Oz Soundz Unleashed
EP12 - Off the Record: Held Together By Duct Tape and Door Sales
Australia's live music venues are disappearing — and the ones that survive are held up by exactly what the title says. This episode of Oz Soundz Unleashed goes inside the real numbers behind the crisis: why insurance premiums have spiked as much as 500% for small venues, why the traditional "artists take the door, venues live on the bar" model has quietly broken down, and what's actually being proposed to fix it. Then we turn the mirror on artists themselves. Being a great musician isn't enough anymore — labels are now signing on engagement rate and platform fluency as much as on music. We dig into what that's costing artists, including the uncomfortable data on burnout, and ask whether "artist as influencer" is opportunity or exploitation dressed up as opportunity. Plus, our Featured International Artist segment heads to Zürich, Switzerland for Broken Fate — a modern thrash metal band nearly two decades deep into their career, off the back of their 2025 album Horizon. Their story, their sound, and what independent Swiss metal has in common with independent Australian music. Venues. Influence. Survival. This is Off the Record.
