Why We’re Offering This Guide Again
Over the past year, the music marketplace has been awash with confusion — shifting interpretations of legislation, misinformation circulating with Music Suppliers rightly asking what they must do to stay compliant. Many are questioning whether they should remain Sole Traders, change business structures, or take steps to protect themselves from the fallout of inconsistent industry practice.
To cut through the noise, we’ve created a simple, practical guide outlining one legitimate pathway available to Music Suppliers who are looking at transitioning from a Sole Trader to a Partnership. *This information is provided purely to help you understand your options in a rapidly changing environment. It is not a recommendation.
Before taking any action, you must speak with your own Accountant or qualified financial advisor. Your business structure, tax obligations, and superannuation responsibilities are personal to your own business structure — and only your Accountant can advise you on what is right for your situation.
This guide is designed to offer you clarity, not instruction. We not providing legal or financial advice. This guide is general information only.
The final decision remains yours, and the responsibility sits where the law places it — with the business owner.
1. Why Move From Sole Trader to Partnership?
A Partnership lets you:
Share income and expenses with another person (partner).
Operate as a legitimate business structure.
Meet your own superannuation, tax, and compliance requirements — independently of any agent or venue.
Move away from the “hobby/sole trader” grey zone that’s causing problems across the music sector.
It is not any Agent, Marketplace, nor any Promoter or Venue, who manages your superannuation or tax. A business owner does that — and Partnerships are business structures.
2. Steps to Set Up a Partnership
STEP 1 — Choose Your Business Partner
A partnership needs two or more partners.
This can be a spouse, friend, bandmate or anyone you’ll operate the business with.
STEP 2 — Apply for a Partnership ABN
You cannot legally operate as a partnership without:
A Partnership ABN (Australian Business Number)
A TFN (Tax File Number) for the partnership
Apply here (free):
https://www.abr.gov.au/business-super-funds-charities/applying-abn
When asked for “Entity Type,” select:
➡ Partnership
Cost: $0
STEP 3 — Create a Partnership Agreement
This document outlines how income, expenses, responsibilities, and profit-sharing work. For that one live show on stage, there are multiple tasks that are required to get that show on stage. Outline who does what.
A simple agreement template is provided below in this document.
(Music Suppliers should ideally have a lawyer review it — typical cost: $500–$100 if they want something tailored. Around the cost of half an average guitar)
Email business@pushworth.com to get a copy of a basic template.
STEP 4 — Register a Business Name (Optional)
If you want to trade under a name other than the partner names, you must register a Business Name.
Register here:
https://asic.gov.au/for-business/registering-a-business-name/
Cost:
1 year – $42
3 years – $98
STEP 5 — Set Up a Partnership Bank Account
All business income should go to the Partnership account, not personal accounts.
This helps with:
Audit protection
Clear bookkeeping
Tax and super compliance
Cost: Usually free, depending on your bank.
STEP 6 — Register for GST (If Required)
If Partnership turnover exceeds $75,000 per year, GST registration is mandatory.
Register here:
https://www.ato.gov.au/business/gst/registering-for-gst/
Cost: $0
STEP 7 — Partner Superannuation
In a partnership, each partner pays their own super, from their own share of the profits.
No one else pays it.
No Marketplace, booking agent or venue pays it.
That is the law in its present interpretation.
Superannuation info:
https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/super/working-out-if-you-are-employee-or-contractor
STEP 8 — Partnership Tax
The partnership itself doesn’t pay income tax.
It “distributes” income to partners, who pay tax individually.
Lodgement details:
https://www.ato.gov.au/business/other-business-structures/partnerships
Cost: Accountant fees vary — usually $350–$900 per year.
Final Note
The industry is shifting, and every Music Supplier stands at a fork in the road: remain reactive, or step up as a true business operator. This guide is a map, not a mandate — a way to steady yourself amid the noise and make decisions from a place of clarity rather than confusion.
Should the ATO issue a formal ruling or binding guidance that changes the obligations of marketplaces, venues, or contractors in the entertainment sector, the Pushworth Live booking portal — which Music Suppliers who work in that particular Marketplace will have access to very soon — will activate its Super.Live tool and notify all Suppliers immediately. No guesswork. No mixed messages. Straight facts, delivered fast.
Until then, the wisest move you can make is to sit with your Accountant before changing anything. Get informed. Get aligned. Move with intention.
The marketplace rewards the prepared.
Make sure you’re one of them.
Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2025
