industry operators there,” she later told The News. “The shire plays a facilitator’s role and, if we can facilitate a connection, that’s good. “I welcome her email because it shows she’s connecting.”
To the beat: Nora Lauch and Peter Lawson, left, at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery; Maxon, top left; and, top, Patrick Donovan from Music Victoria, Kirst Rivers from Creative Victoria, Tracee Hutchison from Music Victoria and 3RPP, Nick Cooper from Music Victoria, Crs Antonella Celi, Frank Martin and the mayor Bev Colomb. Pictures: Yanni
WHAT’S NEW...
com.au Property listings with a View VIEW.COM.AU, one of Australia’s largest online property portals, has established a new marketing and sales partnership with a group of independent regional and community publishers across Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. The partnership is a cross-promotional, commercial arrangement allowing view.com.au to increase exposure across important, regional community mastheads and provides the publishers with a strengthened digital offering and a platform to amplify digital advertising inventory to local real estate agents. Readers will see digital and physical representation of the relationship across all of the groups newspapers and other media assets including key publications in Star News Group, North East Media and Mornington Peninsula News Group. There will also be an editorial partnership that will allow view.com.au to provide up-todate property insights and commentary that are invaluable to regional property investors.
PAGE 8
Mornington News 29 August 2017
Mornington Peninsula News Group’s publisher, Cameron McCullough, said he is excited about the partnership. “Our portfolio of weekly newspapers, and their respective high-performing websites, are a vital part of the lives of consumers living in the peninsula and bayside areas. “This partnership with view.com.au allows us to innovate, adapt and stay more relevant to the community. “view.com.au is a powerful marketing platform for real estate agents but also empowers consumers with a database allowing them to access the estimated value of over ten million homes in Australia instantly.” view.com.au CEO Enzo Raimondo agrees the partnership is exciting and will be very beneficial “we have a very strong, loyal network of regional real estate agents, this partnership with the regional and community publishers allows us to strengthen our regional exposure even further, and drive more traffic to view.com.au”