Discover Canberra songwriters. Listen locally. Support directly.
There are an enormous number of songs competing for our attention. With so much music available at the press of a button, it can be easy to listen, move on and never discover who made the music — or realise that some of the people writing and recording those songs might live just around the corner.
Canberra has a rich and varied community of songwriters making original music across folk, country, rock, pop, blues, indie, experimental and everything in between.
We think local music is worth seeking out.
CanberraWAX's playlists are one way of making that music easier to discover.
LISTEN TO CANBERRA SONGWRITERS
Our playlists bring together original music from songwriters connected with CanberraWAX and the wider Canberra songwriting community.
They're a simple way to discover someone you've never heard before, find a song you like, and follow it back to the person who wrote it.
‘Discover’ on Spotify… ‘Support’ on Bandcamp.
Spotify and other major streaming platforms are undeniably convenient ways to discover new songwriters and artists-and for that reason we have created a Spotify playlist of local Canberra-based songwriters (See below)…but it does very little to support emerging or independent songwriters.
Streaming does generate very small royalties for artists and songwriters…fractions of a cent per stream, a thousand or so streams generates roughly enough for a songwriter to purchase a small take-away coffee.
Nevertheless Spotify is a convenient way for music listeners to discover new artists and songwriters but If you really love someone's music and want to support their songwriting, there are other things you can do that make a more direct difference. (ie by signing up, logging on, purchasing directly the songs you enjoy and listening along on Bandcamp or attending local gigs in person.)
If Spotify is your primary choices for listening to music the best thing you can do for an artist is to add a song to your personal playlists and ‘follow’ an artist- these two simple acts help send signals to the robots and algorithms that then help to spread the artists music further.
That all said please see below our Spotify playlist including local songwriters from our CanberraWAX Song Circle and other Canberra-based Songwriters -Don’t forget to save/add, share and follow and explore more music from these local songwriters…. then sign-up for a free Bandcamp account. NOTE …for all the great local songwriters you’ll find on the Spotify Playlist you’ll find all these plus more on the Bandcamp one!
BANDCAMP: SUPPORT THE INDEPENDENT LOCAL SONGWRITERS DIRECTLY
For independent songwriters and emerging artists, buying music directly can be a particularly meaningful way of showing your support.
For the reasons above and others many more of our local Canberra songwriters choose to put there music on Bandcamp either as-well or instead of on Spotify. Bandcamp does a much better job of support emerging independent songwriters.
Bandcamp allows artists to sell digital music and physical releases directly to listeners. When you buy a track or album, you're making an actual purchase from the artist's music catalogue rather than simply contributing another stream to a huge pool of listening.
That makes Bandcamp particularly useful when you've found an independent songwriter whose music you want to actively support.
If you love the song, consider buying it and add it to a Bandcamp Playlist of your own!
Even a small purchase tells an independent artist that someone valued their work and effort enough to spend money on it.
And sometimes that's more meaningful than another passive listen.
CHECK OUT OUR “Canberra WAX Lyrical:Local Songwriters” PLAYLIST BELOW:
The CanberraWAX Bandcamp Playlist:
If you only need one more good reason to sign up for a FREE bandcamp account know that for the reasons mentioned above and others two of Canberra’s best songwriters can only be found on Bandcamp -the exceptionally brilliant poetic wordsmith Danny V and our fearless leader- Ian Paulin (You’ll find them both on the CanberraWAX Bandcamp Playlist of course!)
Listening to and purchasing tracks isn't the only way to help. The are lots of ways to support local songwriters.
Go to their gigs
If a Canberra songwriter is playing at Smith's, a local pub, club, festival or small venue, go along.
Buy a ticket. Buy a drink. Buy a record or piece of merchandise. Bring a friend.
And most importantly: be there.
A room full of people listening to an original song can mean a great deal to the person standing on stage.
Share a song
If you find a song you genuinely love, send it to someone.
Share it on social media. Put it in a group chat. Add it to a playlist. Tell a friend:
"You should hear this Canberra songwriter."
Personal recommendations remain one of the simplest ways for independent music to travel.
Follow the artist
Follow them on Spotify, Bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube or wherever they are active.
Following someone means that you're more likely to hear about their next release or performance — and it helps create a continuing audience rather than a single moment of attention.
Listen to the whole song
It sounds obvious, but it matters.
Songwriters can spend weeks, months or years writing, rewriting, recording and producing a song.
Give it a proper listen.
If something resonates with you, tell them!
Buy the music
If there's a song, album or EP you keep coming back to, consider buying it directly.
Bandcamp is particularly useful for this, but buying a CD, vinyl record, download or merchandise at a local gig can also put money directly into the artist's hands.
Come to CanberraWAX Song Circle or a WAX Gig or Sunday Sesh!
Our Loving Listeners are an important part of what makes our Song Circles and performances work. Original songs need people willing to sit down, pay attention and hear them.
And if a songwriter's music means something to you, let them know.
For an independent songwriter, knowing that somebody heard the song — and cared enough to pass it on — can be every bit as encouraging as another stream.
…at the end of the day, for whichever ways you are able to support local songwriting we THANK YOU!
Been writing over 50 years, enjoy lots of variety, need to get stuff out of my head to preserve a semblance of sanity.