Queensland Residents draws to the attention of the House the lack of avenues and support structures in place to help emerging and established artists build independent careers in the music industry. Establishing a grants initiative such as the hugely successful Music for the Future program created by Arts Victoria, would go a long way in rectifying this obvious void. Without funding opportunities at a grass roots level musicians struggle early on to produce demo recordings of original songs, build a strong fan base, find gigs and get their songs played on radio. The reality is that there are not a lot of affordable avenues out there to achieve that, and with a lot of genuine independent supporters such as venues and sound engineers struggling to make ends meet, many great live Australian acts will remain undiscovered. Recording artists to have benefited through a program of this nature in Victoria and have ultimately gone onto bigger and better things have included ARIA award winners Clare Bowditch and The Cat Empire and highlight what can be achieved with support of this nature. Your petitioners, therefore, request the house to look into the possibilities of establishing such a program through Arts Queensland. By encouraging artists, producers and presenters to design exciting artistic programs, develop new works and embrace an ongoing culture of professional development, Arts Queensland will ensure the long term health and vibrancy of Queensland's arts community.