Angry creditors who performed at Peats Ridge have joined the queue of artists asking what they can do when they don’t get paid.
The festival business in Australia is booming, but with new events comes inexperience and in an already saturated environment fighting for punters’ pennies can be more perilous than it appears.
When a new festival enters the market and doesn’t quite know what to do – or an established festival finds itself on shaky ground as a result of mismanagement – what are the many performers, publicity workers, suppliers, security and venue staff to do when they aren’t paid for their work?
While ticket holders all know they can turn to the ombudsman to go to when they are left out of pocket, small business owners and artists are sometimes left thousands of dollars in the hole and wondering where to turn.
The recent folding of the Peats Ridge Festival has left many angry creditors wondering if they will ever see the money they are owed. But unfortunately Peats Ridge isn’t alone. Blueprint festival held near Ararat in 2009 went bust, as did Rewind Festival in 2011 and Cockatoo Island festival’s first year was its last in 2012.
There are systems in place to help artists and small business owners when a festival they are part of is unable to pay, but the problem is that not many people know how to get their money and the red tape and complicated legislation means that many give up before they even begin.
‘It’s like a death in the family, no one knows quite what to do,’ says Mal Tulloch, Director Entertainment, Crew & Sport at the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA).
The MEAA are trying to combat this situation and are in the process of organising a training seminar for people who are interested in what their rights are and what the process is for people who are caught up in a situation like the one faced by Peats Ridge creditors.
‘It’s about educating workers who generally don’t focus on what to do in this situation but when it goes pear shaped they are obviously the people who cop it,’ says Tulloch, who stresses that the music industry in particular has ‘very little’ organisation in regards to workers’ rights.
For artists, being part of the union can be a real help. In the case of Peats Ridge, the MEAA has been instrumental in helping voice the collective concerns of its many creditors. Freelance artists and contractors may have no protection off on their own, and in this case the union can step in on your behalf.
Another step is to talk to people. Find out who else might be in your situation because there is power in numbers and if you do need to get a lawyer involved, it will be a lot easier expense-wise to have one lawyer representing a joint interest over a many disparate voices.
Chrissie Vincent, a publicist who was owed money from both Blueprint and Rewind says that she no longer wants to do first time festivals because she feels they are too risky. In 2009, the year of Blueprint festival, she was barely able to make a living and felt she had nowhere to go.
‘I had a government department calling me, and I had this woman calling me and wanting me to be a witness… and she was going on about all these people that have lost their money from tickets,’ says Vincent of the Rewind festival. ‘I said “is there a department in government for small business, because we’ve got no one to turn to? You’re fighting for these poor people who have lost 150 bucks for a ticket, what about me?”’
‘That’s what I think is really wrong, you’ve got no recall for small business unless you’ve got a shitload of cash to pay and chase somebody.’
Vincent isn’t the only one who feels like the industry and laws let her down and for many people the sad truth is that they may never see their money again.
‘There are a lot of people owed between $3,000 and $10,000 who have had to just write it off. I had one person say to me that it was such a good reason that we were doing the festival that we should be happy to do it for free. I had to challenge that and say, “this is a profession not an amateur hobby and I’ve spent my life dedicated to the craft”,’ says Ian Mortimer, one of the Peat’s Ridge creditors.
You can employ debt collectors but sometimes it gets to the point where an artist, either singularly or collectively, must seek to have the company wound up and a liquidator appointed. This is the case in the Peats Ridge Festival. Then any claims for financial recourse can be submitted to the liquidators. In cases of mismanagement, this can often be the best way because it removes the control of the company from the event organiser. For many, it simply isn’t worth the time and effort.
What is most important is that in future venues and festivals must respect creative workers rights and the industry needs to have minimum standards and contracts of engagements with festivals and live music venues to prevent debts such as the ones incurred by Peats Ridge and Blueprint from occurring at all.
Vincent has some pertinent advice for those looking to start up a new event. ‘The issue for me is that people think ‘we can make some money’, like all of these festivals seem to think. But it’s all about building a name and people getting to know the festival and know that it’s a good happening festival. You’re not going to make a lot of cash first year and what you should be doing is just a day or a day and half… Take it easy step up, ease into it. But people go I’m going to make a shit load of cash and then when they don’t they fuck everyone else over,’ says Chrissie Vincent.
If you have found yourself in the situation where you are owed money some of the following resources may be helpful.
Voluntary Administrators guide for creditors
For information about business and the Australian Consumer Law and what to do in your state visit Consumerlaw.gov.au.
