It’s no secret that our Industry has been engaged in a battle for sustainability over the past 5 years, but few have offered a long-term solution to forge a way through the staffing and live attendance issues we are facing right now.
Since COVID, the industry has seen a massive decline in career interest from the youth of today and the numbers enrolling in technical courses during, and post-school have declined significantly. Venues and event agencies are already feeling the effects of this with no clear plan in place to repopulate the industry in technical roles.
This is the very landscape Australian Music Technical Training (AMTT) have aimed to change, with the help of their sponsors Earworm Productions, Inner Volume Total Sound Logistics & ULA Group. Interest needs to start at a younger age and this program is all about getting students excited about a career in the technical side of the entertainment industry once again.
The training days are live band focused and students run soundcheck, program lighting cues with Chamsys lighting consoles, learn about wireless DMX with Astera Tubes and perform the sound and lighting for a guest band performance after the day.
Since AMTT’s inception enrolments in school based technical courses have already seen a significant increase, with enrolment numbers in live production courses almost doubling in this time. AMTT has hosted over 1000 participants from 34 Schools in the first year alone and the events now sell out within a week, proving the interest is still there, they just require somewhere to learn the skills.
None of this would be possible without the partnerships made with companies such as ULA Group, Earworm Productions & Inner Volume Sound Logistics. They have all been along for the ride from the very beginning and been monumental in making these events happen, providing support with staffing, financial contributions and a large amount of equipment and technology that students & teachers get to put their hands on, for most occasions, the very first time.
“Educating young creative minds and inspiring them for their future careers is something that we find really important and rewarding,” says Lenka Satankova, Marketing Manager at ULA Group. “We were very excited to join Darren, Dan and his team at AMTT & Earworm Productions for this great initiative, providing students with the opportunity to experience the latest technology firsthand and to be involved in creating their own live production. Seeing their excitement and enthusiasm to express their creative potential was very refreshing. The future of our industry is in good hands!”
It also needs to be said that Century Venues and their team have been extremely generous in donating their venues to AMTT for the first year of events, allowing access to a world-class venue such as the Metro Theatre Sydney.
So, it is with both sadness & great excitement that AMTT are announcing their next leap forward in this journey with new sponsors the Oxford Creative Academy (OCA) in partnership with the Oxford Art Factory (OAF) coming on and welcoming AMTT to a new home for the training events.
Darren & Dan Lia from AMTT state “We are extremely thankful to the team at Century for helping us get started with our programs and we will always be grateful for the opportunities they have provided. Our goal has always been to create a pathway from school to certification and then employment so with Oxford Creative Academy onboard, we go a long way towards achieving this goal. Together we hope to build a lifelong passion and pathway to employment for students within our industry, but the key lies with starting in High School”.
“OCA is doing something really amazing that we have not seen anywhere else in education. The training is led by industry professionals in an awesome venue or professional recording studio for a fraction of the cost of other private colleges. In the modern world all those opportunities have dried up and there are very few hands-on training institutions left, with most offering online courses or are super costly. Together we aim to change this and revive the music industry in this country”.
Matt O’Connor, CEO of Oxford Creative Academy states “It was a no-brainer that we should come together to create a pathway from School to Certification and then employment and that is exactly what we have created with this partnership. It’s the perfect breeding ground to become music industry professionals and the first real step in establishing a workforce ready to help sustain real-world events”.
With Oxford Creative Academy (OCA) now onboard, partnered with Oxford Art Factory – Australia’s leading music venue, the academy has integrated a groundbreaking approach to music education that delivers a fully integrated program to master the music industry. This is not your typical Cert IV in Music. Instead, every OCA student has the opportunity to:
- PERFORM in a monthly emerging artist showcase held at Oxford Art Factory.
- PRODUCE their music with 6 hrs of FREE studio recording time each term.
- RELEASE their music via free label management and distribution services.
- ALL while LEARNING how to master the music industry.
OCA students graduate with a nationally recognised Cert IV in Music which teaches a transferable set of skills for creativity, music business and live events.
Together we all hope to build the perfect breeding ground for music industry professionals and establish the first real step in establishing a workforce with the knowledge and skills to step in and drive the future of the industry.
