Appendix 6 - International Music Council

There is such diversity in Australian music that it is not easy to see the loss of a genre or
two as a crisis. But perhaps we can identify some genres at risk.
Western classical music is perhaps at the top of the list. The core audiences for classical
music are those for the large ensembles – the orchestras and opera companies. These 18-
19C entities now must live in a 21C economy and they are not suited to it. They cannot do
without substantial subsidy, and in Australia that subsidy comes mainly from governments.
In the end, the subsidy can be given only with the assent of the governed and the majority
of tax payers prefer other, unsubsidised music. The situation is inherently precarious. The
challenge is to persuade and maintain a majority of tax payers in the belief that music is
good, classical music is good, and it is a good idea for the government to ensure its
survival.
The cultural underpinnings of traditional indigenous music
weaken and so it must be
supposed that the music is at risk. The attention, such as it is, of the broader community is
on indigenous musicians’ activities in country and rock music. There seems to be some
diversity of opinion among indigenous musicians about the value of the original traditions.
The traditions that immigrants have
brought with them are also a focus of public policy,
again suggesting that survival and/or development is at risk. As with indigenous traditional
music, these musics presumably are not supported in their new habitats in the same way
that they were in their countries of origin. Public funding however is extremely modest, so
their survival is not assured from that source.
35. Bring to light those good practices and actions that need to be strengthened and
widely practised in this field.
Many good and important practices are in the hands of private individuals, organisations or
companies. These practices can be encouraged, documented and publicised. Private
initiatives are appreciated, but if there is to be any sort of concerted action to encourage
them it must come mainly from government. And of course, governments also can act
directly in pursuit of cultural objectives.
The following suggestions therefore are mostly for action by governments.
International Agreements
Governments should ratify all international declarations, conventions and agreements that
define and support human rights and cultural rights. See APPENDIX 1 for the statements
about cultural rights in eight of these documents..
Governments should ratify the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding
of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage and implement its provisions.
Governments should ratify the UNESCO Convention for the Protection and Promotion of
the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. They should use this Convention to support their
cultural sovereignty in the face of pressures in international trade negotiations to abandon
support for local cultures. Furthermore, they should respond to its various invocations to
support cultural and therefore musical diversity within their borders and the free exchange
of cultural expressions across borders.
Governments should maintain cultural sovereignty in the negotiation of international trade
agreements. As a rule, culture should not be included in these agreements. International
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