Aussie rules

Chapter 1

Ed Sholl: Future-proofing the music industry

To inspect Australia’s increasing cultural might we marvel at Future Classic, Sydney’s finest independent record label. Sure, it has top acts like Flume, Flight Facilities and Chet Faker on its roster but the label has also moved with the times – often ahead of the times – to become a management company, music publisher and booking agent. The difficult industry calls for increasingly imaginative thinking. Robert Bound speaks to the label’s manager Ed Sholl.

Chapter 2

On Australia’s love of radio: Double J’s Myf Warhurst

Myf Warhurst is a well-loved Australian broadcaster with about 20 years of experience under her belt. She began her career as a music-hungry teen at Melbourne’s Triple R before heading to Sydney to present shows on Australia’s favourite station Triple J and then onto sister station Double J, where she hosts the lunchtime show. Monocle’s Daniel Giacopelli speaks to Myf about music broadcasting and why it’s so important to Australia.

Chapter 3

‘Plonk’: the TV show that’s smashing a vintage model

Like many countries around the world Australia is feeling the pinch when it comes to supporting the creative industries. Recent cuts to the peak arts funding body Australia Council and film body Screen Australia have meant that ambitious film and television projects can’t get off the ground and onto screens. But one Sydney TV producer, Georgie Lewin, has bypassed the traditional funding routes by turning to brands to help make her sitcom ‘Plonk’, which follows a television crew as they put together a show about wine.

Chapter 4

‘The West Australian’: Delivering news to Australia’s most isolated city

In Perth the one and only local daily ‘The West Australian’ rules the roost and amid a reasonably sunny economic and political outlook telling riveting news stories can be a challenging business. Yet in an age where technological boundaries are being pushed harder than nightly deadlines, the word on everyone’s lips here is “convergence”. ‘The West Australian’ recently fused its editorial floor with the team from Channel 7’s Nightly TV news bulletin, turning the whole building into a multiplatform lab of multimedia. Our correspondent Liam Aldous dropped by to watch what happens when two editorial realms collide.