Northern Rivers’ musicians receive boost from Connect mentoring project

Local musicians taking part in an Arts Northern Rivers mentoring program have reported more gig bookings and an increase in their average earnings per gig, according to a report by Southern Cross University.

The Connect mentoring program aimed to develop the capacity of musicians to grow sustainable creative businesses.

Seven musicians and groups were paired with experienced music industry mentors from the Northern Rivers, Sydney and Melbourne last year as part of the project.

The mentees were Sara Tindley, Andrea Soler, The Black Lullaby, Supafresh, Starboard Cannons, Jake Pember and Shiny Shiny.

Arts Northern Rivers partnered with Southern Cross University for Connect, with
Dr Matt Hill, a contemporary music lecturer, conducting research that tracked and evaluated the program.

Dr Hill, in the School of Arts and Social Sciences, said the program had several significant positive impacts for the participants.

“Five of the seven artists reported increases in the number of live performances since the project, and perhaps more importantly, six of the artists reported an increase in the average payment for live performances. All of the mentees reported increases in post-project income from other sources such as royalties, grants or crowd-funding.

“As well, after successful negotiations by Arts Northern Rivers, mentees were invited to perform at The Falls Music and Arts Festival in Byron Bay at the end of 2013.

“From the interviews it was clear that the mentorship program helped the musicians in a number of ways. Building confidence, motivating and validating their art practice were common themes. The mentors helped to expand their networks and provided pertinent information. Most of the mentees developed concrete action plans designed to help them reach their musical goals,” Dr Hill said.

The leadership role of Arts Northern Rivers was critical to the success of the program. The report found:

The networks and connections of Arts Northern Rivers were important in providing significant opportunities for the mentees. This is evident both in terms of the range of mentors available, the mentor selection process and opportunities throughout the program such as the Falls Festival appearance and media appearances organised for the mentees.

“At the heart of this project was a desire to build on an earlier mentorship model developed by Arts Northern Rivers for the screen, fashion and music sectors of the creative industries,” said Arts Northern Rivers CEO Peter Woods.

“With Connect we wanted to offer emerging or early career musicians an opportunity to take the next step in their development as artists and offer strategies for creating sustainable careers - from these results it seems we succeeded.”

The report makes a number of recommendations, including that the model developed for Connect be considered for other sectors of the arts and creative industries in the Northern Rivers region.

Another recommendation was that other regional areas adopt the mentorship model as a driver for increased capacity in the creative industries.

The Connect mentoring program saw artists and their mentors complete four mentoring sessions from August to November 2013 which culminated in a performance showcase held in SCU’s Studio One29 performance space in December 2013.

Surveys and interviews were conducted with the mentees before, during and after the program. A final survey, completed six months after the end of the program, highlighted changes in income and employment opportunities for the mentees.

A copy of the full report is available from Arts Northern Rivers.

Connect was managed by Arts Northern Rivers and made possible through funding from Arts NSW Regional Partnerships Program.


Photo: Black Lullaby performs at the Connect showcase held in SCU's Studio One29 performance space.