"Imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which do nothing whatever to increase consumption."
- Brave New World

Melbourne's music scene is arguably the most prolific in the country. They also have one of the most liberal live music liqour licenses in the country. Even a subterranean mongoose could figure out the two go hand in hand.
Sydney, however, is a town obsessed with profit and material consumption. Citizens have been conditioned to believe that spending is better than mending, that ceramic floors are better than carpet, and angles are better than architraves. Unfortunately live music has also become a casualty of this cultural suicide, a mere distraction from 'progress' & profit-making activity.
But here's hoping that proposed changes to the NSW live music laws will shift the focus away from poker machines and back to the stage. The changes would make licenses much cheaper and much more accessible to smaller venues.
In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald last week, the NSW president of Australian Hotels Associaton, John Thorpe, was quoted as saying "the effect [the changes] would have on our industry would be substantial. It would hurt". It's bureaucratic twits like this that are contaminating Sydney with a cancerous, profiteering attitude. They don't give a shit about culture or live music.
So it's a relief that people like Richard Ruhle of Music Union NSW and John Wardle are taking steps to recover Sydney's shrivelled soul. With any luck, the growth in jazz and lounge bars will get alot more feet tapping and a much needed kick in the arse for Sydney's live music scene and cultural landscape.

Take 30 seconds to go and sign the petition setup to fight the cause, click here.

Also visit John Wardle's blog for updates on the issue.

SMH article - other articles: 1 2 3 4 - comments by John Wardle on SClub