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Sydney’s live music scene has been through it – and if you’ve tried to catch a gig lately without blowing your weekly budget, you’ll know what we mean. But in good news for live music fans (and venues) a new initiative is flipping the script, with a simple goal: get Sydney’s young people back in front of the stage (and keep them there).
Enter MyGigPass, the flagship program from the Live Music Venues Alliance – a coalition of independent venues taking action to get Aussies off the couch (and outside of their Spotify algorithm).
Launched in February 2026, MyGigPass is basically your golden ticket to affordable live music across NSW. If you’re aged 18 to 25, you can sign up to receive a weekly Tuesday email packed with exclusive offers – we’re talking free entry, two-for-one deals, double passes and discounted tickets – spanning everything from indie bands in sweaty Inner West dance dens to regional gigs worth the road trip.
And this isn’t just about getting leftover tickets moving. The program has been designed to build long-term gig-going habits, not just fill empty rooms on a quiet night. Every offer is tied to a specific show and approved by artists and promoters, meaning the quality of programming will be certified solid.
According to the team, the need for something like this is pretty stark. Research shows that while two-thirds of young Australians love live music, the majority say cost is the biggest barrier stopping them from showing up. Add to that the algorithmic pull of big-name international acts, and it’s no wonder local gigs are struggling to compete for attention.
With el cozzie livs crisis and the lockdown legacy encouraging Sydneysiders to stay inside, NSW has lost a huge chunk of its live music venues in recent years, with small-to-medium spaces – the ones that nurture emerging artists – doing it toughest.
That’s where MyGigPass comes in. Since launching, it’s already clocked more than 600 organic sign-ups and facilitated dozens of shows in just a month, with strong engagement across genres. Not bad for a grassroots effort powered by venues themselves.
As Beau Neilson – LMVA associate director and owner of beloved Newtown institution The Vanguard – puts it: this is the industry taking matters into its own hands.
““MyGigPass is the industry saying: we’re not going to wait for this problem to be solved for us. We’re going to build the audiences ourselves, one show at a time, and we’re going to do it together.”
Right now, more than 20 venues across metro and regional NSW are involved, from intimate 120-capacity rooms to heavy-hitters like City Recital Hall. And the doors are open for more to join.
Keen to get involved? Live music lovers aged 18-25 can sign up for the newsletter here, and venues can express interest in joining by reaching out to the LMVA team directly.
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