A very, very old draft.
Messandnoise & Crikey on Melba Records, and Crikey on performing arts audience stagnating.
Lots of people wondering why classical music gets government funding while pop/rock doesn't.
I don't think popular music should be funded. It just doesn't need to be. There are middle-class kiddies all over the place who are able to save up enough money to record their own material and release it. When pop music does get money (like through various awards), it goes to artists who don't really need it because they're already popular. I assume the same would/does happen with government funding.
A huge issue would be who is going to decide who gets a grant. One could argue that Triple J already serves as a government funded leg-up for pop acts, through their Unearthed program. The hit rate for that is dismal, with most winners not even making it far enough to have a Wikipedia article.
Funding classical is a bit like spending money on preserving artefacts in museums or saving endangered animals. That crap is going to disintegrate from exposure to oxygen/die out because it refuses to have sex. But we still make an effort, right? Right?
Dole re mi
