Venue Upgrade Grants - Program 2 - 24/25

Grants are available for dedicated live music venues to support venue upgrades that enhance audience and visitor experience. Funding will support the purchase of equipment and a range of infrastructure development works.

This funding aims to:

• Build capability of dedicated live music venues to deliver world class audience and visitor experiences
• Increase the number of fit-for-purpose live music venues in NSW
• Increase sector knowledge and expertise in best practice sound management and sustainable live music programming
• Reduce sound impact on neighbours, leading to less complaints and increased business viability
• Increase diversity of live music offerings

Who can apply

Dedicated live music venues:

• based in NSW
• that are licensed or unlicenced
• where live music is the primary function of the business
• programming live music that is predominantly new and original
• where live music is programmed for 3 nights a week at a minimum
• identified as essential to the live music ecosystem (touring or local)
• where original live music programming is prominent in the business marketing
• where a room or space is dedicated to live music and is a significant part (eg. more than 50%) of the venue and contains appropriate infrastructure to support regular performances, for example, a separate auditorium, lighting, a sound desk, etc
• has formal arrangements in place establishing payments for artist performances

Applicants must satisfy ONE of the following criteria:

• be an incorporated entity or trust (including a trust with a corporate or individual trustee) and hold an Australian Business Number (ABN), Australian Company Number (ACN), or 
• be registered with NSW Fair Trading under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009 or the Co-operatives National Law (NSW) set out in the appendix to the Co-operatives (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012

Applicants must also:

• hold a lease or occupancy agreement with at least 2 years from the application close date remaining of the current term (where the premises aren’t owned by the operator).
• hold a OneMusic licence
• provide relevant venue assessment reports (for infrastructure funding)