Michael Gudinski is the founder of Mushroom Records, the largest independent record label in Australian music, and Mushroom Music, which is the principal independent publishing company in Australia. Both are part of The Mushroom Group of Companies which also includes The Frontier Touring Company, Australia’s leading promoter of both international and Australian artists.
Michael Gudinski played a major role in organising the Sound Relief benefit concerts, which raised over $8 million for victims of the Victorian bushfires and Queensland floods. One year on from the phenomenal Sound Relief concerts, over $1 million has been raised through sales of the deluxe four-DVD set recording of the concerts. The money raised from the DVD sales goes directly to Red Cross to develop programs and resources to better prepare communities for disasters such as bushfires and floods.
In the early 1990s Michael’s years in the music industry were recognised by ARIA with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1998 Michael was awarded the prestigious Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music at the APRA (The Australian Performing Rights Association) Awards.
In 1999 the AMI (Australian Marketing Institute) awarded Michael the Sir Charles McGrath Australian Marketer of the Year Award, the highest accolade for personal achievement an individual can receive from the AMI. In 2003 at the UK’s International Live Music Conference in March, Michael received the ILMC Bottle Award, the equivalent to a lifetime achievement award.
In June 2006 Michael was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia medal (AM) for service to the entertainment industry through the promotion of Australian music recording artists, as an advocate for young people in the music industry, and to the community.
In 2009 Michael accepted the prestigious JC Williamson Award at the 2009 Helpmann Awards. It is the foremost honour that the Australian live entertainment industry can bestow. In awarding the JC Williamson Award, Live Performance Australia (LPA) recognises individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the Australian live entertainment and performing arts industry and shaped the future of our industry for the better.
Michael has made an enormous contribution to the city over the past four decades. His work has put many Melbourne bands and artists on the musical map, and his great support of the victims of the Black Saturday tragedy through Sound Relief has made him a Melbourne icon.