Gold Coast Music Awards organisers have announced they’re calling it quits. Co-founders Chloe, Samantha and Amanda are helping a new entity establish who will take over the Awards – which will go ahead this year under renewed leadership and energy.
Chloe Popa, Samantha Morris and Amanda Gorman said this in their statement:
“Over 11 years we’ve had a huge impact on the local music scene, supporting thousands of artists and championing the city’s entire music ecosystem in immeasurable ways… but we are completely burnt-out. Over the past few years, it feels like every time we turn a corner there’s a new challenge for us to overcome. We only ever started these awards to support local artists, not to get involved in music politics or to fight over resources, which are becoming scarcer and scarcer,” they said.
“We’re done. While the Awards have been incredibly meaningful to us, they’ve provided little personal benefit, and it’s time to turn our focus to other things.”
“We’re not going to let the Awards die, though. We’re working with a committee to establish a new entity that will take carriage of the event, with plans for it to go ahead later this year. From the close of this year, we will step away from any further involvement with the committee, the new organisation, delivery of the event and will hand over all IP, partnership agreements, sponsorships and branding. We want nothing more than for this new group, many of whom are our friends and highly respected in the industry, to succeed.”
“However, the only way this can happen and that the Awards can continue under new leadership is for Council to step up and invest at an appropriate level. Council’s approach to support of the Awards has played a large role in our decision. We’re calling on the Council to secure the Gold Coast Music Awards’ future by working with the committee to ensure investment is on par with the outcomes delivered.”
“As for the Gold Coast Music Network, we have Bandcamp, a training needs survey and some industry upskilling events to deliver over coming months, and our last commitment will be 29 November 2026 when we wrap up a new project supporting 8 young musicians to record and release their own songs. We hope you’ll join us for the listening party and farewell celebrations.”
For enquiries: Contact info@gcmusicnetwork.com.au