Thankyou Gold coast music network

The new board of the Gold Coast Music Alliance wishes to fully acknowledge the amazing and tireless work of the previous Gold Coast Music Network crew.

The Gold Coast music industry and community owes Chloe Popa, Samantha Morris and Amanda Gorman a huge debt of gratitude. In 2015 they launched the Gold Coast Music Awards in an empty brewery with the help of a handful of dedicated local music workers. That one-night celebration grew into an annual red-carpet gala at HOTA. In 2021 it led to the Gold Coast Music Network, a year-round program of events, training and opportunities for local artists and industry.

Chloe, Samantha and Amanda ran the Network as a small business. Over many years they gave far more of their own time than any business case would justify, and they always measured success by what it meant for local artists and the wider industry. In their own words, the Awards “provided little personal benefit”. The Gold Coast music scene is much stronger for their generosity.

They were backed by a committed team. Kirsty Abrahams was Program and Industry Coordinator and Awards Administrator, Shannon Hart was Partnerships Manager and Issy Schoonenberg looked after digital marketing. Judges, volunteers, partners and sponsors also helped bring each project to life.

Highlights of their work include:

• Gold Coast Music Awards: eleven years of the Awards and the Hall of Fame, celebrating the best of the region’s original music.
• BANDCAMP: the Gold Coast’s full-day industry intensive for emerging musicians, which sold out in its first year.
• Music Industry Mingles: regular sessions, including a Junior Mingle for young musicians at the Hanlon School of Music.
• Talent On Tap: a monthly new music column and playlist shining a light on Gold Coast releases.
• BLEACH* Festival: the Live Music Stage, programmed with Gold Coast Music Award nominees.
• UNDERTONE Festival: an all-ages festival at Miami Marketta in 2024, spotlighting female and non-binary artists.
• Sounds Like Gold: a free festival on the HOTA Outdoor Stage in 2025, featuring a decade of Gold Coast Music Award winners.
• Create. Make. Release.: a program supporting eight young acts aged 12 to 18 to record and release their own songs.

Before the Network, the same team published Blank Street Press from 2013 to 2023, profiling thousands of grassroots and emerging artists along the way.

New Gold Coast Music Alliance Chair Justin Hoareau said the Alliance was building on an extraordinary foundation.

“Chloe, Samantha and Amanda, along with Kirsty, Shannon, Issy and everyone who worked beside them, built so much of what our music community now relies on. Their commitment to local artists has been constant for more than a decade, and the Awards and the programs around them exist because of their hard work and generosity. The Alliance board is incredibly grateful, and we’re determined to carry that work forward for everyone who makes Gold Coast music happen,” he said.

On behalf of the board and the wider Gold Coast music community, thank you!