In short:
Leaders in the music industry have met at a Darwin summit to explore how to secure the future of festivals and live events.
It comes after a devastating year for artists and fans with a string of major event cancellations across the country.
What's next?
Some in the industry say government funding may be the key to saving festivals, while others are calling for climate impacts to be better addressed.
Earlier this year Splendour in the Grass, one of the country's most iconic events, joined a wave of festivals forced to cancel.
In March, an extreme heatwave and fire danger cut short the Pitch Music & Arts Festival, while festival-goers were already on site.
One of the longest-running touring festivals, Groovin the Moo cancelled in February due to "insufficient" ticket sales.
So did Coastal Jam, citing "the sting of the cost of living crisis".
Falls Festival axed its event last year and Strawberry Fields was cancelled at the 11th hour due to flooding in southern NSW in 2022.
Then last week, Bluesfest — running since 1990 — announced it will end forever after its 2025 event.
It was another blow in a devastating year for the Australian live music scene in an industry that was already on shaky ground, facing mounting financial pressures, growing overheads and climate change.
This month music industry pioneer Michael Chugg, who's toured with hundreds of Australian and international artists — including Billie Eilish, Lime Cordiale, Bob Dylan, Coldplay and Elton John — joined the brightest minds in the scene to try solve the music industry crisis.
"It's always going to be about the money," Mr Chugg said.
"Back in the 60s and 70s, we used to play a lot of regional events and shows. There's not that many of them anymore.
"But the biggest problems we face trying to mount anything major is the cost of travelling, the cost of insurance, all those sort of things which have gone through the roof since COVID."
The Regional & Remote Music Summit, held in Darwin earlier this month, heard from a broad range of speakers over multiple days about how to chart a new path forward for the live music industry and the beginning of a big push to get more music into the regions.
"Hopefully, through Music Australia and the other organisations, there will be a circuit created where a young guy who lives in Dubbo or Katherine or one of those towns, wants to be a promoter, gets the funding to be able to do something in the local pub or club and bring in brand new bands," Mr Chugg said.
Berish Bilander, the chief executive of Green Music Australia and a former touring artist said rising temperatures and extreme weather were jeopardising music festivals.
He said 50 festivals had been cancelled fully or partially as a result of extreme weather in the past decade.
Insurance premiums have skyrocketed to account for unpredictable conditions.
"It sounds catastrophic, but there's no music on a dead planet," he said.
"You know, we can't rock up at an event where it's flooded. We can't rock at an event where there's fires nearby.
"I think until we take this really seriously and we start to be really innovative in the way that we deal with this crisis, it's going to shut down more and more events."
As festivals across Australia continue to falter, Bass in the Grass — the largest music event in the Northern Territory – appears to stands resilient.
Mark Smith, the executive director of music NT, says its success is largely due to it being backed by the Northern Territory government.
"Specifically in the NT, you've got these crazy high prices for flights and accommodation and costs, so that just adds to artists not being able to tour here," he said.
But government backing is a lifeline many say should be replicated across Australia.
"I'd like to see a lot more of that, 100 per cent," Mr Chugg said.