Larry Heath is an Australian publisher, events organiser, and entrepreneur. He is the founder-owner of Heath Media, which publishes online magazine The AU Review and hosts the National Live Music Awards. As of 2023 Heath is associate producer at Sounds Australia, and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Biography

As a child, Larry Heath provided voice-overs for Radio Disney. He created a web and graphic design company while still in high school, then ran an online store and, briefly, an online publication. After completing high school, he attended Sydney University.[1]

Heath founded The AU Review as a personal blog[2] in August 2008, but running it soon became his full-time occupation.[3] Heath Media was registered as a business name in June 2009.[4]

Heath attended the WAM Festival conference in Perth in 2010 and 2014.[3] He has been a judge for several music awards, including the ARIAs, Music Victoria Awards, Australian Music Prize (AMP), and AIR Awards.[5]

He has created opportunities at international trade events, and participated in trade delegations to India in 2012, and the East Coast Music Awards on Prince Edward Island, Canada in 2019.[6][7]

Heath directed the AU Live Music Awards in 2014 and 2015 under the auspices of Heath Media – the first awards dedicated solely to contemporary live music in Australia. They were the precursor to the National Live Music Awards (NLMAs),[8] which have been run each year since 2016 save 2021 and 2022 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[9] In 2019 the NLMAs were held in Canberra as well as Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Launceston, Alice Springs, and Fremantle, and the categories were expanded to include jazz and classical music.[10]

In January 2016 Heath left the role as editor-in-chief of The AU Review, in order to focus on the expansion of its parent company, Heath Media, into international media and events,[2] including the NLMAs.[11]

In May 2017 Heath was appointed A&R Manager in Australia & New Zealand for Music Sales Creative.[5]

In January 2020, Heath was appointed associate producer at Sounds Australia, at the same time as singer-songwriter Leah Flanagan joined the team. He had previously collaborated with the team at Sounds Australia, including co-presenting "Jet Lag Sessions" at a conference in New York City from 2011 to 2013. He began his work there by attending the Folk Alliance International in New Orleans.[6]

As of September 2023 Heath was based in Toronto, Canada,[12] and still associate producer at Sounds Australia.[11]

The AU Review

The AU Review online magazine was launched by founding editor and publisher Larry Heath in Sydney on 6 August 2008, and contained reviews of Vampire Weekend and Little Red at The Metro Theatre in Sydney.[13] At this time it covered only Sydney, then expanded to cover Melbourne soon afterwards. It initially focused only on live music and albums of local and international artists,[14] including at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. It was first in to review acts such as Chet Faker, Flume, Vance Joy, Amy Shark, and Gang of Youths.[13]

The website was upgraded and expanded in September 2009, with content covering Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, and Brisbane. By May 2011, cities covered included Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, Launceston, Wollongong, and Perth.[14] Later, the focus expanded to include visual art, film, theatre, food, lifestyle,[15] travel, and gaming. It is aimed at ages 18 to 25.[16]

Sosefina Fuamoli was on the staff for over seven years, from about 2011 until 2018, taking up the position of editor-in-chief in January 2016. After her departure to a new role at triple j, the role was shared among team members.[13]

On its 5th anniversary in 2013, boasting a monthly readership of 70,000+, The AU Review launched a crowdfunding campaign on Pozible, for its "is a 100% volunteer-based organisation", with the aim of supporting emerging Australian writers and photographers as well as musicians and live gigs. At that time, the publication covered "the arts, film, food, lifestyle, fashion, travel, Asian music and culture, and was about to start covering video games. It planned to relaunch with a series of events in major capital cities.[17] In 2013 a sister publication, The Iris, launched to cover home entertainment, film, television, video games and tech content.[13]

January 2016 saw Heath stepping down from his role editor-in-chief of The AU Review, to focus on other initiatives.[2]

In August 2018, on the 10th anniversary of The AU Review, it was merged back into the single banner. Also in August 2018, the beta version of a new website was launched, which included all content of the previous website, and also promised 35% fewer ads, an enlarged travel, food, and lifestyle section, and easy-to-read reviews with a star rating out of five. To celebrate the anniversary, The AU Review held events at the Rocket Bar in Adelaide in July 2023, and a stage party during BIGSOUND in Brisbane in September 2023.[13]

Heath Media

In addition to ongoing projects The AU Review and the NLMAs, Heath Media, based in Sydney, has in the past also produced several print monographs, a project called Captured Australia, The Australian Music Week Film Festival (2018), and a website called Hello Asia![16]

Heath Media has also run the annual Courtyard Sessions at the Seymour Centre in Sydney.[5][18][19]

References

  1. ↑ Larry Heath on LinkedIn
  2. 1 2 3 Healey, Briana (12 January 2016). "Larry Heath steps down as editor-in-chief of the AU Review". Influencing News. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 "WAM Festival: Larry Heath". The Music. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Historical details for ABN 95 482 097 196". ABN Lookup. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "MSC Appoints First A&R Manager For AUS & NZ, Larry Heath". Wise Music Creative. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 Brandle, Lars (21 January 2020). "Sounds Australia expands team with Leah Flanagan & Larry Heath". The Music Network. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "Fast tracking Australian music success globally". Sounds Australia. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  8. ↑ "About the NLMAs". National Live Music Awards. Heath Media. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Nominations Open for National Live Music Awards". National Live Music Awards. December 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  10. ↑ Lochrie, Conor (3 December 2019). "NLMAs founder Larry Heath on 'exciting' state of Aussie live music". The Music Network. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Mondo.NYC Speaker: Larry Heath". Mondo NYC. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  12. ↑ "Larry Heath, Author at The AU Review". The AU Review. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "AU Review turns ten years old, rebrands". Foldback Media NT. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  14. 1 2 "About the AU Review: A brief history". The AU Review. Heath Media. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.
  15. ↑ "About us". The AU Review. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Visit our publications". Heath Media. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  17. ↑ "The AU Review". pozible.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "10 best things about the Courtyard Sessions: Larry Heath's take". The Plus Ones. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  19. ↑ Heath, Larry (11 January 2017). "Ten weeks of free live music returns to Sydney's Seymour Centre". The AU Review. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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