News
2026 Indie-Con Wrap!
Aug 13, 2026
AIR’S INDIE-CON AUSTRALIA AND A2IM’S INDIE-WEEK AUSTRALIAN EDITION CONFERENCE WRAP!
AIR held its 10th Indie-Con Australia Conference in Adelaide, Australia’s first and only UNESCO-designated City of Music, last week and hosted A2IM’s Indie Week Australian Edition as part of its events. Three days of programming took place at the Mercury Cinema and Nexus venues with delegates and speakers from the independent music sector both locally and further afield, including representatives from the USA, Japan, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, South Korea, India, Indonesia, China, United Kingdom and New Zealand.
A broad range of topics were discussed, including an insightful presentation from Jason Peterson (GoDigital, USA) and a keynote from Thaddeus Rudd (Mom+Pop Music, USA).
The panel on The Fan Life Cycle delved into optimising fan data, merch rights, cultural differences between the US and Australia, and how to utilise UGC and fan accounts.
The Metadata to Money panel explored how metadata is consistently changing and is not transparent across different distributor and DSP platforms, creating hygiene processes for metadata, the need for unified standards, and AI tagging.
So You Think You Can Sync? discussed the potential impact of AI music in smaller budgeted sync opportunities, the strength of Australian music in sync at the moment, the good money involved in syncs for big projects like movie and tv, and the differences in turnaround times for commercials compared to sync and tv.
The Music Industry AI Update explained why Australia’s Copyright Act is fit for purpose, the Federal Government’s commitment to not allow any text and data mining exceptions to be introduced and its newly announced Office of AI. The panel also discussed current licensing models and ways that copyright holders could be remunerated for the use of their work in both the input and output stage of AI generated works and moves being taken around the world to encourage transparency and the labelling of content.
AIR also held spotlights on International Labels, Scandinavia, ASIA and ASEAN, as well as a special presentation on Indonesia thanks to Sounds Australia and YouTube, and Gaming thanks to the VMDO.
The global success of Folk Bitch Trio was discussed, highlighting the importance of building authentic relationships and teams that understand the culture and fan activity, and being strategic with career decisions.
Touring noted the cost of touring internationally rising and how the process may take a restrictive amount of time (up to 12 months without paid expedition), and that by deciding to tour internationally you’re making a commitment to that territory to return for the next 3 years.
Strengthening the Signal - Community Radio and the Australian Music Industry explored the role community radio plays in sustaining Australia's music ecosystem, highlighting the value of long-term relationships between artists, the industry and broadcasters. Grassroots support often develops over time, but can provide lasting benefits throughout an artist's career.
Panellists also emphasised the importance of maintaining strong connections between community radio and artists at every stage of their careers. Ensuring stations have access to established artists helps attract audiences, while continued support for emerging artists strengthens discovery, diversity and the long-term health of Australian music, benefiting the entire industry.
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“We were delighted to bring together speakers and delegates from across Australia and the globe to engage in thought-provoking discussions, B2B networking, and relationship building at our milestone 10th conference. We thank all our supporting partners and are especially grateful to the South Australian Government, through the Music Development Office, for their continued support as our major partner for 2027 and 2028. This partnership will enable us to continue to hold our events, including A2IM’s Indie Week Australian edition in Adelaide—Australia’s UNESCO-designated City of Music. We highly value A2IM's ongoing collaboration as we work together to further strengthen our independent music community in the years to come.”- Maria Amato, CEO, AIR |
| “I’m thrilled to build on the incredible momentum of Indie Week Australia with this two-year commitment. Indie Week and Indie-Con are important platforms for strengthening relationships between the Australian and U.S. independent music communities and expanding the global reach of independent artists and labels. We’re deeply grateful to the Government of South Australia for its continued confidence in this vision, and to our partners at AIR for their collaboration and leadership in the independent sector. We can’t wait to return to Adelaide” - Lisa Hresko, COO A2IM |
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AIR’s 20th Awards were held at the Adelaide Town Hall on Thursday 30th July, watch our 2026 AIR Award highlights and our 20th AIR Awards flashback video HERE.
Follow AIR and join the conversation:
air.org.au | x.com/ausindies | facebook.com/australianindies | instagram.com/ausindies
@australianindies | @southaustralia | #AusIndies | #indieconaus | #ADLCoM | #MyCityOfMusicADL |
Follow A2IM and join the conversation:
a2im.org | x.com/a2im | facebook.com/independentlabels | instagram.com/a2im
@a2im | @indieweekofficial | #A2IM | #IndieWeekAusEdition
