BIGSOUND Turns Every Dollar into Ten and Creates Almost 270 Jobs Ahead of 25th year.
Leading researcher finds BIGSOUND impact on par with Major Sporting Events.
Media Release: Friday, 5 December 2025
Photo: BIGNOTER performs at Crowbar Brisbane for BIGSOUND 2025 | Photo Credit: Lachlan Douglas
One dollar won’t go far in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley - unless you’re investing it in BIGSOUND, where you can expect a 10x return according to a new report authored by Dr Andy Ward, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Music at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Confirming that music is BIG business for Queensland, this independent impact analysis conducted by Dr Ward - one of Australia’s leading music economy academics using 2025 event data - shows the Southern Hemisphere’s largest music industry gathering is worth $20.15 million to Queensland’s economy, generated 269 jobs across the creative and hospitality sectors, and returned $10.85 in community value for every one dollar ($1) of public investment.
Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek said,
“BIGSOUND has cemented Queensland’s reputation as a vibrant live music destination, drawing large audiences and industry stakeholders from across the globe to attend a brilliant program of events that showcase our Queensland artists.
“The Queensland Government is proud to invest in QMusic’s presentation of BIGSOUND, which supports the priorities of our 10-year arts and cultural strategy, Queensland’s Time to Shine and its commitment to growing our creative economy.
“QMusic is delivering on this commitment by working with the Night-life Economy Commissioner and industry practitioners to encourage live music programming that activates Queensland venues and precincts and supports jobs for our creative workforce.”
John (JC) Collins AM - Night-Life Economy Commissioner/Director and Co-owner Fortitude Music Hall and The Triffid said,
"BIGSOUND is the engine room of Australia’s music economy. In the year 2000 a group of Queenslanders decided to have a crack producing a series of weeknight music seminars dedicated to upskilling their local scene – 25 years later that very idea is worth more than 20M to Queensland’s economy.
"Our nightlife and creative industries need events like BIGSOUND, supporting them is supporting a thriving, connected future for our state."
Attracting more than 34,000 attendances across four-days in the first week of September annually, BIGSOUND has long been a destination for music industry looking to do business with Australian artists.
"In just a few days, I connected with more artists, publishers, and industry decision-makers than I could reach in months of remote work," said Shreen El Masry from Sunshine Sync.
"As a sync agent and music supervisor attending BIGSOUND for the first time, I was blown away by the concentrated economic opportunities it creates. "
For regional professionals like me, BIGSOUND isn't just an event - it's an economic equalizer that puts us directly in the room where deals happen."
Bringing 1306 visitors to Queensland across 4750 bed nights, BIGSOUND delegates spent an average of $1,750 each in the name of networking, artist discovery and professional development.
Tyla Dombroski, Director & CEO at Fortitude Valley’s CROWBAR and board member for the Australian Music Venues Foundation, said
"2025 was Crowbar’s first year as part of BIGSOUND, since we re-opened this beautiful music site, and these economic impact figures summarise what we saw firsthand in the first week of September: BIGSOUND drives the live music business!
"It builds community, keeps our cities vibrant and puts Australian music at the top of everyone’s minds.”
From humble post-Y2K beginnings, BIGSOUND is a Queensland success story which grew from a shared vision for a thriving and supportive music capital in the heart of sub-tropical South-East Queensland
From humble post-Y2K beginnings, BIGSOUND is a Queensland success story which grew from a shared vision for a thriving and supportive music capital in the heart of sub-tropical South-East Queensland.
2026 will mark 25 years of BIGSOUND (1–4 September 2026), with early event planning works currently underway and tickets expect to go on sale in early 2026. Produced by the not-for-profit Queensland Music Industry Peak Body, QMusic, the message for everyone ahead of BIGSOUND 2026 is unmistakable:
Investing in BIGSOUND is investing in Queensland’s cultural and economic future.
BIGSOUND 2026
25 years of BIG
1 - 4 SEPTEMBER 2026
FORTITUDE VALLEY, Qld
BIGSOUND is supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and Tourism and Events Queensland.
ABOUT DR ANDY WARD
The University of the Sunshine Coast’s Dr. Andy Ward (PhD Qld. UT; Master of Fine Arts Qld. UT) is one of Australia’s leading music economy academics. His work includes research in the lifestyle space where he leads a multi-disciplinary team of health and creative researchers in a national project reporting directly to industry and government. He has delivered studies on the formation of music industry peak bodies in regional Australia, and multiple night-time economy and music economy reports. He is also an international gold-record winning songwriter, producer and recording artist.
ABOUT QMUSIC
QMusic is Queensland’s music industry development association. The work of QMusic is critical to the success of Queensland’s contemporary music economy. It is the only significant and established not-for-profit organisation in Queensland dedicated to delivering sector development and major music industry events including the QMAs and BIGSOUND, which stimulate and grow the state’s music sector.
ABOUT BIGSOUND
BIGSOUND is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest music industry gathering and Australian music fans’ annual opportunity to discover new sounds, maybe even the next big thing, in other words – the future of Australian music. Running in the first week of September, BIGSOUND brings Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley to life with international heavyweights, music lovers and artists. By day, the industry gathers for professional development sessions, workshops and networking opportunities, while by night, the showcase festival highlights the best emerging sounds primed for export.