WAM Presents: Music Australia Funding & Pathways Workshop

Ever wondered how the music industry works or how to access the funding that helps it run?

Join Music Australia’s Engagement Manager Nazlican Eren for a workshop unpacking how the industry works, what support is out there and how to navigate funding opportunities. We’ll run through real examples of what we’ve supported so far and share tips for putting your best foot forward with grants.

Stick around for a special in-conversation with Emily Barker, exploring career pathways, building community, and how to approach grant funding as part of a sustainable music practice.

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Nazlican Eren is a connector and facilitator in the Australian music scene, having worked across artist management, publicity, radio and consulting. She is currently the Engagement Manager at Music Australia, hosts Wednesday Sunseton FBi Radio, and serves as Vice Chair on the station’s Management Committee.

Her consulting work includes projects with BIGSOUND, Spotify, Inner West Council and Young Henrys, and she co-founded ONE OFF TRAKS, a grassroots writing camp for women, trans and non-binary creatives. Her work is grounded in community, culture, and a genuine love for music.

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Emily Barker is an award-winning Australian singer-songwriter. She found early success as the writer and performer of the theme to the hugely successful BBC/PBS Masterpiece crime drama Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh. Since then, she has gone on to forge an acclaimed catalogue of releases, leading The Guardian to say:

“Emily Barker has a gift for great melodies.”

Barker’s new album, Fragile as Humans, was produced at the storied English studio The Wool Hall by Luke Potashnick (Gabrielle Aplin, Jack Savoretti, Alberta Cross). It's her first album in nearly four years, following A Dark Murmuration of Words, which Uncut called:

“...a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake”
and which NPR’s Ann Powers acclaimed as:
“One of the most literate and probing folk albums of the year.”

Emily has released music and toured as a solo artist as well as in various bands and collaborations—most notably her long-standing associations with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Frank Turner. She has also written for TV and film, including composing the soundtrack for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature Hector, starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen.

Praise for Fragile as Humans:

• “Barker’s writing has never been so pin sharp” — MOJO ★★★★

• “Tender and deep” — Ann Powers (NPR)

• “Truly exquisite” — Full Pelt Music ★★★★

• “An overflow of talent” — The Arts Desk

• “Elegance, style and adventure” — Americana UK (8/10)

• “A captivating tapestry of melodies and emotions” — Musikepool

Praise for A Dark Murmuration of Words:

• “One of the most literate and probing folk albums of the year. I really love it.” — Ann Powers, NPR Music

• “An album of spare, striking beauty” — MOJO ★★★★

• “...a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake” — UNCUT (8/10)

• “Bold, direct, uncompromising” — CLASH

• “A high-class piece of songwriting and beautifully expressed musicianship” — Americana UK (9/10)

• “Irresistibly catchy... an album replete with nooks and crannies, light and shade” — The Australian ★★★★★

• “An album full of grace and danger” — RnR ★★★★★