For over 20 years RealTime Arts has supported high-quality writing on contemporary Australian art and music. RealTime continues to value the expertise of writers by offering competitive rates for articles that can take days or weeks to produce.

In 2013 this support extended to providing an honorarium for me to found, edit, and author the majority of the content on this, Australia’s only dedicated contemporary music blog. I am grateful for this opportunity to review more concerts by a greater range of musicians than would otherwise be possible. The blog has also become an important forum for policy and music industry commentary, with some of its more involved articles (including How Much Does it Cost? A Guide to Commissioning New Music in Australia) echoing internationally.

Without RealTime’s support I would have burnt out long ago. Either that, or readers would have turned away from the meager quarterly offering my rusty brain could afford to crank out. Instead, the blog’s readership has steadily grown along with—I hope—my ability to produce engaging and critical prose.

As we all know, there is ever less money available for arts writing and RealTime is no exception to this rule. That’s why I’m asking readers for donations to help secure the future of the blog and to fund growth. I would like to pay forward the respect RealTime has shown me and remunerate contributors to this site, including commissioning in-depth feature articles. Ensuring the financial independence of this blog would also help RealTime continue their great work connecting artists around Australia and training new generations of writers. If you are inspired, intrigued, or challenged by what you read or hear on this site then please consider making a donation through the links on this page.

Thanks for reading,

Matthew Lorenzon