iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 24/08/2026

Made a cameo appearance on tonight's local 7pm ABC News bulletin, alongside an awesome cross-section of the Sydney DIY community Story: www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 05/08/2026

Small space live music venues in Sydney are dying at an alarming rate. This year so far we have lost (or are about to lose): • Annandale Creative Arts Centre in Annandale • Monster Mouse in Marrickville • Mary's Underground in Circular Quay • The Red House (People's Republic) in Earlwood (1/3)

Audience watching a gig at Lazy Thinking in Dulwich Hill. Photo by Joe Hardy

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 23/06/2026

Some photos from our wonderful DIY fundraiser party on the rooftop of The Commons in Chippendale. We raised $2,200 for the @sydneymusic.net gig guide, and Heart Armour, binsad, Global Rations and FVNERAL played live. SUPPORT SYDNEYMUSIC // Help us to reach our FY27 goal! sydneymusic.net/support

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 15/05/2026

And some great venue atmos from the Demolition Man gig at the Petersham Bowlo we took the SMH to!

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 15/05/2026

Featured in the piece: me and @caitlinwelsh.bsky.social representing @sydneymusic.net, Karan and Ata from Gigged Out, and Yağmur from Nothing In On Sydney

Joe Hardy and Caitlin Welsh from SydneyMusic.net

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 25/04/2026

A few highlights from a quick @sydneymusic.net merch shoot yesterday Merch available from store.sydneymusic.net. Support your local gig guide!

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 23/04/2026

A couple of snaps of James Valentine while sitting in on a jam with his son (not pictured) and friends at the Ev in Redfern. An icon. Vale.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 22/04/2026

This speaks so much to the evolving detachment I see in the world around me. Another way to describe it could be these two figures. They illustrate 2023 v 2025 night time economy spend in NSW (in Australian dollars). Source: NSW 24 Hour Economy Commission

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 21/04/2026

BIG HELPS! this is a lot

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 19/04/2026

Bumping this news about our new tees (and stickers!) SydneyMusic is fundraising for its survival beyond June 30. We need to raise $30,000 in donations in order to secure our future in the new financial year. Hit our store at store.sydneymusic.net Thank you!

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 17/04/2026

From a recent survey with 363 respondents: • 84.3% of readers see more live music because of the gig guide • 87.6% discover new music thanks to the gig guide Help us with our mission to increase local engagement with grassroots music. Become a supporter today! sydneymusic.net/support

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 17/04/2026

We have new merch and it’s shipping next week! @sydneymusic.net's FY27 Fundraiser is live. We critically need to raise $30,000 to cover our budget for the first half of next financial year. Order a tee or some stickers to help us get more people out to shows! Merch/donate: store.sydneymusic.net

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 13/04/2026

They're gouging fans, it's obscene. Here's Ticketek crowing about what they consider to be metrics demonstrating success. (From their submission to NSW Parliament last month)

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 06/04/2026

I mean if my CFO's previous IPO (as CEO!) looked like this I'd probably be looking for ways to limit the damage too

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 31/03/2026

We're throwing a party on Thursday night at the Gladdy. A lovely arvo: us DJing the courtyard at sunset, followed by four great local bands, then people with great taste playing tunes until sometime in the morn. Don't just sit there, do something. RSVP/info: events.humanitix.com/heathensong-...

CUPHOLDER INDUSTRIES AND THE LORD GLADSTONE PRESENT

A PUBLIC HOLIDAY BLOWOUT AT CHIPPO'S MOST SINFUL PUB

Heathensong
LOUISA
INIMATA
ALTA RICO
CTRL PACH

WITH DJ SETS FROM
CUPHOLDER DJS
CHONZU • MYERS
TAY FROM FVNERAL
+ OTHER FRIENDS

THE LORD GLADSTONE
APRIL 2, 2026 • 7PM-VERY, VERY LATE FREE ENTRY BEFORE 9PM
$10 ON DOOR AFTERWARDS

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 12/02/2026

I got Claude Code to write me a GUI “Hello World” app in assembly code and... well, I'll be damned

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 05/02/2026

I find this extraordinarily depressing from the NSW government's report on the Night-Time Economy (NTE) Source: www.nsw.gov.au/business-and...

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 04/02/2026

Here's where live music happened in Sydney in 2025 (source: SydneyMusic.net gig guide)

CBD and Inner West accounted for 89.4% of all live music events

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 01/02/2026

The Australian acts featured in the Hottest 100 have been active for a surprisingly high average # of years. I chatted about it a bit on ABC Radio Sydney last Saturday. In the 2010s the average number of years that the Aussie acts in the H100 had been active was 4-6 years. It's now 9-10 years.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 27/01/2026

I don't have time to get into this in detail, but here's my take on the Hottest 100 this year

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 26/12/2025

Been using Google Workspace for Nonprofits (free) for over three years, and I've never been upsold for additional services once. In the last 3 months I've been upsold a paid AI subscription at least 4 times, each time using language like this. Hate that many orgs will take this up. Exploitative.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 23/12/2025

Yo is all retail completely recessioncore this year? Dropped into Myer CBD and you'd barely know it was Xmas! Is this economic or social malaise? Zero festivity.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 04/12/2025

Boring old Web 1.0 websites have still got the juice!! @sydneymusic.net just keeps on growing

25,581 unique site visits to sydneymusic.net
in November 2025

+28% year-on-year
+9.1% month-on-month

(Web only)

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 25/11/2025

SYDNEY. Very excited to announce our second discussion on the viability of grassroots music culture, hosted in collaboration with Offbeat Collective. No talks, no panels: just a full room discussion with whoever shows up. Spaces *very* limited. RSVP essential. events.humanitix.com/building-a-v...

BUILDING A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC CULTURE: a community discussion
Understanding our creative ecosystem, and how to make it work for everyone
Sunday 30th November
7pm - 9pm
Offbeat Collective
12 Fitzroy Street Marrickville (entry via Faversham laneway)
Free - RSVP essential
Food + Snacks provided

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 22/11/2025

Speaking with Chris Taylor about QÄNTÄS DU SOL 😎 on ABC Sydney this morning

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 13/11/2025

Melbourne! I'm in your city next Tues to co-host a community discussion with local DIY producer and organiser Kuya Neil. We'll be exploring what makes a healthy grassroots music ecosystem, why things have gone a bit off the rails, and how to rebuild. Presented by @sydneymusic.net + Sound School

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 11/11/2025

Sydney's most comprehensive gig guide @sydneymusic.net needs your help to stay in the game! Our popular "Music In Every Corner" t-shirts and tote bags are getting another run and will be shipping soon. Pre-order yours today! store.sydneymusic.net

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 11/11/2025

Here's the rate of increase for AI/LLM referrals to SydneyMusic.net this year. Shit's crazy. It's a real worry for website publishers. We estimate these figures reflect around 1-3% of queried on chatbots for (in our case) "what gigs are on in Sydney?"

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 02/11/2025

In the trenches of information delivery via traditional websites: some good news! 1. We finally grew past the huge traffic loss caused by AI/LLM chatbots to record our best month ever (UBs) 2. # of referrals from chatbots. read as: ppl asking ChatGPT "what gigs are on?" 3. It's all ChatGPT

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 20/10/2025

OpenAI just sent me their first-ever email comms trying to re-engage users with ChatGPT. I feel like that's an interesting development — but could be any number of reasons.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 26/09/2025

You'd better believe my kid got stickers!! Listen to Flouia at www.abc.net.au/triplejunear...

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 25/09/2025

Thank you to Pat Bowden for producing this amazing document of a fraction of Sydney's live music scene. a gorgeous zine featuring (mostly) film photography of a range of spaces and artists. You can contact Pat about getting a copy of this zine on his Instagram at www.instagram.com/patographics

I Love You Almost As Much As I Love This Song: a live music photography zine by Pat Bowden

Blue Divers, 2024.
Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham.
Kodak Ultramax 400 film.
with all of the charm of a family friendly bowling club on one of the nicest streets in the Inner West, the Petersham Bowlo has two stages for events (one down the stairs in the basement, being one of my favourite spots to watch live music anywhere) aswell as using one of their former bowling greens for spring fairs, beer tastings, medieval events and live wrestling.
since dumping all of their pokies in 2007, the Petersham Bowlo has become not only a great venue for events and music, but an important community space for all ages interests.

quote:
'small spaces' might mean the usual live music and performance spots such as pubs, warehouses or bars, but as some photos will show I've shot shows in loungerooms, kitchens, garages, carparks, galleries and so on. to paraphrase my friend Joe Hardy, "the thing we most need in music in Sydney is for people to just start shit. do it yourself, find a system, find a space, put on a show." that's DIY, and it's so important to this city's performing arts, in the underground at least.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 24/09/2025

My kid is playing their first gigs in Sydney! After years of working on music in their bedroom, busking at the Busselton jetty, playing every open mic and school event they can — they finally get to play live in the city where they saw their first shows. Listen: www.abc.net.au/triplejunear...

Flouia (Perth)

first ever Sydney shows

28/9 — Lazy Thinking @ 2pm
30/9 — Lazy Thinking @ 7pm

stream "water (oh the)" on triple j unearthed

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 20/09/2025

I also extolled the virtues of the Enmore Hotel's Sunday night pre-gig free sausage sizzle. As it happens, Bruce and I just accidentally wandered past and it felt rude not to have a Resches.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 19/09/2025

Yesterday @caitlinwelsh.bsky.social and I were invited to speak to the students at Oxford Creative Academy, sharing our insights from running Sydney's most comprehensive gig guide. Was a phenomenal discussion! Slides available on request. Love doing these talks, hit us up if you're interested.

(Slide title)
IT'S NOT JUST THE ALGORITHM:
What gig guides can teach us about how music scenes work

Joe Hardy & Caitlin Welsh
Co-founders, SydneyMusic.net

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 11/09/2025

Had a really great time speaking to students at the University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music yesterday. Phenomenal discussions, lots of candid insights from the room and a lot of great ideas and solutions explored. Slides available on request!

Joe Hardy presenting in front of a screen:

"Let's start general

• How are you feeling about live music?

• What's the first thought bubble that comes to mind when you think about it as a topic?

Take two minutes to write your thoughts down"

Screen reads "Why I love post-its" with photos of post-it notes taken from previous similar sessions

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 08/09/2025

DJing at the Oxford Art Factory 18th birthday with @caitlinwelsh.bsky.social this weekend. Should be a rager. Come thru! RSVP here: moshtix.com.au/v2/event/%E2...

OAF 18th party poster — this Saturday. Lots of bands.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 21/08/2025

Sarah Friar, current OpenAI CFO, took Nextdoor public in 2021 and this was the rousing reception. Absolutely safe pair of hands.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 18/08/2025

I also brought in some copies of On the Street from 1987

Detail from page 1 of an edition of On the Street, listing venues in Dee Why, CBD, Campbelltown, Sylvania Hotel, Caringbah, Castle Hill, Cremorne, Kings Cross and Coogee Beach.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 14/08/2025

Screenshot of how Grok.com appears in Google Search Sometimes I really do wonder ...

Google search results list Grok.com with a title of "Something went wrong" and a body of "Something went wrong. Something unexpected happened. We're working to prevent this in the future. Reload page."

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 13/08/2025

Stick it in a Google Doc and call it a business model I reckon

Partial web page screenshot including the highlighted quoted (attributed to Hugh Marks)

"If we're able to create two more Bluey in the next five years, our children's content and our children's services will have strong foundations for a long period of time.”

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 12/08/2025

Update on this AI referrals chart to SydneyMusic. Sudden drop-off coincides with the release of GPT-5. My own testing confirms that ChatGPT is now preferring platforms like Songkick, Bandsintown and ticketing providers. Whatever's behind the change, that's more erasure of local, grassroots activity.

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 12/08/2025

Why do we pay these garbage generators any attention? This is a screen shot of Google Gemini at the top of a search for "What companies are owned by AEG in Australia" (AEG as far as I can find has never had anything to do with Moshtix, it's fully owned by Ticketmaster/Live Nation)

Google Gemini AI summary incorrectly identifying AEG as the owner of Moshtix

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 07/08/2025

These clowns want to run the planet with this shit

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 04/08/2025

I would rather we not need to protest, but that was an absolute banger of a protest

A lot of people on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 27/07/2025

Also entertained by SBS including this happy snap from early 2020 in their piece

Joe, Bruce and Caitlin in Camperdown Rest Memorial Park. Photo by Dom Alessio

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 22/07/2025

In the newsletter, I discover that ChatGPT has no idea what jazz is: these are all metal and punk bands, Elton Chong is in Penrith not Darlinghurst, MoshPit Bar is in Erskineville not Marrickville. Most of the dates were also wrong — and yet usage is increasing.

Me: "I'm interested in live music, I like stuff with a kind of jazzy vibe, but I don't mind if it's ambient or a bit danceable. What are some good gigs in Sydney over the next couple of days if I'm into that sort of thing?"

ChatGPT: "Here are some great live shows in Sydney over the next couple of days that hit that jazz-adjacent sweet spot-some mellow and ambient, others with a groove that'll get you"

Per ChatGPT: (all descriptions and suburbs are false)
• Rust with Convict Class & I Hate People at Elton Chong, Darlinghurst (7 pm) - more unplugged vibes, leaning into alt-folk/jazz textures
• Chronic featuring Alterth, Channel & Raging Patience at MoshPit Bar, Marrickville (7 pm) - a grittier, experimental set with jazz-influenced rhythms

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Joe Hardy @joe.hardy.id.au · 22/07/2025

Here's the latest version of this chart, which I've shared previously: # of referrals to @sydneymusic.net from chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity. In our latest newsletter I cover what the underlying effects of this trend are — and what it means for us. Read it here: mailchi.mp/sydneymusic/...

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