First Nations
Program
Unveiled

Australia’s biggest music industry gathering continues to open more spaces for First Nations music, dialogues and community connection with the announcement of BIGSOUND First Nations House, a unique partnership with Spotify, as part of their ongoing commitment to promoting and increasing the representation of First Nations artists, on and off their platform.

The BIGSOUND First Nations House presented by Spotify will be located at TSO, Fortitude Valley, throughout the duration of the festival and will feature striking art by respected Aboriginal artist Reko Rennie, designed exclusively for Spotify’s Dreaming Loud program. 

The house will be a space for supporting, promoting and celebrating First Nations music and includes workshops, a dedicated space for First Nations artists, as well as events showcasing diverse Indigenous music for the community, and the wider BIGSOUND delegate audience.

“Over the past three years, we’ve been collaborating with key community partners to promote and improve the representation of First Nations artists on and off our platform, both within First Nations spaces but also with an aim to reach a wider audience to help facilitate more mainstream engagement with some of the best, most diverse First Nations talent this land has to offer,” said Sophie Paterson, Head of PR & Communications at Spotify AUNZ, who also leads the First Nations program locally.

“We are incredibly excited and proud to partner with BIGSOUND to present First Nations House at this year’s event.” 

In the International Year of Indigenous Languages, BIGSOUND weaves a thought-provoking and essential Indigenous-led program of discussions, forums, networking events and of course music, designed to inspire, delight and create participants rather than audiences in a program overseen by First Nations Producer Alethea Beetson. 

“BIGSOUND’s continuing push to centre First Nations artists within the event is driven by cultural continuum through music, its relevance within global contexts and the need for the industry to have challenging conversations.”

Alethea Beetson, BIGSOUND First Nations Producer

“First Nations artists are continuing to produce some of the most diverse, unique and export-ready music in (occupied) Australia today. Increasing visibility to the role that First Nations people have played and continue to play in the industry and celebrating the music of one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world is what the First Nations stream of BIGSOUND is all about," she said.

HOME PlaylistListen Now on Spotify

QMusic and Virgin Australia present HOME: A collection of new music from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Curated by Alethea Beetson.

Download the AppPlot, scheme, party & plan.

RSVP to events, connect with other delegates, plan what acts you're going to catch and get a personalised discovery playlist.

The BIGSOUND program includes:

  • The annual HOME: Official BIGSOUND Welcoming Party presented by Virgin Australia, featuring an amazing lineup of Electric Fields, DRMGNOW, Deline Briscoe and Mambali.
  • A unique shared Keynote Under Occupation: Indigenous Perspectives on the Global Industry with Neil Morris (DRMGNOW, VMDO), Sosefina Fuamoli (Beat Magazine), Chelsey June (Twin Flames Music) and Ninakaye Taane-Tinorau (Tikidub Productions) offering insight into the varied, vast and connected experiences of Indigenous musicians and industry professionals operating across the globe in the settler-led global music industry. 
  • A must-see keynote from Mojo Juju, one of Australia’s most important artist voices, taking BIGSOUND through her journey of self-discovery and storytelling through music and breaking-through in 2018 with her triple-ARIA nominated album Native Tongue. 
  • The Indigenous North @ BIGSOUND party, in partnership with Manitoba Music, showcasing Indigenous artists from Turtle Island/Canada, featuring two-time Polaris Prize Shortlist hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Twin Flames and Renée Lamoureux. 
  • Sovereign Sounds: First Nations Governance Models in the Music Industry, unpacking the current challenges for self-determination in the music industry whilst considering the Indigenous-led governance models that will allow the music industry to thrive. 
  • The annual Women in Music event, this year in celebration of the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
  • Re-Awakening Voices: Music’s Role in the Revitalisation of Indigenous Languages panel amplifying the vital connection between language and song for First Nations artists globally

First Nations artists from across the country are also represented throughout the BIGSOUND Festival in what is the strongest lineup in the event’s history, with Queensland’s Deline Briscoe, Dream Coast, Miiesha and Sycco, New South Wales’ Mack Ridge, Mojo Juju, Rebecca Hatch and Tasman Keith, Northern Territory’s Black Rock Band and Mambali, Victoria’s DRMGNOW and South Australia’s Electric Fields. 

Deline Briscoe

Dream Coast

Miiesha

Mack Ridge

Sycco

Mojo Juju

Rebecca Hatch

Tasman Keith

Black Rock Band

Mambali

DRMNGNOW

Electric Fields

Change the Future of Music

Don't miss out on a program full of discovery, networking and professional development, with collaboration and community at its core as BIGSOUND stamps its mark as the place to create change and celebrate the future of the Australian music industry.

Purple Passes are selling fast!

#Related